This week-long professional development course offers students the opportunity to assess and challenge their understanding of fundamental topics related to urban informality. Participants will examine tools on informal economic analysis, land markets and pricing, as well as the development of informal settlements in Latin American cities. Students will deepen their knowledge on different intervention tools and land tenure regularization processes by means of case studies from Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions.

Nowadays it is necessary to analyze a set of policy initiatives on sustainable cities with a broad perspective that not only focuses on explaining the instruments that have been proposed in various cities, but rather identify possible points of contradiction with the theory of land. This course, offered in Spanish, aims to discuss the impact that new urban environmental sustainability initiatives could have on urban land policies.

Specific requirements: Participants must have knowledge of operation of land markets, urban capital gains, fundamentals of urban planning, access to land and urban marginality.

Various countries have long used mechanisms to mobilize value increments as a fundamental component of urban policy in order to finance urban development, social housing, and public spaces, and also to conserve natural resources and heritage. This course, offered in Spanish, discusses the main instruments used in a variety of countries for the recovery/mobilization of value increment, assessing their objectives, scope, limitations and alternatives to finance urban projects.

In recent years, vacant land has developed a great influence within the realm of defining land policies. Housing programs require vacant land, yet with the increase in demand and the resulting increase in value of land, these programs become unfeasible. This course, offered in Spanish, aims to present alternatives for vacant land management during the creation of land policies, focusing on housing for low-income populations, on social facilities, on public space, and on large urban projects.

In this course, offered in Spanish, students discuss and debate new perspectives and practical experiences regarding land management planning while identifying weaknesses of more traditional systems. Topics covered also include the role of the State during urban construction and the impact that planning has on land markets.

Planners in industrialized countries have developed and disseminated a set of prescriptions to address informality. These prescriptions have been embraced by multilateral agencies and turned into public policies in Latin America. The objectives of this course are to present the basic features of the approaches underpinning current policies toward the informal city in Latin America and to explain their origins, central ideas and basic premises, emphasizing issues related to land policies. Specific requirements: The course is aimed at professionals who have participated or are participating in the implementation of policies against informal cities.

This professional development course examines large-scale projects designed to promote the redevelopment or regeneration of deteriorated or abandoned urban areas; the extension of the urban perimeter; the strengthening of growth centers; and/or the creation or rehabilitation of central city areas, including historic centers. The course focuses on policies and a broad set of land-based tools and management instruments to finance and fairly redistribute costs and benefits, and/or promote social urban integration. The course presents methodologies to evaluate the impact of these large-scale projects and critically analyzes a wide variety of case studies.

The video classes are multimedia treatments of diverse topics related to urban land policy. Developed to support both moderated and self-paced courses of the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean’s distance education, they are also well suited to generate discussion in neighborhood associations, professional associations, public entities and other groups interested in these topics. Videos are presented primarily in Spanish.

In recent years, vacant land has acquired great importance in the definition of land policies. Housing programs need vacant land and an increased demand for its purchase ends up in land value increments that often make programs unfeasible. This course, offered in Spanish, aims to present alternatives for the management of vacant land in the definition of land policies.

In recent years, the idea of vacant land has acquired great importance within the definition land policy. As housing programs require the use of vacant land, the demand for such land grows, resulting in elevated values that often make these programs unfeasible. This course, offered in Spanish, takes a closer look at alternatives for vacant land management in land policy.