Eco-sensitive land governance for the settlements of Kerala

Abstract

The dichotomous distinction between environment and development has been debated for the past few decades especially since the Brundtland’s definition of sustainable development. The spatial planning process, termed to be essentially about “shaping and delivering tomorrow’s places” (UCL & Deloitte, 2007), is also trying to respond to the climate change challenges as land use directly influences economy and environment. A recent study reveals that the land use changes account for one third of all man-made CO2 emissions since 1850 (Lincoln Institute & OECD, 2017). The dilemma of managing land as ecosystem and economy forms the core of the debates with contrasting viewpoints taken by various scholars. The avenues of behavioural research and environmental psychology challenges the notion of ‘market’ being the prime culprit behind land use changes, identifying the association of individuals with the land and their land use choices as a key area to address in the land use debate. Also, various literature on land policy suggest that land use planning should not be dealt in isolation; rather it is the broad umbrella of land governance which plays crucial role in steering land use choices, involving a number of spatial and not-spatial policies.In this context, this study intends to explore how the land governance structure and policies influence individual land use choices and eventually the ecology. The site selected for the study consists of two Grama Panchayats in Kerala, a state renowned for its dispersed urbanization pattern. The much hyped Rural-Urban continuum came at the price of wetlands, a fact realized after the devastating flood of 2018. A new wave of discussions emerged after the flood, questioning the existing trend of settlement expansion in the form of detached houses and the state’s inability to restrict the same with adequate policy measures. Compact settlements cannot be achieved only through spatial planning. Instead, it requires ‘active’ and ‘passive’ policies (Lincoln Institute & OECD, 2017) which can influence individual’s actions on the land. This study explores the merits of existing active and passive policies on land, assesses the developmental trends over the past decades, simulate future scenarios and suggests a land governance structure which can steer the land use in an ecosensitive manner.