Resource information
The City of Ulaanbaatar (UB) is
undergoing a historic transformation toward market-driven
urban development. This growth remains strongly influenced
by city policy decisions that affect the supply and location
of land for public and private uses. Private investment is
concentrated in well-serviced land located in the central
portion of the city and along major transportation
corridors, which represent a small part of the total built
area of the city. Mongolian law allows UB residents free
access to land for residential use, which is commendable
because it can reduce a substantial portion of the overall
cost of housing. Due to these land allocations, however,
low-density urban expansion has occurred along the urban
fringes, which imposes heavy costs on transportation and the
provision of basic utilities for city residents and omits an
important possible source of revenue for financing these
improvements. The current city administration clearly
recognizes that urban land represents one of the most
important assets under its guardianship and management. In
particular, the administration is making a systematic effort
to proactively manage land in the public interest. Notable
achievements include: (i) a nearly complete, current
accounting inventory of city-owned capital assets; (ii)
surveying, mapping, inventorying, and auditing public-use
land; and (iii) decisive administrative measures to stop and
correct past practices of nontransparent and sometimes
unlawful land allocations to private sector actors, and to
protect public land from informal occupation. However, such
reforms are incomplete, and the city administration s
efforts are constrained by existing national laws and
regulations and conflicting perceptions about land as a
designated public entitlement for residential use. There are
several outstanding challenges the city faces in improving
the administration of land and supporting the function of
urban land and property markets to support investment and
economic growth.
