Land Subdivision Research Articles

Effect of Contraventions of Building Regulations and Informal Land Subdivision on the Quality of Built Environment in Enugu State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of contraventions of building regulations and informal land subdivision on the quality of built environment in Enugu State. The study adopted survey design and was carried out in Enugu State, Nigeria. The population for the study was 88 respondents which comprised 36 building technology lecturers and 52 building technology lab technologists from the Department of Building Technology in Enugu State University of Technology and the Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka respectively. Due to the manageable size of the population, no sampling was done as the entire population was used as the sample of the study. The instrument for data collection was a 37-item structured questionnaire which was validated by 3 experts. A total of 88 copies of the instrument were administered to the respondents by the researchers with the help of 2 research assistants. The instrument was analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance, using t-test statistics. The study found that contraventions of building regulations and informal land subdivisions in Enugu State have greatly affected the built environment negatively. The study recommends that the local authorities in Enugu State should create awareness campaigns on community planning which will be strengthened during plan implementations by capacitating the local leaders in order to reserve and maintain spaces for construction projects and agriculture based livelihood activities.

DETERMINATION OF AN OBVIOUS FACTUAL ERROR IN A CADASTRAL MAP

The maps created of reinstated property after 1990 contain numerous errors. These errors have been transferred from the existing cadastral plans, comassation plans, land subdivision plan, aerial photo plans and a large-scale topographic maps created in the years 1964-1968. For the creation of maps of the reinstated property, the sources described above were used directly, without repeated aerial photography or deciphering of the objects as well as without the conduction of direct geodetic measurements [6, 8]. The presence of an obvious factual error is a relatively common phenomenon in the cadastral map. The same applies mainly to linear objects and it is quite possible to remove these errors. These errors can be corrected via separate projects for the specific errors, as well as via projects affecting a large part of land territory and even an entire land territory.

Chronological Analysis of The Ontological Sequence of The Neighborhood in Urban Physical Stratification; Şükran Neighborhood-Konya

The aim of this study is to understand the change in the spatial structure of Şükran district, which has been shaped by the concept of neighborhood from past to present in the urban memory of Konya. In this context, the stratification in the urban space with the historical stratification, the structure and road relationship that will be revealed together with the ontological structure of the neighborhood, and the evolution of the land subdivision form and situation over the years will be examined in detail. In this sense, the connection of the structure, which is expected to be completely changed in the future with the urban transformation of the neighborhood, which is located in the historical city center of Konya and where mainly dwellings are built, will be questioned and the systematic structure of the transformation will be investigated. As a result, questioning the transformation of urban spaces where the urban physical gradation continues is important in order to transfer urban memory to future generations. In line with these purposes, within the scope of the study, the ontological structure of the neighborhood will be questioned within the urban physical stratification that took place in the historical process, its formation in the city in unplanned and planned periods from the past to the present will be investigated in detail within the framework of the decisions taken by the city administrators and the changing regulations and a documentation will be done at the point of transferring the urban memory to the future.

Impactos Socioambientais em Assentamentos Urbanos Informais

Aim – Analyze, critically, the environmental licensing process of informal urban settlements, seeking to improve the instrument in a context of climate change. Methodology - This is a qualitative approach in which the documentary research method was used in environmental licensing processes of informal urban land subdivisions in the Federal District. Originality/relevance - There is a scarcity of studies investigating licensing in informal urban settlements. Considering that environmental licensing is required for activities that may cause socio-environmental damage and aims to mitigate or compensate for such damage, research that empirically evaluates the application of the instrument should be encouraged. Results - In general, environmental licensing in informal urban settlements has not been efficient, mitigation measures are not complied with, monitoring is unsatisfactory, there is a lack of indicators to measure urban environmental quality, and there is a lack of analysis of technological alternatives that consider climate projections and nature-based solutions. Theoretical/methodological contributions: Research on environmental licensing processes for informal urban settlements for low-income (ARIS) and high-income populations (ARINE) has contributed to complement the global literature, focused on investigating the mining and energy sectors. Comparative research on informal urban land subdivision in other socioeconomic contexts is recommended. Social and environmental contributions - Low-income settlements in ARIS are more vulnerable to socio-environmental risks and climate change than settlements in ARINE, requiring greater attention from managers to reduce this vulnerability.

