Urban Property Markets Playbook

Property Markets Toolkit

The overarching goal of the Urban Property Markets Playbook is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) understand and participate in formal property markets so that the vast amount of what Peruvian economist, and CIPE’s first partner, Hernando de Soto termed “deal capital” in emerging markets can be converted into working assets that lift families out of poverty, unite communities, and provide a sustainable future for all.

Property markets are inherently local and can vary widely from one city to another, even from one block to the next. Cities are on the front lines of addressing rising inequalities, broader well-being, and can more effectively and efficiently advance policies and programs that boost equity and economic growth. The Playbook is a guide to help local stakeholders measure the status of their property markets and educate SMEs on the centrality of functioning and transparent property markets to their continued advancement.

The Playbook offers suggestions to local reformers on collaboration with business groups, property market professionals and civil society organizations. It includes proven advocacy programs for policies and implementation programs that local officials can make to build resilient urban economies that benefit all.

Each of the six Core Elements of the Playbook complements the Core Elements of the Scorecard and begins with researching the conditions in the country, region and city. The intent is not an exhaustive research project, but a general overview of the situation for entrepreneurs that will inform next steps. Suggested “plays” for collaboration and advocacy follow:

Playbook Action Areas

Get Started

We increasingly live in city-centered economies. Urbanization becomes more and more pronounced every day. According to the UN, over half the global population lives in urban areas now and that percentage is projected to increase to around two-thirds by 2050.

While national policy may seem intractable, these global experiences show that change is possible. Stakeholders in reform-oriented cities can still act to encourage economic growth, promote sustainability, and support democracy. CIPE has been working with private sector partners around the world for many decades to develop guidelines, frameworks, and practical solutions for local reformers interested in moving from largely informal and opaque property markets to transparent, fair, and stable property market systems.

This Urban Property Markets Playbook is the next step in addressing profound institutional gaps on the local level in property rights, access to credit, effective governance, mediation, market transparency, and sustainability.

Across the wide spectrum of our global community, too many have lost sight of the core principles that make democracy work, including the right to associate economically, the right to own and finance property, and the right to have government work for everyone, not just the connected elite. This Playbook offers practical, simple, and tested actions for measurement, collaboration, and advocacy that can be embraced by a wide range of organizations to transform our cities into vibrant and resilient urban landscapes that are inclusive and support a sustainable future for all.