Land and Development Companies as an Innovative Approach to Urban Development. Exchanging Experiences Between Beira (Mozambique), Medellin (Colombia) and Cuenca, Guayaquil and Manta (Ecuador)

This round-table discussion will take the case of Beira (Mozambique) as the point of departure for an exchange of experiences with other cities (Medellin, Cuenca, Guayaquil, Manta) about how to move away from ad hoc urban expansion towards inclusive and sustainable city development. The event focuses on Land Development Companies (LDCs) as an innovative instrument to implement the New Urban Agenda. In 2011, the Dutch Government and the City of Beira agreed to renew their longstanding cooperation to enhance the city’s resilience to flooding and help it adapt to climate change over the next 15 years. Starting with the city’s water challenges the cooperation rapidly broadened to include land, housing, mobility, local governance, accountability, and transparency issues. A central element in the integrated approach that was adopted, is a LDC: an autonomous public‐private entity in which the City of Beira is the majority shareholder. The LDC will raise, level and drain terrains and install basic infrastructure prior to their development for low‐cost housing, port expansion or industry. This event discusses the use of a LDC as an innovative instrument to implement the New Urban Agenda; taking into account issues such as urban sprawl, infrastructure, affordable housing, climate change and generating municipal revenue. The discussion will focus on two sets of questions: 1. How to optimize land governance, given the goals of sustainable and inclusive urbanization, with sufficient attention for climate resilience and low‐cost housing? 2. How to strengthen collaborative action? How to optimize the outcomes of public‐private partnerships? The exchange between city authorities will allow for South-South exchange of experiences and aims to trigger broader city2city networking activity around the implementation of the LDC in Beira, while also providing valuable input for implementation of the New Urban Agenda. City authorities and low‐cost housing investors will be engaged in this exchange.