Security of tenure is essential if individuals are to benefit from land as an economic asset, i.e., to use land for investments, as collateral and, generally, as revenue and a means of social inclusion and recognition. In certain contexts, reliable rules regulating land ownership and tenure have been essential to include certain marginalized groups into economic systems or labour markets that previously did not acknowledge them as members of the community.64 Secure land tenure, however, does not necessarily ensure protection of the poor from external economic forces. Without public policies in place to provide this kind of service and assistance, privately-owned land in conditions of poverty or lacking access to basic services and needs may not be enough to improve or guarantee the livelihood and security of poorer households. This is all the more important in urban contexts, where informal settlements are significantly more exposed to inadequate service provision, disaster risk and the effects of climate change, and socio-economic marginalization from wealthier areas. Even under a regime of secure land rights, that is, poorer dwellers are not protected from predatory market behaviour when the value of the land increases. In this regard, local governments can do much to recognize different forms of tenure and act for the formalization of the land rights of their citizens. Secure tenure has long been an instrument for local administrations interested in improving quality of life and socio-economic inclusion of slums and other marginalized areas in conditions of poverty. Urban planning measures that actively address the issue of slums and socio-economically marginalized areas in urban settlements are among the most common programmes aimed at the urban poor. Many cities in low- and middle-income countries host between 30 and 60 percent of their total population in informal settlements or in areas that, although formally planned and built, end up hosting a disproportionately larger number of residents than what they were designed to in terms of access to basic services. Upgrading slums and their living conditions affects a number of SDGs and Targets. In many countries, achieving these goals is a policy responsibility that falls directly on local and regional governments. Slum upgrading and renovation has been a core policy goal for decades, now, and often schemes have fallen short of their targets in low- and middle-income nations. Nevertheless, there are several LRG-led initiatives that prove that LRGs working directly with the affected communities (sometimes with the help of national governments, most times with bottom-up initiatives of local groups and civil society organizations) are actually able to take on this challenge and – consistently with the SDGs – can ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services. In Pune (India), the effectiveness of the housing programme of the Municipal Corporation increased as it switched from plans to build new housing ‘for low-income groups’ to working with the residents, their organizations and local NGOs in in-situ upgrading in existing ‘slums’. In Cape Town, the effectiveness of the Government of South Africa’s support for ‘slum’ upgrading schemes increased when support was provided to community organizations within the South African Shack/Slum Dwellers International Alliance and other civil society groups. Cape Town’s city government has supported six community led upgrading schemes that included re-blocking to a community-designed layout to allow access to streets, services and safe public spaces. Mukuru (Kenya) is one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi – and Nairobi County has declared it a special planning area to facilitate its development through community led upgrading. In this, it is working with the city government and Muungano wa Wanavijiji (the Kenyan Federation of Slum Dwellers).
46
64 In Peru, for instance, land titling was essential to protect the right of families to own the land they used and occupied. By formalizing ownership, individuals (especially women) who remained on the land unproductively just to protect it from abusive seizures from either public or private entities, could enter the workforce and contribute economically to the household, thus allowing for further investments to improve the land’s value and also reducing reliance on child work. A regulation on land tenure, ultimately, managed to have an impact on poverty reduction, gender equality and inclusion, and children’s well-being and education. For more details, see UN-Habitat and GLTN (2016) Leveraging Land.