Land is the primary physical platform for building a community. A critical part of GK's holistic approach to poverty eradication is building structurally sound and environmentally friendly infrastructure in secured land where communities can live and thrive.
One of the things we've learned in our 10-year journey is that there are many generous landowners who are just looking for ways to help. When we asked land donors to donate idle land for the poor, we also discovered a win-win solution for everyone. The poor finally have a piece of land to call their own after generations of landlessness, idle land is developed, new centers for productivity are built, and for the landowners, the value of the rest of their property increases.
You can help build a community by donating land.
Site Selection Criteria
The following site selection criteria was developed to ensure that the donated land is able to accommodate a safe, healthy and sustainable long-term GK community.
- Land Ownership: Legitimate ownership and the right to donate must be confirmed by way of a deed or lease. The site must be free from legal issues of ownership and/or tenure, and must have all the proper documentation to ensure that families have security of tenure for at least 25 years.
- Buildable Area: The site must be capable of accommodating a minimum of 30 standard (32sqm) GK house lots plus 30% devoted to open space. In all areas except Metro Manila, every 1 hectare of buildable area must be accompanied by 2 hectares of livelihood land area.
- Roads: The proximity of the site from the National road or Barangay road should be 1km or less. The site must also have an existing Right-of-Way, providing sufficient access for all future residents and access to the construction site.
- Public Amenities: The proximity of the site to good quality amenities such as public transport, schools, police stations, medical facilities, markets, parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities and employment opportunities must be taken into consideration.
- Safety: The site’s Buildable Area must not have history of flooding or a vulnerability to future flooding, or be in a high drainage flow area. The site must not have significant soil hazards such as contamination, erosion, settling (subsidence), a high water-table or other soil-related issues.
- Sanitation and Health: If the site is near an existing landfill, waste treatment facility, industrial facility or other potential health hazards, it must be demonstrated that this proximity does not render the site an unhealthy living environment.
- Ecology: The site must not contain plant or animal habitats, whose removal would be considered unacceptable from an ecological standpoint. The site must also have a limited impact on the quality of water that drains from the site into the lower catchment, to ensure the protection of natural streams, ponds, and surface or subsurface water supplies.
- Heritage Value: The site must not contain areas of cultural or historical significance. In case the site is an Ancestral Domain, please secure proper documents and clearances.
- Excessive Preparation Costs: Any significant slope affecting the site's Building Area will be assessed because it might lead to additional site preparation costs. The site must also not contain existing structures requiring an unacceptable amount of time and cost to remove. Other preparation costs that must be avoided include excavation costs, soil stabilization costs and soil decontamination costs.
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