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118Security of tenureFully legalDegree of legalityZero legalityFigure 5.1Urban tenurecategories by legalstatusSource: adapted from Payne,2001eNo securitySecurity of tenureoften has as much todo with one’sperception ofsecurity as theactual legal statusOwner –unauthorized subdivisionSquatter owner –regularizedSquatter tenantPavement dwellerTenant with contractFreeholderLeaseholderLegal owner – unauthorized subdivisionTenant in unauthorized subdivisionSquatter ‘owner’ – non-regularizedDegree of tenure securityde facto rights may vary considerablyFull securitytion from the State against forced evictions’. 12 Under internationallaw, forced eviction is defined as ‘the permanent ortemporary removal against their will of individuals, familiesand/or communities from the homes and/or land which theyoccupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriateforms of legal or other protection’. 13While all persons reside with one or another form oftenure, not all tenure types are secure. Moreover, security isnot necessarily only available through the formalization oftenure rights. As many analysts have asserted, security oftenure often has as much to do with one’s perception ofsecurity as the actual legal status one may enjoy. A variety oftenure arrangements can provide tenure security. People canhave de facto security of tenure, coupled with varyingdegrees of legal tenure when, for instance, governmentsprovide assurances against displacement or incorporate aneighbourhood within a special zone protected againstevictions, such as is envisaged under the Brazilian CityStatute (see Box 11.8 in Chapter 11). Governments can alsorecognize security of tenure, but without officially regularizingthe community concerned, and can also issue interimoccupancy permits or temporary non-transferable leases thatcan provide forms of secure tenure. At the other end of theBox 5.2 Tenure types in Phnom Penh, CambodiaIn the case of Phnom Penh, nine types of tenure have been categorized, from the most to theleast secure:1 certificate of ownership;2 certificate of possession;3 government concession;4 court order after dispute;5 family registered book;6 unauthorized occupation of private land;7 unauthorized occupation of state private land;8 unauthorized occupation of state public land; and9 pavement/mobile dweller.Source: Payne, 1997.spectrum, governments can support laws and policies whichenvisage long-term leases and secure tenure through leaseholdor freehold rights. As Figure 5.1 shows, tenure must beviewed as a spectrum with various degrees of security,combined with various degrees of legality.In practical terms, however, the issue of tenuresecurity may be even more complicated than that outlined inFigure 5.1. Security (and insecurity) of tenure takes aplethora of forms, varying widely between countries, citiesand neighbourhoods, land plots and even within individualdwellings, where the specific rights of the owner or formaltenant may differ from those of family members or others. Asnoted above, the figure does not, for example, includecustomary or Islamic tenure categories, nor does it take intoaccount other specific historical, political or other circumstances.Box 5.2 presents the variation of tenure categoriesin one specific location, Phnom Penh (Cambodia).Moreover, it is important to point out that differenttenure systems can co-exist next to each other. This is notonly the case at the national level where a country maymaintain and recognize many different types of tenure, buteven at the neighbourhood or household level. It is quitecommon in the developing world for informal settlements tobe comprised of homes that possess varying degrees oftenure security, and that provide differing levels of rights toinhabitants depending upon a variety of factors. Thecommon practice of squatters subletting portions of theirhomes or land plots to tenants is one of many exampleswhere individuals living on the same land plot may each havedistinct degrees of tenure security/insecurity.This discussion highlights the fact that security oftenure is a multidimensional, multilevelled process that is ofuniversal validity, but which needs to be approached andacted on in a myriad of ways, many or all of which can beconsistent with internationally recognized human rights.Understanding the different categories of tenure, thevarying degrees of security that each affords dwellers andhow the benefits of secure tenure can be spread more extensivelyand equitably throughout all societies remains a majorpolicy challenge. While human rights law now clearly stipulatesthat security of tenure is a basic human right, ensuringthat all who possess this right enjoy security of tenureremains a major challenge to governments and the broaderinternational community.At the extreme end of the secure–insecure tenurecontinuum are the millions of people who are homeless.Even within this group, however, there is a wide range ofdifferent tenure types, with different levels on tenuresecurity, or rather, in this case, different levels of tenureinsecurity (see Box 5.3). Homelessness is quite often theoutcome – for shorter or longer periods of time – whencommunities, households or individuals are evicted fromtheir homes. However, due to the wide range of definitionsof homelessness, general lack of data, and in particularcomparative data, this Global Report does not include aspecific discussion on the trends and conditions relating tohomeless people.Insecure tenure is not exclusively a problem facingthose residing within the informal housing and land sector,