October 2003 Insights Issue
#48
Safe as houses?
Securing urban land tenure and property rights
Millions of people in developing countries live without adequate security
of tenure or property rights. The United Nations expects this group to
increase by nearly 37 million a year to reach 1.5 billion by 2020. The
problem is particularly acute in urban areas where the costs of access
to legal land and housing are high and rising faster than incomes.
More...
Other articles in this issue:
Why has capitalism flourished in the West but not in developing and
former communist countries? Do the cultures and colonial histories of
those poorer countries somehow work against the proper development of
capitalism? Or do people lack the intellectual or material wealth to
start their own enterprises? Peruvian researcher, Hernando de Soto, maintains
that both these answers are wrong. Rather, he argues that the ‘mystery’ of
the development of capitalism lies in formalised property rights.
Many women still face discrimination in accessing land, shelter and
property rights despite policy and legal reforms. Tenure systems and
contexts vary greatly in the different opportunities and barriers they
offer to women. Changes clearly need to be made, but a better understanding
of the way these complex tenure systems relate to the dynamic roles of
women and men is required before the necessary options and impacts of
achieving the changes can be fully understood.
Excluded from formal government and private sector land delivery systems,
the urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa increasingly obtain shelter on urban
land through other means. Many do this through transactions that borrow
features from traditional rural customs of land management so that their
claims to use land and buildings can be identified, legitimised and defended.
Although these informal transactions are sometimes tolerated by governments,
they are rarely legalised. Nevertheless, they are accepted by the social
networks within which the people live.
The linkages between land titling and third world development are receiving
more attention from development researchers since the launch of the United
Nations Global Campaign for Secure Tenure in 1999 and the publication
of de Soto’s ‘The Mystery of Capital’.
Rental housing often conjures up images of rich landlords exploiting
poor tenants. However, research has shown that landlords in poor neighbourhoods
of many cities in developing countries are often as poor or even poorer
than their tenants. What is the link between rental housing and the livelihoods
of tenants and landlords?
Every day many tens of millions of people throughout the world face
the very real threat of eviction and the permanent loss of their homes.
Numerous human rights standards equate forced evictions with the violation
of housing rights. Nevertheless, too many governments continue to view
eviction as an acceptable policy tool during broader efforts of urban
beautification, city rejuvenation or economic development.
It is commonly assumed that granting clear land titles leads to increased
investment by the urban poor in permanent housing and increased access
to credit and therefore is a good strategy for improving their livelihoods.
Most land for residential development in African cities is developed
outside state regulatory frameworks. The channels through which land
is made available can even vary from city to city.
Further web resources.
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