Slum Areas and Insecure Tenure in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa: A Conceptual Review of African Best Practices

(1)

Slum Areas and Insecure Tenure in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa

- A Conceptual Review of African Best Practices

Tania Berger

Masters Thesis in Urban Studies

Institute for Housing and Urban Research

Supervisor: Sara Monaco

(2)

Abstract

Urbanisation processes in developing countries are resulting in a rapidly increasing proportion of habitants living in urban slum areas. In the international development debate the lack of tenure security for slum dwellers in developing countries is considered to be an essentially important problem. Within the framework of the UN Millennium Development Programme the necessity of efforts towards increased tenure security for marginalised urban residents was agreed upon. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the overall progress towards improved living conditions for slum area residents is showing the least positive results. This paper investigates the occurrence of activities in the region which show an ambition of improving tenure security for people living in urban slum areas. It does so by examining cases submitted from African countries to the UN-HABITAT database of best international practices in the improvement of living conditions.

Keywords: secure tenure, urban slum areas, best practices, Millennium Development

(3)

1. Introduction

The number of poor people living in urban slums is rapidly increasing throughout the world. According to estimations of the UN almost one billion people residing in urban areas live under housing conditions that are characterized as slum areas or squatter settlements. In developing countries the process of urbanisation is extraordinarily rapid due to extensive migration to the cities in combination with high birth rates. In some countries the proportion of slum dwellers is currently higher than the number of residents living in non-slum areas.1_{Urbanisation processes in these countries is leaving} the poor with few other options but to seek temporary and inadequate shelter in urban slum areas. The World Bank has described the development in an alarming way. It states that during the time needed for the construction of one unit of permanent housing in the poorest of the developing countries, the equivalent of nine new households is being shaped.2

The above description provides an indication about the magnitude of the problems related to the increasing urban housing needs in developing countries. Among the many problems facing urban slum dwellers, lack of access to basic services such as water, sanitation, waste removal, health services, etc, are some of the most striking difficulties. Overcrowding, unemployment, high mortality and insecure forms of tenure are other severe disadvantageous factors typical of slum areas.

Apart from these obvious negative effects, the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto goes even further in claiming that when people do not own their land or property, overall development is fundamentally hampered. Property ownership is in other words the foundation on which capitalism flourishes. One of the main differences between development in the westernized world and in developing countries can accordingly be found in the existence of a considerable amount of unused or inactive capital in the less developed parts of the world. The widespread absence of tenure security for poor urban residents is one of the main consequences of the situation.3_{At global level there is an} increased awareness that rapid improvements in this aspect are necessary.

Goal number seven in the UN Millennium Declaration, which was signed by world leaders in 2000, declares a global effort to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum inhabitants until the year 2020.4_{The improvements to be achieved are} divided into two main areas. On the one hand the ambition is to strengthen the supply of locally organised urban services such as water, sanitation, sewage and waste

1 UN. 2005, p.34 2 Balchin, P.N. et al. 2000, p. 127 3 De Soto, H. 2000 4 MillenniumProject. 2006

(5)

management and secondly the focus is on ameliorating bad housing conditions due to insecure tenure.5

It is thus internationally agreed at the UN-level that the concept of secure tenure must be an integrated and substantial part in efforts towards achieving improvements in the lives of millions of slum dwellers. At the same time the Best Practises Database of UN-HABITAT, which will be described in a more detailed way later on, was created with the purpose of identifying international achievements for the improvement of living conditions, i.e. in order to show efforts which have produced a positive result. One of the main intentions of identifying best practises is to act “as a barometer of emerging urban trends and conditions and a means of identifying who is doing what to implement commitments made under Agenda 21, the Habitat Agenda and the Millennium Declarations Goals”.6_{Given these facts the underlying assumption in this study rests} upon the belief that aspects of creating stable, or improving the existing, tenure forms for slum inhabitants ought to constitute major elements among projects striving to improve living conditions since the adoption of the Millennium Program.

Since the beginning of the new millennium several urban renewal projects and interventions have been initiated or implemented in developing countries with the purpose of working towards the goal of improving the lives of slum dwellers. Despite many efforts made in different cities across the world there are still regions where the situation is static or worse than at the beginning of the millennium. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions where the least progress is seen in this aspect and the conditions for individuals living in slum-like urban areas are rather deteriorating.

In this study one of the key concepts of Millennium Goal number seven, namely secure tenure, which constitutes one of the main components in international slum improvement efforts, will be looked into. To obtain secure tenure is one of the most significant aspects in the process of creating decent and supportable living conditions for human beings. Tenure status is furthermore a crucial component in the integration of poor urban groups in cities. It is often stated that the lack of secure tenure reinforces social exclusion and deepens poverty in the urban areas. Women and children are generally seen as two of the most vulnerable groups in this aspect.7

This study includes a theoretical review on the concept of secure tenure in order to explore its importance and understanding in the context of urban slum areas. Historically, a majority of the studies concerning land tenure has been concentrated on the rural perspective.8_{One of the ambitions of this paper is thus to contribute to the} more recent focus on urban tenure. Against the theoretical background the empirical part of the paper looks into a range of urban renewal interventions directed towards slum areas in developing countries, in order to clarify to what extent they focus on the aspect of secure tenure.

The main research question to be answered is thus, whether, and to what extent, efforts towards secure tenure of urban slum dwellers in Sub-Saharan Africa are incorporated 5 UN. 2001. s. 24 6 UN-HABITAT. 2004a, p.22 7

Durand-Lasserve, A., Royston, L. 2002, p.7

8

(6)

in projects/programmes which are classified as best practices in the area of improved living conditions.

1.1 Purpose of Study

Given the fact that secure tenure has become such a significant concept at international level, and is a fundamental part of the UN recommendation/strategy for achieving target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the objective of this study is to examine interventions which, since the beginning of the new millennium, have been classified as world “best practices” in living condition improvement. The aim thereby is to investigate what attention and consideration is paid to the aspect of tenure security in such practises, based on the current theoretical importance of the concept.

