Port Vila, Efate Island, Vanuatu

Port Vila city snapshot

About Port Vila’s challenge

Port Vila municipality is surrounded by customary land, however sustained rural-to-urban migration means that urban planning now has to consider adjacent rural ‘peri-urban’ jurisdictions. In peri-urban areas migrant communities have made alternative arrangements with customary landowners.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons why customary landowners may revoke permission to settle on their land: land values rise, making it more profitable to rent to others; migrants fail to make payments; and conflicts between individuals or groups can lead to evictions.

Our challenge is to plan our urban communities and city-neighbourhoods in a way that makes the city accessible to anyone seeking its opportunities.

This means tenure security so that people can develop their communities with confidence that their investments in housing, livelihoods, waste management, gardens, climate change adaptation, community space, and community development aren’t wasted.

Alignment to SDG11

Goal 11.1: Ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade slums.

Goal 11.7: Provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

Goal 11.A: Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.

Goal 11.B: Substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.