Matlab-Simulink Model of CHMT for Internal Climate in Greenhouses

Over the past twenty years, Kenya's food security has been threatened by the sub-division of land into tiny areas and the clearance of forests to make way for settlement. These actions have an impact on soil moisture, rainfall patterns, and regional temperature changes. Clear response plans and adaption techniques have been required to address the threats that have arisen. Greenhouse farming, where warmer temperatures are attained and the impact of unfavourable weather conditions on plants is mitigated by the enclosure, is one strategy being used to combat the production of food and climate change. Nevertheless, crop production and quality are negatively impacted by traditional techniques of regulating temperature and humidity through arbitrary opening and closing of the greenhouse walls. In light of this, the goal of this research was to enhance greenhouse farming as it exists today by implementing a dynamic, adjustable system that would create ideal climate conditions for plant growth. This mostly entailed controlling the greenhouse's humidity, temperature, and vapour pressure deficit to the ideal ranges needed by various plants. The humidity and air temperature within the greenhouse were the controlled microclimate conditions. These were accomplished by simulating the convectional heat transfer and mass transfer that occur inside the greenhouse to control the temperature and humidity, and by developing mathematical model utilizing differential equations. Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) was utilized to automatically modify SIMULINK, a block-based modelling and simulation tool. Regardless of the different external conditions, the numerical values for internal temperature and humidity were calculated and graphically depicted. The model made it possible to modify the outcomes according to the needs of the plant. To increase crop productivity in greenhouse farming, it was suggested that a physical prototype model be constructed and integrated into the greenhouse construction.

Measuring the impact of plot types on physical change: A diachronic analysis of urban form evolution in New York, Melbourne and Barcelona

Plots are hypothesised as the most influential determinant of urban form evolution yet remain understudied. Existing morphological studies exploring plots' influential role lack quantitative methods, while more recent quantitative urban form studies remain largely synchronic, analysing urban form at a single timeframe without offering diachronic frameworks. Addressing this gap, we investigate the relationship between plot types and physical change in three international case studies (New York, Melbourne and Barcelona) over two centuries. Employing a novel longitudinal spatial database generated from historical maps, we present a methodology to measure the configurational character of plot structures and identify multi-variable plot typologies using k-means clustering. Statistical analysis of the relation between plot types and physical change reveals that finer-grained, narrower, and more compact plot types exhibit significantly greater resistance to building replacement compared to coarser-grained, broader, and less compact plot types. Our findings demonstrate the robustness of plot structures' configurational character in explaining physical change dynamics in cities. These data-driven findings can guide policymakers in strategic land subdivision decisions to guide future preservation and development needs and patterns, ultimately promoting more resilient and adaptive urban environments.

Low Impact Development Applied to Teaching Architecture and Urbanism: Study of An Urban Subdivision

Objective: This work presents an experience of applying LID – Low Impact Development – ​​concepts in teaching architecture and urbanism. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework of the work was based on materials related to more sustainable urban drainage techniques and urban design, as well as on works aimed at teaching architecture and urban planning and referring to the profession of Architect and Urban Planner. Method: The methodology used in the article was defined in five stages: definition of the main bibliographic references; choice of area for implementing the study; demarcation of the watershed area and calculation estimates of the impermeable areas and contribution area for surface runoff in the pre-occupation scenario; development of the land subdivision design; calculation of the post-occupancy scenario. Results and Discussion: The work discusses a residential subdivision project, exploring the incorporation of issues related to rainwater management. The results show that the student's mastery of topography and hydrology concepts can help in understanding the morphological characteristics of the location of the proposed project and, above all, the conditions of the watershed. Research Implications: The inclusion of bibliographical references on LID, cartography and hydrology in the syllabuses of Architecture and Urban Planning courses is of fundamental importance, as well as the development of integration methodologies between the subjects of such disciplines. Originality/Value: The study can help future professionals to be more capable of dealing with the demands for technical solutions arising from climate change and the complexity inherent to urban planning.