1.2 Methodology and Material

In the first sections of the paper, which consist of some background information and an initial theoretical concept review, the methodology applied is document and literature analysis. This means that material which deals with the topics of slum areas, land tenure and housing security for the urban poor will be reviewed. As there is a wide range of theoretical sources, besides the material on these topics from the UN, the ambition is to apply a qualitative approach in creating a broad understanding of the main concepts through the study of sources with different angels and viewpoints. Literature, by various different authors, such as researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders from the international arena, forms the principal material base for the theoretical section. Theories on informal housing and land occupancy formulated by the Peruvian Economist Hernando De Soto are used as an integral component in the theoretic analysis and discussion. The theoretical framework initiated in the first parts of the paper will be returned to and further developed in the final section where some different approaches and challenges connected to tenure security will be discussed together with the results of the empirical study.

The method used in the empirical part can be described as a quantitative analysis with a categorising and descriptive approach. Methodologically the objective is therefore to investigate the frequency with which certain categories occur in the material and also to give an account for the categories of special relevance to this study.9_{The empirical} study is based on an examination of material of projects/interventions found in the Best Practices Database (BPD) of UN-HABITAT. The main criteria for the selection of practices are twofold.

First, the cases must be directed towards activities in urban slum settlements in regions that according to UN statistics have rising numbers of slum dwellers and where conditions have deteriorated instead of improved. The region chosen for this purpose is Sub-Saharan Africa, which is the region where the least progress towards not only Millennium Goal number seven, but all of the goals, is noted. In a recent UN report on the current status of the Millennium Project the authors conclude that Sub-Saharan

9

(7)

Africa is “off track to meet every Millennium Development Goal”.10_{The main reason} for the selection of the African region in this aspect is that it is the worst case scenario where consequently the most efforts are needed in improving living conditions.

Secondly, the cases must have been implemented after the initiation of the Millennium Programme in 2000. This means that a certain limitation in the analysis is set whereby only submissions to the database in the two submission periods of 2002 and 2004 are selected. As the announcement of qualified submissions to the database for the current period of 2006 has not yet been made it was not possible to include the most recently submitted cases in the analysis.11

The methodology of the empirical part builds on an analysis of the database documentation describing the submitted practices. In the analysis different aspects of the practices are considered and listed. First of all the sorting of cases according to the database categories is presented. This is followed by a more specific project or programme type description. Thirdly, some keywords of the practice description are listed in order to display and summarize some of the main objectives and results. The keywords are put together through the subcategories in the database combined with aims and achievements found in the material. A further step of the analysis is an evaluation on whether the concept of secure tenure in urban areas is significant in the objectives of the respective practices. In order to facilitate the determination of this last aspect I have chosen to base the evaluation on indicators of secure tenure as formulated by UN-HABITAT. As these indicators broadly concern documented evidence or perceived perceptions of improved secure tenure, an assessment is made on whether these aspects are presented in the investigated practices. A more comprehensive explanation of the indicators in question is found in section 2.3 of the study. For all submissions which include efforts towards increased tenure security for slum dwellers the responsible implementing agency will also be considered.

1.2.1 Strengths and Weaknesses with Methodology/Material

One of the main strengths of the empirical material is the close link to the responsible agency for the work towards the MDGs on slum improvement. Since the cases examined have been submitted to HABITAT with the intention and hope of being selected as some of the best practises in the area of living condition improvements, the database ought to include clear and definite cases in this aspect.

A general weakness of the study is, however, found in the fact that the cases studied are limited in geographical scope. It is possible that there might be other interventions/activities in the region that are carried out with clear intentions towards secure tenure in urban slum areas, which are not considered since they have not qualified for the Best Practices Database. Since it would be impossible to examine every single intervention in this aspect, this is a shortcoming of the study which is

10

UN Millennium Project. 2005, p. 19

11

Even though no detailed information is currently available on the 2006 best practices a rough estimation of African submissions for the period is included in section 6.3.

(8)

considered inevitable. A further possibility is that some countries have been more active (or interested) than others when it comes to submitting their cases to the database. There is therefore no guarantee for an equally distributed number of submissions between African countries and a fair evaluation in the true sense. This is therefore one obvious weakness of the used material and methodology.

1.3 Disposition

Following this introductory part a brief but more in-depth background to the topic of the study and the research problem is given. Hereby descriptions on the UN Millennium Goal towards slum area improvement as well as the UN-HABITAT approach are given. This is followed by the theoretical conceptual analysis, including some for the study relevant definitions. Thereafter the empirical case study is presented and the main findings of the material studied are displayed towards the end of the section.12_{The final} part of the paper contains a summarizing discussion where the theoretical approach is resumed in connection to some of the empirical results and ultimately the main conclusions of the study are presented.

12

(9)

2. Background to the Research Problem

The following section presents a brief background to the topic of slum areas in developing countries and reflects on some recent trends and development on this issue in the Sub-Saharan context. Objectives, indicators and strategies of the Millennium Programme, which concern the improvement of the living conditions of slum inhabitants around the world, are also reviewed, as well as the UN-HABITAT approach.

2.1 Definition of Slum Areas and the Sub-Saharan Situation

There are numerous ways of categorising and naming the urban areas where the poorest segment of the population in developing countries usually live. Some of the most frequently used denominations are shanty town, slum area, squatter-, illegal-, irregular- or informal settlement. In the present text mainly the concepts of slum area and informal settlements or housing areas will be used when referring to the urban territories where inhabitants face various kinds of inadequate living conditions.

Even though there are major differences between the existence, development, structure, size, etc of slum areas in different countries and cities, a few similar characteristics are commonly pointed out. According to a general definition, frequently used by UN-HABITAT, slum areas lack one or several of the following conditions:

- Access to adequate water supply - Access to adequate sanitation facilities - Sufficient living area

- Structural quality/durability of dwellings - Security of tenure13

Since this study is concentrating on the last of the above aspects, which will be analysed separately in a later section, no profound exploration or discussion of the other characteristics will be pursued here. In order to create a better understanding of the topic, slum areas in urban parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, it is, however, necessary to reflect on some key aspects and features in this context.

The development of slum areas in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased in a very elevated pace during the past decades. Since the time of the beginning of the African independence process, in 1960 – 1970, African cities have been the fastest growing in the world. Annual average of urban growth in Africa is as high as 4.0 %, which is a much higher figure than the ones found for other developing continents.14_{The rapid} urbanisation seen in this region is quite unique in history and has lead to severe problems of over-urbanization, where existing urban services are far from sufficient to

13

UN-HABITAT. 2003a, p.18

14

(10)

serve all of the new inhabitants.15_{The growth of urban slum areas is often explained as} effects of rapid natural population growth, combined with high numbers of migrants from rural areas moving into the cities in the search for a better livelihood. Many analysts see a close link between the rural-urban migrants’ hope for a better life in the urban areas through work in the informal sector,16_{and the resulting development of} informal housing areas. Kinuthia Macharia, who is currently a Professor at the American University in Washington DC, in his research on social and political dynamics of informality in African cities, underlines the fundamental importance of social networks for obtaining accommodation at arrival in the urban areas by these migrants.17_{As migrants to a large extent seek shelter with relatives and acquaintances in} the cities, this also adds to the problem of overcrowded living conditions, which is one of the typical features of slum areas as mentioned earlier.

