UNECE WPLA Workshop Athens 13 14 December 2012

UNECE WPLA Workshop Athens, 13 -14 December, 2012 Informal Settlements (Azerbaijan) Dr. Elshad KHANALIBAYLI State Committee on Property Issues Republic of Azerbaijan

Definitions: o Occupied land – lands not granted to ownership, occupation and leasehold, and informal settlement (adverse possession), as well as not documented and the lands exceeding limited size. o Informal settlement – residences, other buildings, plants or real estate built in the plot of land not allocated for construction purposes or built without obtainment of necessary permission or by strictly breaching town planning or building norms. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Informal Settlements… Why? . . UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Main Reasons that led to this problem in Azerbaijan o In the previous times: Centralization of industry gradually mainly in big cities, including Baku (especially “oil boom”) – uneven urbanization; o End of 1980’s: Nagorny Karabakh problem – migration of millions of people from this territory: more than 1 million Azeri refugees and IDP’s; o Absence of precise maps that divide the area into regions; o In the previous times: difficulty in permission procedures resulted with the construction of large-scale illegal buildings – uneven division of responsibilities of municipalities and state agencies for housing. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

TYPES OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS o a) Squatter settlements on public or private land; o b) Settlements for refugees and vulnerable people; o c) Upgraded squatter settlements; o d) Illegal suburban land subdivisions on legally owned private and illegal change of land-use regulations, often on the urban fringe; o e) Overcrowded, dilapidated housing without adequate facilities in city centres or densely urbanized areas. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Table: Matrix of informal settlement types Inner- Pericity urban Squatter settlements on public or private land + Settlements for vulnerable people + refugees and Upgraded squatter settlements + Illegal suburban land subdivisions on private or public land Overcrowded, dilapidated housing UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012 without adequate facilities + Sub. Relativestandard/ ly good Slums quality + + + +

UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Strategic document on regulation of illegal settlements: - Prepared within “Real Estate Registration” Project carried out by World Bank in Azerbaijan; -Submitted to the government; - Taking into account the Strategic document, Draft Law has been prepared by the government; - Draft Law is being discussed. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Principles: • Problem on illegal settlements will be solved legally by obeying the principles of social justice and protection of property rights. • Illegal settlements will be documented, and in resettlement case when the documentation is impossible, fair compensation will be applied to the factual owners of properties. • (Draft) Law stipulates strict liability actions for preventing the continuation of illegal constructions; both representatives of public and municipal bodies and citizens will be prosecuted strictly and sanctioned for participating in the case of illegal construction. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Draft Law on regulation of illegal settlements: Strategy o Accumulation of information on illegal constructions; o Development of e-database; o Solution of organisational and financial issues; o State Programme for regulation of illegal settlements UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

1. Information on illegal constructions should include: o Identification of places; o Identification of the list and number of illegal constructions on areas; o Classification of illegal constructions. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

2. E-database: necessary actions o Marking areas on the map; o Maintaining and updating the data; o Marking infrastructure possibilities on the map; o E-documents; o Development of block for public awareness. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

3. Actions for solving organisational and financial issues o Creation and maintenance of representations, their control; o Coordination measures on involvement, distribution and correct utilization of financial resources; o Establishment and maintenance of Central Council; o Involvement of private sector to the inventory. UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

4. State Programme should include: Regulation procedures; Identification of financial and technical support; Supporting programme for construction; Strategy for elimination of social injustice; Phases of regulation; Responsibilities of state agencies; Strategy for prevention of development of illegal constructions; o Proposals on easy access to data. o o o o UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

5. Regulation procedures: Procedures for legalization Renovation procedures Resettlement and housing procedures Procedures for alternative apartment system o Abolition precedures o o UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Strategy for prevention of illegal construction development in the future (1): o o o o Conceptual bases of apartment maintenance Social apartment programme Proposals on construction standards Proposals on penalties and sanctions Directions on allocating of concessional land Simplification of registration system Directions on correct land utilization Directions on land restoration UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

Strategy for prevention of illegal construction development in the future (2): o Strategy for supporting production and utilization of local and appropriate construction materials o Methods of improvement of apartment construction areas towards being good-looking and accessible for environment from functional, operable, esthetic point of view o Establishment of relevant entity to prevent the development of illegal constructions in future UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

State Committee on Property Issues (SCPI) has already finished the Terms of Reference for inventory of illegal constructions and development of database UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

SCPI will organise the inventory of illegal constructions by involving private sector and develop a database

Expected Outcomes: o o o o Complete list of illegal constructions Solution of legal, technical and financial issues Assurance of social equality of citizens Making illegal constructions full right subjects of real estate market Efficient usage of land Involvement of illegal constructions to taxation Prevention of future development of illegal constructions Supporting the state programmes for city planning, area development and poverty reduction UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012

UNECE Working Party on Land Administration THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION Dr. Elshad KHANALIBAYLI UNECE WPLA Bureau member UNECE WPLA Workshop, Athens, 13 -14 December 2012