Sustainable development - Liberalization of land markets and new processes of land grabbing : report of the academic panel organized by IDS on 7 July 2009, Utrecht

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that opportunities to buy land through the market and the use of internet have resulted in new processes of land grabbing, and an upward trend in the ownership of land by foreign and other non-local buyers. In addition to ‘traditional’ large land holders, new actors are now entering the stage. On the internet, large numbers of real estate companies offer large tracts of land to private investors: ‘Now is the time to purchase the dream home you've always wanted. You have your choice of living, in the charming colonial city of Granada, at the beach or on the slopes of a volcanic lagoon with a breath taking view. There is something for everyone in Nicaragua’ (from an internet advertisement). Elsewhere, new industrial development contributes to a massive conversion of rural land to urban uses, as in the business parks surrounding several ‘globalizing’ Asian cities and their associated real estate ‘booms’ and infrastructure megaprojects. In the process, local communities are uprooted and existing land use patterns dramatically changed. Largescale interventions in local land markets also include NGOs and public sector agencies acquiring extensive areas for use as nature parks, often associated with a tourism development strategy. Tourism operators increasingly buy the most scenic areas, and UNESCO world heritage sites are increasingly expropriated and managed by non-locals. Many small-scale interventions are undertaken by migrants living abroad who invest in land holdings back home, for use after retirement or speculating on the future rise of land prices. Recently, huge areas are bought for the purpose of growing bio-fuel crops, resulting in important land use changes. In many countries any foreigner may buy and own property, while in others, public sector agencies act as intermediaries to facilitate access to land for non-local users.