Although there are obvious difficulties in producing statistical data on the exact number of slum area inhabitants in many developing countries, estimations by the UN indicate that in the Sub-Saharan Africa region more than 160 million people live in slum like conditions. Other figures, as shown in Table 1, reveal that in this region approximately 70 % of the total urban population reside in slum areas.18_{The extremely elevated} percentage of urban slum population for this region is quite noteworthy since it is high above, not only the world total, but all other continents as well.

Table 1. Statistics on Population Living in Slums (2001 estimates)

Total urban population (millions) Urban population as % of total population Urban slum population (millions) Slum population as % of total urban population Sub-Saharan Africa 231 34,6 166 71,9 World 2 923 47,7 924 31,6 Source:UN-HABITAT.2003b, p.5

To summarize the information contained in Table 1 it can be stated that a significant majority of the urban inhabitants in the Sub-Saharan region of the world are slum dwellers. Adding to this situation a recent forecast of world urbanization patterns indicates that if current growth rates persist, by 2025 there will be a clear majority of people living in urban areas in Africa.19_{One crucial problem for this continuously} growing group of urban residents is the lack of secure tenure and safe housing conditions, which has been particularly highlighted by the international community and which will shortly be analysed more thoroughly. Before returning to the concept of secure tenure, a brief look at the existing aims and strategies towards slum area improvement within the UN framework will be made though.

15

Macharia, K. 1997, p.9

16

Informal sector is used here in the meaning of the informal economy, i.e. the black market

17 Macharia, K. 1997, p. xii 18 UN Millennium Project. 2005, p. 20, 26 19 UN-HABITAT. 2003a, p.34

(11)

2.2 Millennium Development Goal 7, Target 11 and Indicators

Ever since the adoption of the Millennium Development Program the importance of work towards a positive development for the poor in urban slum areas in developing countries has been one of the principal components of the UN agenda. The international ambitions in this aspect have been specifically formulated in “Target 11” of Millennium “Goal 7”, which concerns the broad topic of environmental sustainability, and reads: “To have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.”20

In order to measure the progress made towards achieving target 11, also called the “Cities without Slums” target, one single and outstanding indicator was agreed upon by the UN.21_{The indicator, which is monitored by UN-HABITAT, concerns the issue of} secure tenure of slum inhabitants and is stated as follows:

“Proportion of households with access to secure tenure.”22

In connection to the above one might ask why there has been such a strong advocacy within the UN for focusing on the importance of secure tenure. Something which is often brought up in this context is that the objective of reducing world poverty cannot be reached without major improvements of living conditions in urban slum areas. A marked increase in slum dwellers with secured tenure is thus judged to be a particularly vital component in the process of global poverty reduction, and also for improving the economic development in urban poor areas.23

Among the strategies originally advocated by the UN for the achievement of target 11, a few rather general recommendations were outlined. The principal purpose behind the recommendations is that they should be used as assisting directives for efforts made towards the “Cities without Slums” target. 24_{In section 6.1 a further discussion on the} content of these directives will be pursued.

2.3 The HABITAT Approach towards Secure Tenure

In order to get a better understanding of international ambitions it is necessary to consider the responsible agency, UN-HABITAT’s, approach and strategies towards increased tenure security. In guidelines, produced by the agency for the use by various actors involved in the process of slum improvement, several indicators and measuring methods are provided. The guidelines consist of recommendations towards improving aspects of the five typical components found lacking in slum areas (see appendix 1 for an overview). For the fifth element, which concerns improvement of secure tenure by slum dwellers, the indicators are two.

20

Millennium Development Goal Indicators Database. 2006.

21

UN-HABITAT.2003a, p. 14

22

Millennium Development Goal Indicators Database. 2006.

23

UN-HABITAT. 2004b, p.6

24

(12)

Indicator one concerns the increase in the proportion of individuals who have evidence

of documentation which assures them a secure tenure status. More precisely this refers to estimations of increases/decreases in numbers of households with one of the following:

- formal title deeds to land and/or residence;

- enforceable agreements by public authorities or documentation as proof of tenure status;

- formal rental contracts;

- customary tenure or irregular settlers with documented proof of tax payments; - customary tenure or irregular settlers with some form of proof for utility. 25

Indicator two seeks to measure increases in the proportion of inhabitants who have

either a “de facto or a perceived protection from forced evictions.”26

The second indicator is slightly more difficult to measure since it partially involves the perceived or believed notion of prevention from eviction. The method suggested for the measurement of the perceptions in this aspect by slum dwellers is through household surveys. Regarding the first part of the indicator, which aims at measuring the number of evictions in slum areas, HABITAT recommends that this should be measured through special studies on the topic. As this kind of information might be quite sensible, and is most often not included in a nation’s official statistics, these types of studies are best carried out by NGOs.27

As indicated in the above mentioned approach by HABITAT secure tenure is a key concept in the process of international and national work towards achieving target 11. In the subsequent section focus will be shifted to the theoretical aspect of this concept.

25 UN-HABITAT.2003b, p. 10 26 Ibid, p.11 27 Ibid

(13)

3. Land Tenure Systems and Secure Tenure

Section three contains a description of different forms of land tenure systems commonly found in the Sub-Saharan region. As the degree of security may vary between different tenure forms I find it necessary to include some reflections on the differences between the existing systems. A brief concept analysis of secure tenure is also found in this section as well as some theoretic arguments on the topic by Hernando de Soto. The reader is reminded that the theoretical angle, including discussions on approaches and challenges linked to tenure security, initiated in this section will be further pursued in section 6.

3.1 Tenure Systems

Although research in the area of housing conditions and tenure is nothing new, studies on the issue of land tenure in developing countries have traditionally mainly focused on aspects of rural land tenure. It is only during more recent decades that research has concentrated to a higher extent on tenure in urban areas.28_{This might partially have a} logical explanation in that the urbanisation process in developing countries has been, and still is, occurring in a quite drastic and rapid way and the increased interest in the urban side of tenure has grown accordingly.

