Leuven and Brussels, Belgium, 23-26 May 2001
COPING WITH INFORMALITY AND ILLEGALITY
IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN DEVELOPING CITIES
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ESF/N-AERUS International Workshop Leuven and Brussels, Belgium, 23-26 May 2001
COPING WITH INFORMALITY AND ILLEGALITY
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Murat Balamir and Geoffrey Payne
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The paper provides an update on current research [1] reviewing innovative approaches to tenure for the urban poor. Findings from the research indicate that in most cities in the South, tenure systems exist within a continuum of traditional, statutory and informal categories. In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish between these systems, making it impossible to predict the outcomes of specific policy measures.
The widespread existence of various non-statutory tenure systems is partly a response to the failure of statutory tenure systems to meet the needs of lower income groups which invariably represent the majority of urban populations. It may also reflect the persistence of traditional practices for obtaining and developing land that are not officially recognised. These alternative forms may, however, reflect the needs of the poor and enable them to obtain land in areas that would otherwise not be affordable or available. As such, they can claim a degree of legitimacy even if they lack formal legality.
Where official mechanisms deny the poor legal access to land and shelter, such alternatives can claim to provide a degree of social and moral legitimacy. The larger the proportion of people forced to live outside the legal norms, the more they are undermined, risking a reduction in respect for the law in general.
The paper reviews examples of innovative approaches to tenure intended to facilitate access to shelter for the urban poor and increase legitimacy without necessarily providing full legality.
[1] Innovative approaches to tenure for the urban poor' a research project being undertaken by Geoffrey Payne and Associates with land tenure specialists in 14 countries. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2001.
N-AERUS: Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South
http://www.naerus.net