Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

6
CHAPTER
POLICY RESPONSES TO
TENURE INSECURITY
Chapter 5 provided a brief overview of security of tenure
and the many complex definitions and localized meanings
that are associated with this term. The chapter examined the
scale and impacts of tenure insecurity, the reasons why
security of tenure is not yet universally enjoyed, and the
social groups who are particularly affected by conditions of
tenure insecurity, with a key focus on those driven from
their homes by forced eviction, market evictions and other
causes, including armed conflict and disaster. The analysis
concluded with coverage of the ways in which the ‘illegal’ or
informal city is now an increasingly accepted reality in much
of the developing world. It is in these ‘illegal cities’ – now
home to perhaps one quarter of humanity – that security of
tenure conditions are at their worst.
As Chapter 5 showed, security of tenure is complex,
multifaceted and difficult to define purely in terms of formality
or informality, legality or illegality, or modern or
customary law. The United Nations has grappled with the
complexities of security of tenure since its earliest years as
part of its broader efforts in support of peace, security,
poverty reduction and human rights. Although attention was
placed more on rural than urban areas during the early years,
a resolution on land reform adopted in 1950, for instance,
speaks of ‘systems of land tenure’ that impede economic
development and ‘thus depress the standards of living
especially of agricultural workers and tenants’. The resolution
also urges states to institute appropriate forms of land
reform and to undertake measures to ‘promote the security
of tenure and the welfare of agricultural workers and
tenants’. 1
The debate has moved on considerably since 1950,
and there has been an ever growing recognition of the
problem and how best to address it, particularly concerning
urban land. Security of tenure issues are now routinely
examined as a core concern and component, not just of
sustainable human settlements and urban policies, but also
as a fundamental concern of human rights. This increasingly
expansive approach, where questions of tenure, rights,
policies and laws converge, contributes to the emergence of
more integral or multidimensional approaches to security of
tenure. This, in turn, can lead to the identification of more
nuanced, practical and appropriate measures designed to
ensure that ever larger numbers of urban (and rural)
dwellers are protected by adequate degrees of secure
tenure.
As discussed in Chapter 5, cities are characterized by
a wide range of tenure categories, from legal categories
based on statutory, customary or religious law, to extra-legal
ones, such as squatting, unauthorized land subdivisions and
houses constructed in contravention of official norms. In
practical terms, this implies that most people in the cities of
developing countries live within a continuum in which some
aspects of their housing are legal, while others are not. The
existence of such a continuum has serious consequences for
the development and implementation of urban policy: ‘It is
essential to identify the range of statutory, customary and
informal tenure categories in a town or city so that the
consequences of urban policy on different tenure submarkets
can be anticipated.’ 2 Governments and international
agencies have undertaken a wide range of policies to redress
problems of tenure insecurity and to remedy the often
deplorable living conditions found in the world’s informal
settlements.
This chapter builds on Chapter 5 and turns to the
question of how national and local governments, the international
community and civil society have attempted to
grapple with tenure insecurity, both through policy and legal
measures. Several key policy and legal responses on
questions of tenure security are examined, including upgrading
and regularization; titling and legalization; land
administration and registration; legal protection from forced
eviction; and addressing violations of security of tenure
rights. This is followed by a discussion of the roles and
potential contributions of civil society and the international
community. The final section contains a more in-depth
review of how three countries – South Africa, Brazil and
India – have approached the question of security of tenure in
terms of both policy and human rights.
UPGRADING AND
REGULARIZATION
Slum upgrading and tenure regularization are perhaps the
most common policy responses to illegal settlements
throughout the developing world. Such processes, when
Most people in the
cities of developing
countries live within
a continuum in
which some aspects
of their housing are
legal, while others
are not
Governments and
international
agencies have
undertaken a wide
range of policies to
redress problems of
tenure insecurity