In an analysis of urban land tenure in developing countries the renowned consultant Geoffrey Payne, defines land tenure as “the mode by which land is held or owned, or the set of relationships among people concerning the use of land and its product”.29_{It is} worth noting the last part of this definition. The set of relationships among people on land use namely gives us a hint on that there may be great disparities in this aspect between different societies.

The fact that towns and cities in developing countries have a great variation of existing tenure and property rights systems is something which is evident when studying literature on this topic. As Payne points out concepts of land tenure are an indication of prevailing values in a certain society and thus differences emerge.30_{Extensive mixtures} of different tenure systems on adjacent areas, or even on the same plot, of land are common, creating a situation which complicates the study and mapping of tenure forms. The Sub-Saharan region is no exception in this regard and issues of land tenure are usually surrounded by a high degree of complexity, something which is also understood when considering the above mentioned somewhat vague definition of the concept. Table 2 contains a schedule over some of the current tenure systems. Although further variations are possible the categories listed count to some of the most frequently found. 28 Payne, G. 2002, p. 1 29 Payne, G. 1997, p. 3 30 Ibid

(14)

With the purpose of indicating some key similarities the categories have been divided into four main groups, namely those with ownership, rental, religious (or Islamic) and non-formal tenure characteristics.

Table 2. Different Tenure Systems

Ownership Tenure Rental Tenure Religious Tenure31 _{Non-formal Tenure} Freehold Public Rental Religious trust land Regularised squatting Delayed freehold Private Rental Collective/Tribal Unregularised squatting

Registered leasehold

Shared Equity32 State controlled Unauthorised subdivisions of land Customary Individual ownership Unofficial rental Source: UN-HABITAT.2004b, p. 8

Descriptions of tenure types frequently found on the African continent usually include one category which is considered to be typical for the region, namely the customary (or communal) land delivery system. The definition of customary land tenure is basically a system where rights to land and property is not vested in an officially documented recognition, but rather rests upon the legitimacy of communities. Moreover land is considered as belonging to a whole social group and not to an individual.33

Apart from the customary system many other tenure types are found in the Sub-Saharan region. For instance the freehold or private land ownership, and the respective system of individual property registration, is common in many urban areas in the region. Research indicates that since the late 1960s a large-scaled commercialisation of land and housing markets can be observed in most African countries.34_{Historically, the private or} freehold urban tenure form was largely introduced during the colonial era and was a more or less direct imitation of the colonial powers’ urban systems. Today this inherited tenure system exists along side with other types of systems such as customary or communal, rental or religious land tenure in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.35_Among ownership tenure forms delayed freehold and registered leasehold can be described as being conditional ownership conditions in the sense that partial payments have to be made during a certain period in order to obtain full ownership status.36

In slum areas usually one or a mixture of a non-formal tenure category are found. Hernando de Soto identifies some severe difficulties related to processes of trying to change tenure form from non-formal housing to formal. Major problems exist in the formal mechanisms of land acquisitions and housing in developing countries. In most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa the procedures for regularizing land ownership and obtaining access to formal housing are lengthy and extremely complicated. The

31

The religious tenure category is still present in many African Islamic societies but will henceforth, for limitation purposes, not be dwelled upon any more.

32

Shared equity is not a pure rental tenure form since residents may buy a stake in their property and pay an additional rent. (UN-HABITAT.2004b, p. 8)

33 Payne, G. 1997, p.3 34 Amis, P., Lloyd, P. 1990, p. 50 35 Payne, G. 2002, p. 4 36 UN-HABITAT.2004b, p. 8

(15)

involved costs might also arise to very high amounts making it impossible for poor people to formalize their dwellings. Unfortunately, there is another dark side in this aspect regarding the non-formal land tenure systems, which de Soto claims to be typical for developing countries. It concerns the fact that many poor urban and rural slum dwellers are forced to pay bribes or make other corruption related favours in order to be able to stay within the non-formal system.37_{Difficulties in other words exist both in} efforts to regularize tenure and in trying to stay within an informal tenure category. De Soto, who advocates a legalistic approach in his analyses on non-formal land tenure and housing, claims that a fundamental difference between developed and developing countries is embedded in the fact that the former introduced formal property systems at an early stage which enabled individuals to use their capital in a favourable way. In regions like the Sub-Saharan where no easy access to ownership and tenancy mechanisms is available this has a negative impact upon land tenure and housing development. When people lack official documentation on their properties they are prevented from using their assets as capital. De Soto means that the solution can primarily be found in the introduction and implementation of well functioning and efficient property systems and asset registration procedures in such regions.38

One final remark regarding land tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa should be made here. The existence in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa of plural systems of land laws contributes to frequent conflicts in this aspect. In areas where land is held under customary tenure, efforts by governments to seize land for public use may lead to ambiguities in the relationship between traditional leaders and public administration officials.39

The issue of land and tenure is therefore in many respects something of a hot potato on the African continent. The examples of violent outcomes from processes on land tenure are several. The recently implemented agitated land reforms and urban renewal processes in Zimbabwe are only two of many extreme examples in this regard.

3.2 The Concept of Secure Tenure

For the poor and marginalized urban population access to secure shelter is something of a precondition for achieving access to other urban benefits. When slum dwellers lack secure housing conditions they are prevented from different livelihood facilitating opportunities, such as public service and credit facilities. In one of his many studies of urban development and housing Payne describes the importance of tenure in developing countries further in that it is the “necessary foundation for all endeavours to improve the living conditions for the urban poor”.40

So what is then actually meant when referring to the necessity of tenure security? When looking into the definitions of secure tenure one finds that several slightly different meanings have been used during the past decades. Since the aim here is not to create an 37 De Soto, H. 1989: 152 - 153 38 De Soto, H. 2000, p.43 - 52 39 Rakodi, C., Lloyd-Jones, T. 2002, p. 154 40 Payne, G. 2002, p. 3

(16)

overview of such differences or the historical development of the concept, only one central definition will be brought up. The perhaps most frequently used definition in the international debate on secure tenure, since the beginning of the new millennium, was agreed upon during a meeting of the Expert Group on Urban Indicators in 2002. It states that tenure security is “the right of all individuals and groups to effective protection by the state against forced evictions”.41_{According to international law forced evictions} mean removals (temporary or permanent) which are done against the will of households or communities on land areas which they occupy illegally.42

Frequently a connection is made between urban informal housing conditions, in the sense of slum dwellers lacking official recognition of their dwellings, and insecurity of tenure. It is important though, to note that informality does not automatically mean that there is a lack of secure tenure. As Durand-Lasserve and Royston point out, in Sub-Saharan Africa where customary and communal land delivery systems are usual, secure tenure can exist even without formal recognition by state authorities.43_{This is due to the} fact that acceptance and acknowledgement by the community or neighbourhood may be valued more for obtaining secure tenure than the recognition by public institutions. The lack of effective functioning of urban administrations and the mistrust by individuals against officials in many African countries, where public services often are characterized by a high degree of corruption, further explains this situation.

