Urban Land Tenure and Property Rights in Developing Countries: a Review

THIS REPORT DISCUSSES the types of land tenure and property rights that currently exist, how these have served the needs of lower-income groups, and the implications for policies relating to urban land tenure and property rights. Initially, the report outlines different concepts and systems of land tenure and proposes criteria through which tenure policies can contribute to effective urban management. The question of clarity of tenure status is discussed, as is the extent to which unclear title or rights frustrates efficient land use patterns. The report also considers how improvements could be achieved in security of tenure, which would encourage investment in land improvements without producing a disproportionate increase in land prices. Finally, it explores the need to balance individual security and rights with those of the state in order to acquire parcels of land and regulate its use and development in the public interest.

The report is in six sections. Section II catalogues the main tenure types and offers criteria for assessing them. Customary tenure, private land tenure, public land ownership and control, and contemporary urban tenure systems are discussed, as are religious and indigenous concepts of land tenure. It emphasizes that distinctions between legal and illegal or formal and informal are too simplistic to be of conceptual or operational value, and that subtle but significant distinctions exist between different categories within a wide spectrum. The diversity of land tenure types is held to be a result of different cultural, historical, economic and political systems, changing as society does over time.

Section III focuses on national policy issues and briefly reviews the experience gained in instances where land is nationalized and where pluralistic land markets operate. Variations in policy towards customary tenure are then discussed, along with options for improving tenure conditions. Section IV concentrates on property rights in extra-legal settlements, reviewing the literature on substitutes for formal tenure and the impact of services provision, on the duration of occupancy and local perceptions of security on investment patterns, and on the tenure options used in upgrading programmes. Section V examines the impact of urban growth on land held under customary tenure. The provision of formal titles in areas where traditional concepts, rights and practices apply is intended to stimulate investment, although insensitive changes can restrict such investment by undermining locally accepted norms and values. Innovative examples are cited.

In the final section, the implications of the issues raised are assessed and priorities for future research identified. It emphasizes the need for governments and international agencies to strike a balance between the needs of efficiency and equity in urban land allocation and development, and identifies the key elements of such policies. Throughout the review, boxes provide case studies or other examples to illustrate issues addressed in the text. An annex provides a typology of land tenure and property rights. A glossary is also included, listing the terms used in the review, and a bibliography offers brief summaries and comments on reviewed literature.