Arguably sound land governance is the key to achieving sustainable development and to supporting the global agenda
of the MDGs. Even in terms of standard indicators such as corruption, land has long been known to be one of the sectors most affected by bad governance, something that is not difficult to understand in light of the fact that land is not only a major asset but also that its values are likely to rise rapidly in many contexts of urbanization and economic development. Land administration systems are the basis for conceptualizing
rights, restrictions and responsibilities. Property rights are normally concerned with ownership and tenure whereas restrictions
usually control use and activities on land. The World Bank, together with its partners, has a long tradition of organizing an annual conference on land policies and administration
to facilitate exchange of experience among practitioners and showcasing innovative solutions to technical and policy
issues in this area. This volume contains papers presented at these conferences to make them available to a wider audience
interested in this topic.