Rethinking Idle Land: A Review of Strategies for Effective Land Utilisation

Idle land, often neglected in mainstream development planning, poses both a challenge and an opportunity for sustainable land management. This paper reviews global strategies adopted to transform idle land into productive use, encompassing policy interventions, community-based initiatives, private sector mechanisms, and emerging technologies. Drawing on comparative insights and case studies from both developed and developing countries, the review identifies common enabling factors and critical barriers in strategy implementation. It further proposes a holistic, multi-dimensional framework that integrates land governance, legal reform, local empowerment, and data-driven innovation to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study concludes that unlocking idle land potential requires coordinated, context-sensitive interventions that reflect institutional realities and socio-economic complexities.