The Formalization of Urban Land Tenure in Developing Countries

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat, 2003) estimated that in 2001, 924 million people, about 32% of the world's urban population, lived in slums. This figure could reach 1.7 billion by 2020--and 2.8 billion by 2030 (Lopez Moreno, 2003). Case studies in developing countries usually estimate that between 20 and 90% of a city's population live in informal or illegal settlements. These figures are debatable, given the criteria for defining slums (UN-Habitat, 2003). Still, they suggest the magnitude of the problem and its alarming dynamics