The City of Ulaanbaatar (UB) isundergoing a historic transformation toward market-drivenurban development. This growth remains strongly influencedby city policy decisions that affect the supply and locationof land for public and private uses. Private investment isconcentrated in well-serviced land located in the centralportion of the city and along major transportationcorridors, which represent a small part of the total builtarea of the city. Mongolian law allows UB residents freeaccess to land for residential use, which is commendablebecause it can reduce a substantial portion of the overallcost of housing. Due to these land allocations, however,low-density urban expansion has occurred along the urbanfringes, which imposes heavy costs on transportation and theprovision of basic utilities for city residents and omits animportant possible source of revenue for financing theseimprovements. The current city administration clearlyrecognizes that urban land represents one of the mostimportant assets under its guardianship and management. Inparticular, the administration is making a systematic effortto proactively manage land in the public interest. Notableachievements include: (i) a nearly complete, currentaccounting inventory of city-owned capital assets; (ii)surveying, mapping, inventorying, and auditing public-useland; and (iii) decisive administrative measures to stop andcorrect past practices of nontransparent and sometimesunlawful land allocations to private sector actors, and toprotect public land from informal occupation. However, suchreforms are incomplete, and the city administration sefforts are constrained by existing national laws andregulations and conflicting perceptions about land as adesignated public entitlement for residential use. There areseveral outstanding challenges the city faces in improvingthe administration of land and supporting the function ofurban land and property markets to support investment andeconomic growth.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