RESOLVING “LOT LIDI” PROPRIETORSHIP THROUGH THE NATIONAL LAND CODE: A GROUNDBREAKING PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

The issue of land subdivision conflicts, specifically "lot lidi," remains unresolved. To date, the rights of “lot lidi” purchasers are not safeguarded under the National Land Code (NLC) due to the failure to register buyers' names in the documents of title. This study aims to devise a method for registering buyers' names in the documents of title from a land law perspective. The objective is to identify existing land laws that can address the proprietorhip issues of “lot lidi”. The scope of this study focuses on resolving “lot lidi” issues through current land laws that can be implemented by the Land Office and State Authorities. Additionally, the study specifically addresses “lot lidi”, which are alienated lands categorized as agricultural and illegally subdivided through unapproved sketches for residential plots. The research also examines the sale of “lot lidi” outside the framework of NLC, which prevents the registration of buyers' names in the documents of title due to legal prohibitions on such transactions. This qualitative study employs literature review and semi-structured interviews with respondents from land administration, legal officers, legal practitioners, and academics. The findings reveal ten (10) provisions within the NLC that can be referenced to develop a method for resolving “lot lidi” proprietorship. The study's results yield two (2) main outcomes: first, a detailed breakdown of provisions based on three (3) stages—application, approval, and registration; second, specific attributes within each stage that are organized to be easily understood. Ultimately, the existing provisions for resolving “lot lidi’ and their details can be extracted to guide stakeholders in developing solutions for “lot lidi” proprietorhip issues.

Developing a Bi-Level Optimization Model for the Coupled Street Network and Land Subdivision Design Problem with Various Lot Areas in Irregular Blocks

Street design and land subdivision are significant tasks in the development and redevelopment planning process. Optimizing street and land subdivision layouts within a unified framework to achieve solutions that meet a set of objectives and constraints (e.g., minimizing parcel area deviation from standard values, minimizing land consumption for street construction, etc.) is a critical concern for planners, particularly in complex contexts such as blocks with irregular shapes and parcels of varying sizes and requirements. To address this challenge, a mathematical formulation is presented for the bi-level street network and land subdivision optimization problem. Subsequently, the solution procedure is outlined, which utilizes a genetic-based algorithm for street design and a memetic–genetic-based algorithm for land subdivision. Finally, two cases are presented, solved, and discussed to analyze and verify the proposed mathematical model and solution procedures. The results suggest that the formulated problem is suitable for addressing the coupled street network and land subdivision design problem, and it can be adapted and extended to other case studies. Additionally, the introduced ideas and algorithms satisfactorily solved the stated problem.

Managing Urban Environment: Assessing the Role of Planning and Governance in Controlling Urbanization in the City of Amman, Jordan

The aim of this paper is to explore gaps in the spatial planning and governance systems that affect the ability of local authorities to manage urbanization in Amman, the capital of Jordan. A qualitative method using in-depth interviews with top managers was adopted to understand urbanization challenges and their relationship with spatial planning and governance systems. Findings reveal that spatial planning and governance systems are unable to manage urbanization effectively. Several planning gaps, such as the inability of the spatial planning system to align with the socio-economic context, the lack of policy instruments that provide practical solutions to urbanization challenges, the mismatch between planning and natural resources, the inefficiency of the land subdivision system, the ineffectiveness of urban growth boundary policy, and the poor performance of the public transportation system, have contributed to this lack of inability. The findings reveal a number of governance gaps, such as lack of coordination and overlapping roles between public authorities, centralization, lack of public participation, and insufficient information, have hindered the ability of public authorities to manage urbanization efficiently. To enhance the urban environment, this study provides important insights for policymakers to improve the overall performance of spatial planning and governance.

