Threats and ambivalence in land formalization

The case of settler-colonial land regime in East Jerusalem/al-Quds

Bibliographic Data

ID4476474
AuthorsOren Shlomo (0000-0002-7061-4003, The Open University of Israel, Israel, corresponding author), Michal Braier (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Year2024
Volume43
Issue6
Pages991-1011
Publication date2024-12-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02637758241304669
OpenAlexW4405896060
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited55

Urban land formalization, i.e., land titling and registration, is commonly viewed as a primary policy tool for addressing urban poverty and fostering socioeconomic and spatial development, especially in the urban informalities of the Global Southeast. While critical perspectives on urban land formalization highlight the threats and risks associated with the market-driven logic of land formalization, in this paper, we examine the perils of displacement and property rights erosion in the context of settler colonial land regime. Through the analysis of Israel's initiative to formalize Palestinian land in East Jerusalem, we contend that risks and benefits of land formalization programs are contingent upon the land regime whithin which they are implemented. We demonstrate how potential benefits of land formalization, alongside its potential threats, produce ambivalence among target communities. This ambiguity becomes ingrained in settler colonial land practices of land formalisation and translates into noncooperation by Palestinians with the Israeli land formalization initiative. Thus, we emphasize the significance of analyzing local land regimes and politics to better understand the specific threats and opportunities and their impact on target communities

Agricultural land · Agriculture · Alienation · Ambiguity · Ambivalence · Archaeology · Civil engineering · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Environmental planning · Geography · Land registration · Land tenure · Land use · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Land Rights and Reforms · Law · Urban and Rural Development Challenges

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