ABSTRACT
The urban elite either run or have influence over the government of the cities and indeed the national governments which usually have a significant role in urban land management. Many site and service schemes have been beyond the reach of the urban poor because the price of the large plots has been beyond their capacity to pay and the costs of running services to the plots have further raised prices. A favourite device used is the urban development authority which is empowered both to purchase land in advance of use and release it in due course for use of the urban poor and develop land itself. Adoption of the philosophy and approach to governance will make easier the development of a system of urban land management which aims to facilitate the operation of efficient and equitable land delivery systems and to contain the externalities of such systems with a flexible, modest and implementable set of regulatory instruments.