Informal land leasing and social relations: Insights from Zimbabwe’s small scale farms

This article examines the role of social relations in enabling informal land leasing in Zimbabwe's small scale (A1 villagised) settlements after the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). After Fast Track Land Reform (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe, although some studies have explored informal land leasing, limited attention has been provided to the increasing informal subdivision in A1 villagised plots. The paper uses social relations as a basis for understanding the nature of informal land subdivisions, drawing insights from Zimbabwe’s small-scale farms in Zvimba District, Mashonaland West Province. Using qualitative insights, the article argues that in cases where land is provided through land reform, policy formulators should acknowledge the existence of these subdivisions for people with limited access to land. This article concludes that social relations enable people to access land through informal channels in resettlement areas enabling people to bypass legal policy directives through land subdivisions.

Informality through the state: How overregulation and tolerance shape informal land development in metropolitan Brazil

The relationship between the state and informal land development in Global South metropolises has yet not received much attention in urban studies. Concerning that knowledge gap, this paper investigates how the state regulates and inspects irregular and clandestine land subdivisions in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH). A mixed-methods approach, focused on the inner workings of the land development control policy led by the MRBH Agency between 2009 and 2018, provides new evidence of the relationships between inspectors, developers, and prosecutors, among other actors. By delving deep into the intricate nexus between a changing regulatory landscape and the bureaucratic, street-level, and everyday enforcement practices by officials, the paper reveals how land development control, directly and indirectly, shapes informal land development in the MRBH. Particularly, it sheds light on how land development control unrolls through a contradictory combination of overregulation on one side and tolerance on the other. In light of this, I argue that, as land development control evolves without effectively tackling the land question and the structural drivers of informality, the state becomes paradoxically entangled in the production of the same forms of informality it is expected to curb. Therefore, land development control is better understood as a fragile and ambivalent state compromise between the need to regulate urban expansion and market-driven informal urbanisation. By creating opportunities for rent extraction and capital accumulation which are explored by informal land developers, the state has been crucial for property-led informal urbanisation in metropolitan Brazil.

Urban Expansion and neighborhood design: Municipality of Três Rios/RJ

The city of Três Rios, located in the central-southern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, underwent significant territorial and demographic expansion due to its proximity to important transportation routes, such as the BR-040, connecting Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte, and the North-South Railway, connecting it to other parts of Brazil. This expansion brought both positive and negative aspects to the region. In the pursuit of understanding these impacts, data was collected from printed sources, such as articles, master plans, and photographic images, as well as online material about the city. A list of 'neighborhoods' was also compiled, and subsequently, a land subdivision map was developed. This material serves as an essential tool for understanding local dynamics and expansion beyond the consolidated territory, providing indicators of growth vectors and enabling the planning of actions to reduce environmental risks and damages.

The Effect of subdivision regulations on housing typologies

City planners and related professionals use various tools to control the built environment and its development. This goal couldn’t be achieved without considering housing typology because housing takes up the largest portion of most cities. Land subdivision is one of these planning tools used to regulate the ownership and size of properties. This paper aims to clarify the role of subdivision regulations that are used in Sulaimany City in forming and changing housing typologies. Malkandi district in Sulaimani City was selected as a case study. Descriptive analysis is used to identify the indications of variables. Graphical and statistical analyses have been used to determine the role of subdivision regulations on changing housing typology. According to the findings, the study area has seen two different subdivision systems: Traditional and modern subdivision regulations. The study discovered that changing subdivision regulations play a significant role in changing housing typologies. The Traditional subdivision system encourages organic, irregular blocks with various shapes and sizes. Modern subdivision system leads to raw houses with similar dimensions.

