Gangwon 24 November 2014 - UN-Habitat in partnership with the International Urban Training Center (IUTC), organized a training course last month on ‘Land Policy Instruments: Land Readjustment & Land-based Financing’ in Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea.

The purpose of the course was to increase awareness of the range of tools available for using land as a base for generating revenue to help fund urban growth and development.

Opportunities were provided for the participants to develop their knowledge about land management and in particular land-based finance instruments (e.g. value capture, property tax, sale of development rights, etc.) as well as to familiarize themselves with the potential of each tool in their own local context. Site visits were arranged during the training to explore related best practices in Korea.

The course targeted policy makers, professionals, and senior executives of both the public and private sectors and NGOs from the Asian and Pacific Region. 24 participants from 10 countries in the region participated in the training.

Hamza Saboor from Afghanistan, expresses what he gained from the course: “By focusing on land as an asset for urban development and looking at land as a source of revenue for cities, the course gave me the knowledge and tools to address specific problems in Kabul”.