Supporting liveable climate sensitive cities through integrated urban land management

In January 2025 I flew to Jakarta and was struck by the seemingly endless spread of the city while enjoying the bird’s eye view – with mass skyscrapers stretching well beyond my little plane window. This glimpse of Jakarta from above gave credence to statistics from the World Bank that between 1980 and 2002, almost one-quarter of the land area of Jakarta was converted from non-urban uses (e.g. agriculture, wetlands) to urban uses for industry, commerce and housing.

On 17th December 2024 around midday, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck just 30 km away from Vanuatu’s capital city of Port Vila. No stranger to disasters, the nation has weathered three major cyclones in 2023 alone. But recovery from this impact has felt a little different. 14 people tragically lost their lives, and an estimated 80,000 people were impacted nationally. Some six months on, parts of the CBD still remain closed to the public as the reconstruction effort continues: many roads still require repair and demolition of unsafe buildings is ongoing. And new urban paradigms are emerging, with many businesses relocating ‘to the suburbs’ – with no intent to return. 

The world of land tenure and administration is also constantly evolving, influenced by political change, climate disruption, and technological evolution. Global official development assistance (ODA) fell in 2024 for the first time in five years, dropping by 7.1% as donor countries shifted their priorities inward and scaled back commitments. Although some countries – like Korea, Portugal, and Belgium – increased their contributions, the overall decline highlights an alarming recalibration in donor country priorities. Over the course of 2025, we will need to remain vigilant and flexible as the global development community reacts to these readjusted priorities and the growing questions around the value and effectiveness of bilateral aid.

Thanks Naia.  The acronym VARS stands for the Vanuatu Affordable and Resilient Settlements Project and focuses on both existing settlement upgrades within the town of Port Vila and a new greenfield low-income subdivision that the Vanuatu Government is developing in its capacity as a developer.  Our consultancy team of Kate Fairlie (from LEI), Jennie Day and I are providing policy, legal, marketing and advisory services to support the development of the greenfield subdivision project.

Globally, women currently own and control less than 20% of the world’s land. In lower income (‘developing’) countries, this figure is as low as 10%. Low documentation levels are an exacerbating factor – 75% of the world’s population cannot prove they own the land on which they live and work, and it’s estimated that 90% of Africa’s land mass remains undocumented.  What this means is increased vulnerability for women – women who farm the land, live on the land, invest on the land, but who – without their rights recognised – ultimately have no control over the land.

The LEI team have managed, collaborated and innovated throughout the past year across multiple projects in locations including the Mekong, Nauru, Bangladesh and Indonesia. We have also delved deeply with various partners bidding on projects in Africa. These have been exciting and rapid knowledge-juggling periods.

We’ve developed a short clip detailing why continued efforts on spatial planning are needed, so please take a look. And read on below for some of the achievements and successes of this project.

I have been very warmly welcomed by the LEI team, who quickly began sharing articles, lecture material and online resources to help me transition into land administration for the internship. I have felt so lucky to share an office with such passionate individuals who collectively carry with them decades of experience and knowledge in the industry. Aside from the work I am doing, what has been a huge highlight of the internship to date is hearing the stories of the LEI team and how they got to where they are now. As someone just starting out in this field, the various pieces of advice and wisdom being imparted on me are invaluable. I was able to continue these conversations last week with other local individuals working in international development at a networking event I was invited to through LEI.

These spatial plans – and the supporting data and technology to manage them – will prove essential to achieving Indonesia’s forestry, climate change and economic commitments. They also fundamentally recognise the territorial rights and interests of Indonesia’s forest-dwelling and indigenous peoples.

For many Australians, Nauru is known only for its divisive history (and present) ‘hosting’ refugees that have made it to our shores. Others may recall a past that ransacked the nation’s ecology for its high-quality phosphate. Phosphate mining has stripped the elevated inland (‘Topside’) of its tropical forests to leave behind a pinnacled-desert, rendered largely uninhabitable. The nation’s 12,000+ people are left to live and work along the lower-lying thin strip of coastline around the island.