De Soto, on the contrary, means that the lack of official recognition overall is a problem for such societies. He argues that it is of great importance that governments in poor countries deal with the integration of non-formal segments into the formal system. When avoided to do so an even deeper conflict between the informal and formal, or illegal and legal sectors will arise. As slum dwellers and other marginalized residents become more and more aware of the disadvantages of being outside the formal system situations of tension and instability increase.44

In returning to some of the earlier mentioned categories of land tenure Payne, in his analysis on tenure security in urban areas, has created a scale of how the degree of security varies between different tenure forms. In Table 3 a simplified reproduction of this schedule is presented. A few observations need to be made regarding the differences between the categories presented in Table 3 and the categories listed earlier in Table 2. Since it is difficult to assess the level of tenure security within the religious and customary tenure systems, Payne has chosen to exclude these categories. Furthermore in Table 3 there are a few different sub-divisions used for the non-formal tenure systems, while no subdivisions have been made for the freeholder and leaseholder categories. An additional remark to be made is that security levels, as well as the rights provided within the mentioned tenure systems, might vary a great deal within different societies and societal levels.45_{This schedule of security and tenure} 41 UN-HABITAT.2004b, p.6 42 Ibid 43

Durand-Lasserve, A., Royston, L. 2002, p. 6

44

De Soto, H. 2000, p.216-218

45

(17)

categories should thus best be understood as a rough general summarizing overview where several variances may be found at national levels.

Table 3. Security Levels of Different Tenure Categories Tenure Category

Freeholder Leaseholder

Tenant with contract

Legal owner-unauthorised construction Owner-unauthorised subdivision Tenant in unauthorised subdivision Squatter “owner”

Squatter tenant

(Source: Payne, G. 2002, p.15) Low Degree of security High Table 3 shows that the level of security is highest for free- and leaseholder categories. The degree of tenure security is then gradually reduced towards the lower sections of the table. For squatters, and other non-formal tenant categories, the security levels are thus among the lowest. The only category with even less tenure security would perhaps be the homeless or pavement dwellers who have no safety in this respect whatsoever. The conclusion that the highest level of tenure security is found in the freeholder, i.e. ownership, category, is in line with de Soto’s theories on the importance of ownership and private property for safer and more decent living conditions. Once poor people have managed to officially register their property and can use it as capital doors are opened to other important possibilities such as getting loans and credits. What De Soto claims is that property ownership is not merely the best way to increase tenure security, but also essential for the overall improvement of living conditions for poor and marginalised groups.46

46

(18)

4. The Best Practices Database

Since 1996 best practices from a total of 140 countries worldwide have been collected in the HABITAT Best Practices Database (BPD). Originally, the database was created as a result of the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which was held in Istanbul in June 1996. Since then the database is operated and maintained by the Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme of UN-HABITAT which headquarters is situated in Nairobi, Kenya.47_{One of the main purposes of the} database is to gather information on international practices where tangible positive results could be shown in the improvement of living conditions. Other intentions are to have educative, informative and enlightening functions for different stakeholders involved in such activities. In connection to this the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment was set up. The Dubai Award is presented biennially, as are updates of the database. Nominations for the award are first short listed by an independent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)48

and the final selection of winners is made by an international jury. The award of US$ 300 000 is divided between winning practices.49

4.1 About Submissions to the Database

A relevant question concerns who or what kind of entities that can submit a case to the BPD. Eligibility in this sense includes a large variety of different actors. Among these are government agencies, bi- and multilateral aid agencies, local authorities, NGOs, community-based organizations, actors from the private sector, academic institutions, media and individuals.50_{This means that submissions are open to entities from different} societal levels, with diverse structures and sizes, and whose field of activities may vary considerably.

In order to comply with the main objectives of the BPD there are some predefined criteria for the qualification as a best practice, and simultaneously for being considered for the Dubai Award. The TAC looks at each practice from the following perspectives: a) Impact on living conditions, including sustainability in the areas of shelter and

community development, urban and regional development and settlement arrangements.

b) Partnership; meaning that there should be a proven partnership between at least two different involved actors.

47

Wambua, C. 2006

48

The number of short listed practices amount to approximately 40 and from these up to a maximum of ten winning cases is selected in the final stage. (UN-HABITAT. 2004a, p. 1-3, 6)

49

Ibid.

50

(19)

c) Sustainability; here basically referring to the fact that the submitted practice should show lasting changes in the area of intervention.51

Submissions are also evaluated according to compliance with the following additional criteria:

- Leadership and community empowerment; - Innovation;

- Gender equality and social inclusion; - Transferability;

- Absolute merit within a national and /or local context;

- Absolute merit in comparison to other practices from the same region or in the same thematic area.52

The final criteria give an indication on the importance that the TAC places on selecting practices that are judged to be more or less outstanding and where a real positive impact at national or regional level is identified. On the other hand these criteria may also difficult the chances for many nominating organisations or other submitting parties of being qualified.

Effectively, the established guidelines for submissions not only leave room for many different qualifying project organisations, but possibilities also exist for a large spectrum of practices to be included among the database cases. Such evidences are clearly found in the study of the database cases from the African region. Variations ranging from practices of rural beekeeping and sunflower production to ecotourism, gorilla conservation, waste and conflict management are some examples of the encountered disparities. The common denominator of all submissions, however, lies in the fact that the objective is to show some kind of tangible proof of efforts in improving the lives of rural and urban people in a sustainable way.