A review of the human wildlife conflicts around the Nairobi National Park, Kenya

Human-wildlife conflicts are one of the most important challenges facing wildlife conservation. In Kenya, the Nairobi National Park (NNP) experiences various pressures due to its small size and close proximity to an expanding city. The unfenced southern part of the park is the main hotspot for conflicts. For the review a content analysis of 21 publications related to NNP published between 2011 and 2022 was conducted to identify the causes, types and the mitigation measures of conflicts around the park. Documents for the analysis were collected through Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus. Our results indicate that livestock predation linked to lions is the major type of conflict superseded by retaliatory killings of the carnivores by the local communities. Other conflicts include crop raids by ungulates and the spread of diseases especially the East Coast fever that is transmitted from the wildebeest to livestock. Findings further reveal that one of the main causes of the conflicts is the expanding human population, which has encroached on wildlife dispersal corridors. It resulted in land subdivision and fencing of the farms as farmers try to protect their livestock from wildlife. This has greatly impeded wildlife migration. Mitigation methods in place include compensation schemes and landowners leasing their farms to the park management so that the corridors can be left open for free wildlife movement. These have however been inadequate therefore there is still a need to find sustainable mitigation measures that ensure coexistence between humans and wildlife in and around NNP.

Contribution of Land Tenure Changes in Empowering Maasai Women Pastoralists in Resources Management: A Case Study of Elangatwuas Ward, Kajiado County, Kenya

This research explores the contribution of land tenure changes in empowering Maasai women pastoralists in resource management. The study focuses on understanding the benefits and challenges of land subdivision for Maasai women, examining changes in decision-making processes at the household and community levels, exploring shifts in gender roles and resource access, and assessing the overall empowerment of Maasai women through land tenure changes. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative data collection methods such as interviews and focus group discussions with quantitative surveys. The study findings reveal significant positive impacts of the land subdivision on Maasai women's empowerment. The benefits identified include reduced cases of husbands being polygamous, increased chances of women's involvement in business and employment, equal chances for male and female children to inherit and own family land, increased ability to undertake projects on the land, and the freedom for women to own their own livestock. These changes have provided women with increased decision-making power within households and communities, allowing them to participate in determining land use, livestock management, education for children, and building family houses. Despite the progress, challenges remain, including conflicts over land inheritance, limited knowledge of legal rights among illiterate girls, and smaller grazing areas for livestock. However, the research concludes that overall, land tenure changes have empowered Maasai women by enabling them to engage in business, acquire education, own livestock, and own land. The results highlight the importance of recognizing and strengthening women's rights in land and resource management to achieve gender equity and sustainable development in pastoralist communities. This research contributes to the understanding of the transformative potential of land tenure changes in empowering Maasai women pastoralists and informs strategies for promoting gender equity and sustainable resource management in similar contexts.

A lightweight ontology for landmarks to assist rescue in mountainous areas

Abstract. When people are injured or lost in mountains during outdoor activities and when web-based locations are not available, they locate themselves by describing their environment, routes and activities. The description of their location is done using landmarks and spatial locations (e.g., “I am located in front of Punay Lake”, “I am near a protected area”). Landmarks used can be named (e.g., “Punay Lake”) or unnamed if the landmark has no name or if the victim does not know it (e.g., "area lake"). Landmarks are represented in geographic databases by name (if possible), type and geometry. To reduce the heterogeneity of landmark types present in oral language and geographic databases representing landmarks, and thus improve locating victims, our goal is to define a controlled vocabulary for landmarks. In this research, we present a lightweight ontology (i.e. ontology having generally less complexity and does not express formal constraints) of landmarks, named Landmark Ontology (OOR), describing landmark types. It is an application ontology, i.e. it is designed to support mountain rescue operations. The ontology construction is adapted from the SAMOD methodology for engineering ontology development and involves researchers and experts from mountain rescue teams. The construction of OOR is composed of four main phases: knowledge acquisition, conceptual formalisation, implementation, and testing. The implementation phase is carried out by an iterative and collaborative approach and using four formalised sources of knowledge (a landmark and a landform ontologies, and two other domain vocabularies), an un-formalised taxonomy of outdoor activities, and five authoritative and volunteered geographic information sources representing geographic data. The landmarks ontology contains 543 classes associated with 1739 labels: 1086 prefLabel (preferential label) in French and English, 321 altLabel (alternative label) in French, and 332 altLabel in English. The depth of the ontology varies from four for land cover, hydrological and land subdivision landmark types), to six for landform types, and eight for building types. Although the use of ontology is broader, in this paper we illustrate and test its use through three applications in the context of mountain rescue operations: semantic mapping, data instantiation and data matching.

