Integrated Land Management Project

dropped

To achieve the PDO, the Project is structured around two main outcomes: expand the land area (percentage of the city’s administrative area) and number of residents eligible for formal land registration through investments in digital Land Information System (LIS) hardware and software upgrading/development, surveying and office equipment, land record scanning and parcel-based organization in a digital LIS, and regularization of existing residents’ informal land use rights (outcome 1) and expand formal land registration coverage through systematic land registration campaigns (outcome 2). To this end, the project has the following integrated components.Component 1 – Strengthen institutions, systems, and capacity for land administration: Component 1 will finance technical assistance (TA) and capacity building activities for land administration institutions at all levels of government. It includes the review and strengthening of land administration policies/standards, including for IT system integration, the development of mechanisms for enhanced vertical/horizontal institutional coordination, business process reengineering, identification of key legal/regulatory bottlenecks and drafting of reforms needed to increase efficiency and equity, identification of gender gaps and advocacy for change, and training for land management officials at all levels. It may also support the development of urban fiscal cadastre (property tax revenue) systems at all levels following the recent adoption of Proclamation 1/2023, which empowers Regions (Governors) and City Administrations to collect property taxes. Component 2 – Build the foundation for inclusive, integrated land management: Component 2 will support the targeted cities in regularizing urban residents’ informal land use rights and completing the pre-requisites for SAR. Project investments will be tailored to the local context in each city and designed to complement existing and on-going investments19 to optimize synergies and avoid duplication. Any building renovation/construction will use government-owned lands and will not involve any new land acquisition. The Project will not support any land banking/development activities or any other activities resulting in resettlement. Project activities will include: a. Procurement of hardware and software to upgrade existing digital land information systems (LIS) and develop new LIS modules where needed (e.g., to develop a fiscal cadastre for property tax revenue collection and to facilitate regularization of informal parcels and interoperability with other city services); b. Procurement and management of surveying and office equipment (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite Systems – GNSS such as handheld GPS, electronic total stations, tablets, computers, office furniture); c. Operations and maintenance (O&M) of the geodetic network for efficient surveying, including verification of existing Ground Control Points (GCPs) and creation of new GCPs as needed to meet SAR regulatory requirements and O&M of existing Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS); d. Digitization and organization of existing land records in digital LIS, with textual records linked to parcels; e. Development of spatial plans for unplanned (informal) areas, which is a pre-requisite for regularization; f. Updating of city-wide base maps covering all parcels regardless of their tenure status (“OneMap”) using existing high-resolution spatial imagery (HRSI) and/or HRSI procured from commercial satellite firms; g. Legal recognition (regularization) of urban residents’ land use rights within informal settlements; andh. Development of fiscal cadaster alongside the legal cadaster as part of the LIS to inform future property rates implementation. Component 3 – Implement participatory systematic urban land adjudication and registration (SAR): Component 3 will finance SAR implementation, following the proscribed sequence: the declaration of areas targeted for SAR, inclusive public awareness campaigns and support, surveying of parcel boundaries, adjudicating (verifying) land use rights and public display including objections and corrections and dispute resolution, registration in a digital LIS, and delivery of formal land certificates to urban residents. Project investments will be tailored to the local context in each city and designed to complement existing and on-going investments to optimize synergies and avoid duplication. Component 4 – Project management: Component 4 will finance activities of the Project Technical Committee (PTC) and Project Coordination Unit (PCU) in MUI for project management and coordination, including financial management and procurement, safeguards, communication, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Component 5 – Contingent Emergency Response Component (US$ 0): A no-cost Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) will be included in accordance with World Bank Policy on Investment Project Financing to enable rapid reallocation of funding between project components following an eligible emergency.