The BPD is divided into a number of general categories under which the practices are sorted, like housing, poverty reduction, urban and regional planning, social services, etc. For the categories there are several sub-categories which further help to indicate the area of intervention as well as main objectives. For instance under the category urban governance some of the sub-categories are decentralisation, public policy, legislation and visioning amongst others.53_{In the overview of the examined database cases in} annex 2, some of the general categories are found under the column “Database Category” and sub-categories can be found among “Keywords” 54_{of the practices.}

Some further comments need to be made in this descriptive context. The cases submitted to the database include projects and programs implemented in different kinds of environments. Parts of the practices for example consist of activities directed towards both rural and urban habitants. In geographic terms certain disequilibrium is found in the frequency of qualified practices between different countries in the Sub-Saharan 51 Ibid, p. 3-5 52 Wambua, C. 2006 53

Best Practices Database. 2006

54

(20)

region. While there is a lack of submissions from quite a large number of countries in the region, other countries are represented with numerous practices. According to a UN-HABITAT representative there is awareness within the organization that the presence of some African countries is not found in the database. In order to come to terms with this situation HABITAT has in recent years launched a forward looking initiative known as HABITAT Programme Managers (HPMs)55_{, where country representatives are} appointed to such countries. The task of the HPMs is above all to create an increased visibility of the Dubai award and the existence of the BPD.56

4.2 African Submissions to the BPD in 2002 and 2004

57

The examination of the BPD reveals that the African region is remarkably under-represented with practices in both 2002 and 2004 compared to other developing regions. In 2002, for example, there were a total of 363 submissions from developing countries which qualified for the Best Practices Database. Less than 10 % of these submissions came from Africa South of the Sahara. For both submission periods many more qualified best practices came from the Asian and Latin-American regions. From HABITAT headquarters this situation is explained as a consequence of the wide-spread lack of resources by the few available partners found in African countries. Additionally, information on the Best Practices Program and the Dubai Award was up to recently mainly promoted through the print and electronic media, which has been a disadvantage for the African region compared to other regions.58_{As mentioned earlier, measurements} have been taken by the agency in order to resolve this problem.

2002 Submissions

For 2002 there are totally 31 qualified submissions from the Sub-Saharan region to the BPD. Practices come from 8 different countries (for an overview see appendix 2), among which submissions from South Africa account for a significant majority with 50 % of the qualifying cases. The general database categories which are most frequently found for this period are poverty reduction, urban and regional planning and social services. Among the subcategories a clear majority of the projects are practices in the areas of environmental protection, water and sanitation improvement. Responsible agencies for the submissions vary a great deal, but it can be concluded that most of the eligible actors mentioned in section 4.1 are found amongst the nominating organisations. A further finding of the practices qualified in 2002 is that approximately one third of the practices are interventions directed towards the urban environment. For the remaining cases there is a rural or a mixed rural-urban approach.

2004 Submissions

The number of submitted best practices which qualified to the database in 2004 from the region is 87. Practices originating from totally 19 countries are included. As in 2002 a majority of qualified submissions are from South Africa with 27 cases. It should be

55

HPMs are currently found in 25 different African countries.

56

Wamubua, C. 2006

57

In sections 4.2, 5 and 5.1 the main source of information is the Best Practices Database.2006, unless otherwise indicated.

58

(21)

noted though that in 2004, an additional 27 practices originate from another country which is Kenya. Poverty reduction, environmental management and social services are the most common categories found in this submission period. One difference observed among the cases in 2004 compared to 2002 is that the category HIV/AIDS is present with several initiatives of preventive or educative nature. There are also other submissions which have been categorised under headings not found in 2002, like urban governance, land use management, infrastructure, communication, transportation, architecture and urban design. Several different subcategories and project approaches are encountered among 2004 practices, as can be seen in the overview in appendix 2. Responsible submitting agencies vary greatly in 2004, exactly as in the previous submission period. Regarding the question on urban or rural approach, there are more practices with rural focus than with urban, but several practices are found to have a mixed target environment.

(22)

5. Results of Empirical Analysis

An observation made during the database analysis was that overall there were significantly more interventions from the Sub-Saharan region directed towards rural areas, small communities and villages than metropolitan or large urban areas. Moreover, this was one of the main reasons for evaluating a large part of the practices as not applicable with regards to the objective of selecting efforts towards increasing tenure security in urban slum areas.

During the analysis there were a few cases where dubiousness arose in whether or not the projects corresponded to the goal of improving living conditions and increasing tenure security specifically in slum areas. In one of the cases from Kenya for example, a main objective was to improve access to formal housing for farmers living in insecure and inadequate conditions. The project thus had a partial intention of increasing tenure security. Since it was implemented in a rural environment, and for a very limited group of individuals, this case had to be considered as not applicable. In another practice from Madagascar, the stated objective was to create secure shelter for urban homeless groups, but in this case it was considered to fall into the right category, since homeless persons were considered as having a close link to slum area problematic and inadequate housing conditions. In a third submission from South Africa an intervention, which was also directed towards urban homeless groups, was not considered as applicable though. The difference in this case was that the program was working towards temporary shelter for urban youth and street children. It was therefore evaluated as not applicable since there was no certainty of an increase in permanent tenure security for the target group, and furthermore this was not in the true sense a specific slum area intervention.

Another difficulty encountered in the empirical analysis concerns the fact that it was occasionally hard to determine the exact composition of the focused target group and in what kind of a setting (urban, rural or mixture thereof) the interventions were carried out. In order to come to terms with this problem a practice was only considered as eligible, or rather applicable, if some form of indication was given in the documentation on an urban slum area (or equivalent term) target. Additionally, combinations of reported objectives, situations before the initiatives as well as achieved results of the practices were evaluated in order to gain an increased understanding in this aspect. Regarding other findings of the analysis it was evident that there was a marked difference in the number of submissions in 2002 compared to 2004. In 2004 almost three times as many practices were qualified to the database from the Sub-Saharan region compared to the prior submission period. There was also a much larger variety of countries represented in the later submission period. The inclusion of more countries may, as has already been mentioned earlier, be a result of the intensified efforts by HABITAT to spread knowledge about the Best Practices Programme.

(23)

A second significant noted fact was that even though there were more cases in 2004, the practices from 2002 had a proportionally greater inclusion of efforts towards tenure security. Among the 31 database submissions in 2002 seven cases were found to have a clear objective of slum area improvement and strengthened tenure security. For 2004 only eight applicable practices out of the total 87 cases were found.