Perimeter fencing in urban landscapes: A perceptual exploration in a traditional Yoruba settler community

ABSTRACT The prevalent transition from ancient city walls to individualized forms of gated communities and fences elicited this study. This paper examined residents` perceptions and the characteristics of perimeter fencing in a traditional Yoruba settlement. It obtained primary data through the administration of questionnaires among residents of neighbourhoods within the study area. Physical observation aided in the identification of all residential neighbourhoods, which were stratified into three distinct and homogenous zones. One out of every four neighbourhoods in each homogenous zone was purposively selected. A total of 2055 buildings were identified within the selected neighbourhoods. Using systematic sampling, a total of 206 residents in separate dwelling units were selected for the survey. Residents perceived perimeter fencing as a feature for land boundary delineation, crime prevention, ownership and control, as well as privacy. Residential areas with a predominant rate of crime, a feeling of insecurity and disputes on land ownership were likely to witness increased use of perimeter fencing. The study recommends that local planning authorities should develop standards and regulations for perimeter fencing with consideration for the unique socio-cultural context. Improved methods of land allocation and subdivision should be implemented within traditional settlements

Planning as an instrument for protecting the Guarani Aquifer, municipality of Ribeirão Preto/SP, Brazil

The Municipal Master Plan and its complementary Legislation have the function of determining rules for conducting the urban development of a city, so that the impacts of anthropic activities on the natural environment are minimized and the social function of the property is guaranteed. This research aimed to analyze the advances and setbacks of urban legislation in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto/SP, Brazil, with regard to the protection of the recharge area of the Guarani Aquifer. To this end, the initial versions and respective revisions of the Municipal Master Plan (Municipal Complementary Laws nos. 501/1995, 1,573/2003 and 2,866/2018) and of the Land Subdivision, Use and Occupation Law (Municipal Complementary Law no. 2,157/ 2007 and Complementary Municipal Law Project nº 11/2022), with emphasis on the analysis of the update of the territorial organization criteria for this area. Restrictions were added to the territorial organization in the last version of the Municipal Master Plan, however, retrogressions were observed in the urbanistic requirements in the revision of the Law of Subdivision, Use and Land Occupation in relation to the protection of the recharge area of the Guarani Aquifer.

Soil drainage-class influences on the distribution of witness trees (1664–1700) in Wicomico County, Maryland, USA

Given the long-term human habitation and prolific land use change trajectories in the eastern United States, few remnants of the pre-European settlement Mid-Atlantic forest remain on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This study utilized metes and bounds witness tree locations and descriptions produced during colonial land subdivision to understand the relationships between tree types and biogeographic environments for an area on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Using correspondence analysis, we reveal habitat partitioning among witness tree species based on soil drainage characteristics, that enable the visualization of a pre-European settlement reconstructed forest. Our research finds that oak ( Quercus), most often white oak ( Quercus alba), was the dominant genus for most of the study area underlain by well-drained soils. To a much smaller extent, gums were also associated with these well-drained soils. Areas of poor drainage most often contained pine ( Pinus) and an assemblage of different oaks ( Quercus spp.). Hickory ( Carya), also noted in the witness tree record in small numbers, was found across all soil drainages.