Land Resources and Rural Land Management and Policies

Land is the most essential resource for countries and a crucial part of their heritage. In every country, land management—covering the economics, administration, and policy of rural and urban land—is a vital element and an indispensable resource for local and regional development. However, in many developing countries, including Türkiye, land management is characterised by a fragmented institutional landscape where numerous organisations adopt different approaches, and a lack of cooperation between agencies prevents uniform implementation. In Türkiye, the involvement of multiple institutions in land management and administration, combined with poor coordination and overlapping jurisdictions, results in resource waste and an inefficient land management system. Therefore, aligning the legal mandates of various institutions is crucial to establishing an effective, accessible, and transparent land management system that guarantees property rights, ensures reliable property valuation for investments and transfers, and implements land use planning and sustainable land development. Rural land use has seen significant changes over the past century. Today, fragmented land holdings that do not generate sufficient income, combined with the declining viability of farming, have led to land abandonment and a continuous migration from rural to urban areas. Meanwhile, urban sprawl into rural zones is causing land degradation and an ongoing expansion of urban land. In the coming years, restructuring land management, administration, and policy will be necessary to meet the food and fibre demands of a growing population amid climate change.