The President of Ghana Institutions of Surveyors (GhIS), Mr. Edwin Addo-Tawiah has said, it is time surveyors take strategic decisions for the development of the country, considering the United Nations Development Goal (UNDG) which has been estimated that, 60% of Africans would be living in the urban areas by 2020.

According to him, there is therefore, the need for land professionals to equip themselves in terms of decision making in developmental projects.

The model of urbanization over the past two decades has been far from “smart” and sustainable. This is the major conclusion of Habitat III, the third United Nations’ Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development that took place in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. Our cities are growing very quickly and spontaneously. Decreased planning and excessive urban expansion, alongside reduced density, is leading us to unprecedented levels of chaos, urban poverty and environmental degradation.

By: Xu Shanshan

Date: January 5th 2017

Source: ECNS.cn

Due to rapid urban area expansion, some 300,000 sq. km of particularly fertile cropland will be lost by 2030.

Thel government has ordered district councils countrywide to set aside some funds each fiscal year in order to finance "land use plans' resolutions" under them, especially in villages which are rapidly becoming urban areas. The Minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Mr William Lukuvi, said the move would keep off sporadic land conflicts rocking the country.

By: Owen Guo

Date: November 15th 2016

Source: New York Times

BEIJING — The Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that they had executed a farmer convicted of killing a village official after the demolition of the farmer’s home, despite months of public outcry in sympathy with the farmer.

By: David Lumu

Date: November 10th 2016

Source: New Vision Uganda

Key among the solutions is reforming the land laws in the country to provide escape routes for Government in case land owners refuse compensation

By: ENS Economic Bureau 

Date: October 15th 2016

Source: The Indian Express

India’s urban system consists of 7,933 cities and towns as of 2011 with a population of 377.16 million. It is now the second largest in the world rising from 5,161 towns and cities in 2001 with a total population of 286.1 million

By: Greg Scruggs

Date: September 15th 2016

Source: Citiscope

Community groups want to show next month’s conference that answers begin at the bottom, not at the top.

Date: September 7th 2016

Source: Counter View

A new study by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), “World Cities Report 2016: Urbanization and Development – Emerging Futures” has regretted extremely low levels of “aggregate municipal expenditures in India”, which happen to be of the worst in the world. 

By: Shivani Chaudhry

Date: September 6th 2016

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

In order to ensure that ‘no one is left behind,’ the Habitat III outcome document must be grounded in a human rights approach.

By: Shadrack Kavilu

Date: July 31st 2016

Source: Reuters

KITENGELA, Kenya, July 31(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - It's just before sunset, the time of day when Maasai herdsman Josphat Ole Tonkei would have been counting his herd of cows after hours in the grazing fields, a few years ago.