“Losing Ground? The Unprecedented Shrinking of Public Spaces and Land in Ugandan Municipalities”—authored by a joint team of researchers from Makerere University and UNCDF (Paul Mukwaya, Dmitry Pozhidaev, Denis Tugume, and Peter Kasaija)—the authors intend to shed a light on the use and misuse of Ugandan municipalities’ most valuable resource: its urban land and public spaces.

This publication was created to stress the critical importance of the continued loss of public lands, specifically by establishing a reliable evidence base as well as analyzing prevailing practices for public spaces and land management in Uganda. The authors explore two Ugandan municipalities as case studies, Mbale and Gulu, with the goal of situating the findings in a broader national context. The study draws valuable insight into how authorities in these two municipalities, and local governments in Uganda, could improve provision of public services for equitable, economic growth that benefits all citizens. In the process, these improvements would contribute to the achievement of the national SDG targets while leaving no one behind.