Among the cases from 2002, which showed a slum area and secure tenure approach, most cases were found under the general categories of urban and regional planning and social services. Four countries in the region submitted practices with such an approach, namely Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia and South Africa. In all of these cases the objective of increasing tenure security for residents in urban poor and marginalised slum areas was clearly expressed in the analysed material. As for the actors responsible of these submitted practices three were NGOs, two housing cooperative societies and another two initiatives were presented by a local authority and a central government institution.

The practices evaluated as applicable in 2002 were different with respect to applied strategies and project types. On the one hand there were housing societies, savings schemes and community stabilizing projects in urban slum areas. Secondly, there were activities with relocation strategies where slum dwellers were given chances to move out from existing slum areas into rural or other urban areas. There was thus one group of projects directing their activities directly towards the existing slum areas in trying to improve situations on location. Another group of practices, however, had the ambition to reduce the slum area problems through removal of residents to other residential areas where they could obtain a higher level of tenure security.

For the submissions from 2004 a somewhat different picture emerged. Of the eight cases with a proven slum area and security of tenure approach, all but one, which was found under economic development, were integrated under the category of housing. The eight applicable cases in 2004 came from only three different countries, namely Kenya, Namibia and South Africa, but showed a slightly wider variety of implementing actors compared to 2002. Three submissions came from NGOs, two from the private sector, one from a housing cooperative society and the final two were from local as well as central government institutions.

Differences within the strategies and project types of the 2004 applicable practices are also observed. As in 2002, one group of cases consisted of established housing societies and structures for savings and credits for housing purposes. Other projects were more directed towards slum upgrading through improved upgraded housing structures and reinforced tenure conditions. Additionally, there is one applicable case from 2004 (Nr. 70 in Appendix 2) which merits a closer description since it is quite unique of its kind and is of much relevance to this study. The referred practice consists of rental housing tribunals initiated in urban areas of the Gauteng province in South Africa. The prime objective of the tribunals is to promote stability in the urban residential and rental housing sectors in Gauteng, which is done by regulating landlord - tenant relations and primarily through conflict management. According to the submitted documentation the overall ambition of the practice is to provide a significant contribution to urban poverty reduction and improvement in living conditions among poor urban citizens. This

(24)

government initiative was evaluated as applicable due to its evident efforts in increasing security of tenure and deteriorating housing conditions in unstable urban rental areas. It is thus a case where both the urban slum and the increased tenure security aspects are clearly integrated, however in a somewhat different way in comparison to the other applicable practices in the database. In the renting tribunals practice there is a fundamental legal element which is not found to the same extent in the other cases. Further discussion on this aspect will be continued in section six.

5.1 Summary of Findings

What main conclusions can thus be drawn from the database analysis in regard to the submissions where improved tenure security is of importance, i.e. in the applicable cases?

There is a significant quantitative difference in qualified database cases from the African region between the two submission periods, but even so approximately the same number of practices was found to be applicable. Presented in percentage of the totally qualified best practices, approximately 23 % of the cases in 2002 were applicable. In 2004 applicable practices were only found to be 9 % of the total. The impression is therefore that the aim of improving tenure security was of greater significance among submissions in 2002 compared to the following period.

The total numbers and varieties of countries with applicable cases are rather small in relation to all the database cases from the region. This is particularly obvious for 2004 practices. In both periods the applicable cases come from the same countries, with the exception of one submission from Madagascar in 2002. South Africa is the country which has the far largest number of qualified applicable cases, followed by Kenya and Namibia.

The database categories where the applicable cases are found vary. For 2002 such cases are mainly found under urban and regional planning and social services, while in 2004 housing is the prime category for practices with approaches and contents relevant to the present study.

Housing societies, cooperative saving schemes, credit and loan facilities, relocation, housing- and slum upgrading are the type of project activities where nearly all efforts towards increased tenure security in urban slum areas were found.

No great variation was found between the periods in the composition of nominating or submitting actors, but one aspect worth mentioning is that in 2004 two of the responsible submitters of applicable cases come from the private sector.

(25)

In most of the practices different forms of partnerships (at local, national or international levels) are found to be the necessary basis for successful implementation and financing of the projects/programs.

(26)

6. Discussion and Final Conclusions

In this section some of the results of the empirical analysis are discussed in connection to a few main theoretical angles of the topics. For the purpose of creating a visible and comprehensible structure of the discussion it is concentrated under two main headings; approaches and methods as well as challenges and difficulties. Towards the final part of the section a few additional reflections on the empirical analysis are presented. Ultimately the main conclusions of the study are found in order to give a brief and summarizing follow-up to the underlying research question.

6.1 Approaches and Methods of Improving Tenure Security

Among the strategies originally advocated by the UN for the achievement of MDG seven and the “Cities without Slums” target some rather general recommendations were outlined. The first recommendation concerned the necessity of mobilisation from the international community for assistance with the provision of basic social services. Secondly, the directive was to promote the development of an approach to environmental planning and management which is more integrated and participatory. A final strategy concerned the promotion of good urban governance and planning through the creation of public-private partnerships.59_{In connection to the cases examined} evidence is found that all of these recommendations are integrated, but in varying degrees and aspects, in the submissions to the BPD from the Sub-Saharan region in 2002 and 2004. The impression of the database practices was that the last of the UN recommendations, i.e. the importance of public-private partnerships, was very often the necessary foundation for the activities. Public-private partnerships were commonly found among practices which can be interpreted as a positive development, i.e. that the UN recommendation seems to be adhered to, at least in this sense.

When moving further towards the more specific aspect of efforts for increased tenure security for African slum dwellers, and with reference to the earlier mentioned HABITAT approach and indicators for achieving and measuring this goal, the result of the empirical analysis showed that such objectives were found among practices. However, especially in the submission period of 2004, a proportionally rather small quantity of the overall database cases was found to be applicable in this sense. Although both documented and perceived strengthening of tenure status for urban slum dwellers can be interpreted from the applicable practices, the actual degree of increased security gained remains unknown. In the same sense it should be added that there is no knowledge on whether the implemented activities have in fact contributed to partial exclusions of certain slum dwellers.

59

(27)

The latter argument can perhaps be especially suspected in the cases where the implementing actor is a housing company in the private sector. A possible risk is that when private housing companies involve in slum upgrading, the end result might be that the improved housing conditions and securer tenure forms exclude the really socio-economic weak and marginalised groups. The poorest of the poor might be forced to move to other areas since they cannot afford the new housing conditions even though they are supposedly built or rehabilitated for less resourceful households. Ultimately, this can lead to a situation where slum problems and continued insecure housing situations are only transferred to other locations.

