Bridging the Data Gap for Sustainable Urban Land Governance in Uganda

As cities grow quickly, they face a big problem because many people in the city do not have a secure place to live, especially in slums. A major challenge is that there is not enough information about who owns what land. This makes it hard to create fair rules about who gets to live where. This article suggests three things to fix this: first, a study to find out what information is missing, second, a tool to bring all the data together, and third, meetings to come up with good plans. By getting the right information, Uganda can make fair rules for the city, make life better for people in slums, and reach the goals of Sustainable Development Goal 11.

In Uganda, as in many other countries, urbanization is rapidly transforming the landscape. Although cities offer opportunities for growth and development, they also present unique challenges, particularly in the realm of urban land governance . The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, with its target of 11.3, places a special emphasis on addressing issues related to slums and urban land governance. The goal is to enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization, fostering participatory, integrated, and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries by 2030 . This article delves into the critical role of data in achieving sustainable urban land governance in Uganda, focusing on specific challenges and initiatives within the country. The Sustainable Development Goals underscore the importance of addressing the issue of slums, where hundreds of millions of people reside worldwide. In Uganda, almost half of the urban population lives in slums. These areas lack at least one of the basic necessities highlighted by the UN-Habitat State of the World Cities Report 2010/2011, including durable housing, sufficient living areas, access to improved water, improved sanitation facilities, and secure tenure. In particular, secure tenure is the focus of this study.

While secure tenure is essential for the well-being of slum dwellers, data on land rights in these areas are often scarce. The UN-Habitat State of the World Cities Report notes the absence of this information for most countries, including Uganda. In Uganda, information on land rights for people in slums is available from the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, accounting for approximately 20% of registered land. Additional data are available from international and local non-governmental organizations, such as UN-Habitat and ACTogether, making up less than 5% of the available data on land rights in Uganda.

This limited data results in a lack of clear land tenure policies, weak land administration systems, and land grabbing by powerful actors, all of which contribute to land insecurity for many urban dwellers, especially those in slums and informal settlements. This is exacerbated by the dual system of land governance in Uganda that consists of both formal and informal arrangements some which are as a result of historical injustices.

Uganda has implemented various policies and initiatives to address slums and enhance urban-land governance. These include the National Slum Upgrading Strategy (2014), Physical Planning Act (2010), and Land Act, as amended in 2004. These policies aim to improve land governance; however, challenges persist, including issues related to implementation, coordination among different stakeholders, and resource constraints, often stemming from the lack of comprehensive data to track progress. Efforts have been made to address these data gaps, such as streamlining the National Statistical System by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) to ensure that data from various stakeholders are readily available. The Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development established the National Land Information System (NLIS) as a repository for all land information in the country. The National Planning Authority (NPA) is also in the early stages of establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to host all spatial data including land rights data.

Despite these efforts, the unavailability of spatial data on land rights, especially in slum areas, continues to limit decision-making on aspects crucial to the livelihoods of many slum dwellers in Kampala and Uganda. Without accurate spatial data on land rights, it is challenging to implement effective and fair policies that would improve the living conditions in these vulnerable communities. This data gap perpetuates uncertainty and insecurity for slum dwellers, hindering progress toward creating sustainable urban environments and achieving broader development goals. The proposed solution is to conduct a scoping study to identify gaps in the availability of data related to land rights within the slum areas in Kampala. This should be followed by developing an interactive platform to consolidate available data, especially from civil society organizations, to facilitate easy accessibility and continuous improvement and to create a platform for dialogue on strategies to fill existing data gaps and promote the uptake of this data by responsible government ministries, departments, and agencies in Uganda. The accomplishment of these strategies relies on rigorous stakeholder engagement, traditional methods of data consolidation, and innovative approaches, including the use of Earth Observation Technology.

In conclusion, addressing the challenges of slum and urban land governance in Uganda requires a comprehensive and data-driven approach. By bridging the data gap, Uganda can develop policies and initiatives that lead to more sustainable and equitable urban development, ultimately improving the lives of those residing in slum areas and contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11.

Judith is a land surveyor with a background in land governance and data management who is keen on redefining the use of data and observation technology in land administration. She holds a fellowship at the Netherlands Land Academy (LANDac). She is a member of the IGAD Youth and Land Steering Committee implementing a project on “Increasing Youth Involvement in Urban Participatory Planning in Katanga Slum Community” under the Cities Youth Initiative that she co-founded as a Local Pathway fellow.

Contact her on LinkedIn.