Similar arguments are expressed by the Zimbabwean researcher on African urban development, Amin Kamete, in an article on the problems of affordable urban housing in Southern Africa. Kamete points to the fact that many efforts towards the provision of affordable housing in marginalized areas fail because housing remain unaffordable for a significant proportion of the urban poor. In order to solve this problem Kamete highlights the necessity of complementary efforts towards increasing incomes for poor households. Without the latter there can be no tangible success in efforts towards affordable housing.60

At the same time it is important to underline the need for thourough investigations of existing conditions and attitudes among slum dwellers prior to the initiation of all efforts towards improved tenure status, i.e. during planning stages. All possible consequences of activities need to be taken into calculations. Payne stresses this line of argument in advocating that the answer to a successful strategy towards increased tenure security for the urban poor rests in the “offer of a range of options that provide adequate levels of security as defined and perceived by the poor themselves”.61

Among the applicable practices of the empirical analysis, initiatives with a strategy of increasing tenure security through micro-financing, credits or savings schemes, constituted a major part. A link between the existence of micro-financing initiatives, savings schemes, credit facilities and secure tenure is perhaps not so difficult to make. Especially not when considering that the lack of resources and access to capital is one of the prime underlying reasons for poor housing conditions in the first place. De Soto advocates property ownership as the only right way to proceed in the developing world in this aspect. Poor people lack collateral because their assets, as for instance property, are not officially recognized and thereby make it impossible to use their assets as capital.62_{According to De Soto there are other important societal benefits of increased} formal ownership as well. He claims that individual respect towards other peoples’ property increases when the poor have confidence that their land and houses are legally theirs. Thereby situations of illegal squatting and other unlawful behaviours related to housing and shelter can be avoided.63

60 Kamete, A. 2001, p, 41 61 Payne, G. 2002, p. 306 62 De Soto, 2002 63 De Soto, 2000, p. 207

(28)

What De Soto’s approach and recommended path of action fundamentally adds up to can be described in two parts. On the one hand legal reforms are necessary in order to improve inadequate and defective legislation and ineffective administrative procedures which are typically found in developing countries. On the other hand such changes require genuine political interest and desire for change.64_{In other words this is} something to be understood as a political challenge for many African governments. Among the applicable practices in the empirical analysis there was above all one case where a legal approach was found (see section 5). Even though the case in question is dealing with the rental sector, similarities to De Soto’s thoughts are found in the aim of regularising and stabilizing insecure tenant situations through legal interventions. It is only to lament that overall there were so few qualified practices submitted by governmental institutions. Perhaps if there had been more cases like the South African Rental Housing Tribunal the outcome of this study could have been slightly different.

6.2 Challenges and Difficulties

In the earlier description of land tenure systems in the Sub-Saharan region the common existence of the customary and communal land tenure was brought up. According to Durand-Lasserve and Royston there are some situations that especially influence tenure security in a negative way in such land delivery systems. A situation like this is for example when the customary system is suffering from some sort of crisis between leadership and customary owners, or when there has been a multiple allocation of a certain area of land. If there is a serious conflict between customary owners and public authorities on the land issue this will also create tensions and insecurity in the communal and customary land delivery systems.65_{Numerous historical and current} examples of such land tenure related conflicts can be found from the African continent. One problematic development, connected to the issue of tenure security in urban slum areas, has been observed during the past decades in many Sub-Saharan countries. The situation involves the mushrooming of unauthorized commercial agents dealing with often illegal land sales to the poor. A contributing factor to this development is that the informal agents create favourable opportunities for poor income groups since they offer hire and purchasing prices which are below the official market prices. This process usually involves initial hire with a promise that purchase will be arranged in later stages.66_{Unfortunately, in many cases the final stages of property ownership never take} place. Tenants may end up getting even more insecure housing conditions if sudden state evictions on illegal land occupations are put into practice.

In reflections on the contention that housing ownership has the highest degree of security among the tenure categories, another challenge emerges in the Sub-Saharan context. As has been stated in earlier sections most African countries have requirements for the provision of full legal titles to property which rest upon highly complicated regularization processes. Research in this field show that in many African countries the

64

Ibid, p.199

65

Durand-Lasserve, A., Royston, L. 2002, p. 6

66

(29)

land regularization processes can effectively never be completed due to the many existing obstacles.67

Simultaneously, other difficulties are found in the basic processes of identifying different land tenure systems. It is not at all unusual to find that there is a complete absence of clear title status for residents in urban areas. At national levels there might be outdated land registers and inventories which are in urgent need to be updated to the current situation. The often non-applicable land registers create a situation characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and inefficiency regarding land transfers, collection of taxes and the establishment and functioning of urban administrations.68

Analysts commonly refer to the necessity of carrying out detailed registers of all urban land parcels in developing countries. One basic difficulty in the customary land tenure systems is to gather and obtain the knowledge about boundaries between plots and properties. Although this might in theory seem as a not all that complicated task, in practice it is usually not as unproblematic as it might seem though. Some of the possible reasons for this are that:

- There might be fear or scepticism among residents regarding official registration processes since they might result in compulsory tax payments which were evaded before registry.

- There might be an absence of interest of being registered in the first place, perhaps because no gain or advantages for the individuals are seen.

- No clear boundaries or ownership circumstances are present or known in the area in question.69

Once again De Soto’s call for reforms and changes within developing countries public administrative structures and their work comes to mind as a necessary precondition for significant improvements in tenure relationships.

6.3 Further Reflections

Finally some reflections need to be made in connection to the empirical analysis’ main findings that comparatively few cases were found in the BPD with a clear objective of increased tenure security in African urban slum settlements.

One noted fact is that among the database cases there was a reduced number of strictly tenure oriented practices, but numerous initiatives were found with the prime objective of water supply and sanitation improvements. Such project aims are also fully in line with UN-HABITAT’s five prime areas of slum improvement (appendix 1). A possible conclusion to be drawn out of this finding is that such activities are considered to be of greater importance in living condition improvements in the African context. Improvements in the provision of urban water and sanitation services are possibly regarded as having a more tangible and direct positive impact on slum dwellers’ living

67

Fernandes, E., Varley, A.1998, p. 244

68

Payne, G. 1997, p. 7-10

69

Slum Areas and Insecure Tenure in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa: A Conceptual Review of African Best Practices