Conceptualising the potential of informal land markets to reduce urban poverty

Marx, Colin

doi:10.3828/idpr.2009.1

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Perhaps more graphically, the limits to extant theorizations of land markets are evident from the extensive critical literature on land title registration initiatives across cities in Africa and elsewhere, inspired by Hernando de Soto's (2000) stringent policy advice. The diversity of ownership forms in a vast number of cities, including traditional, collec tive, informal, illegal and public ownership, as well as peremptory violent appropriation to advance territorial political agendas (and war), mean that any theorization of urban land needs to be willing to think again about starting points and to delimit the scope of located conceptualizations (Payne et al, 2007;Myers, 2008;Marx, 2009;Earle, 2013;Hasan et al, 2013).…”

Section: Revisable Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Urbanism: New Geographies and Cultures of Theorizing the Urban

Robinson

2015

Int J Urban Regional Res

315

194

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In response to the growing interest in ways to take forward an agenda for a more global urban studies, this essay advocates a comparative approach to theory building which can help to develop new understandings of the expanding and diverse world of cities and urbanization processes, building theory from different contexts, resonating with a diver sity of urban outcomes but being respectful of the limits of always located insights. The essay is inspired by the potential of the comparative imagination but, mindful of the limitations of formal comparative methods, which in a quasiscientific format can drasti cally restrict the scope of comparing, it outlines ways to reformat comparative methods in order to put them to work more effectively for a more global urban studies. The essay pro poses a new typology for comparative methods based on the vernacular practices of urban comparison, tracing these through the archives of comparative urbanism. It also suggests some lines of philosophical reflection for reframing the scope and style of theorizing. New repertoires of comparativism are indicated which support the possibility of a revisable urban theory, starting from anywhere.

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Section: Revisable Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Urbanism: New Geographies and Cultures of Theorizing the Urban

Robinson

2015

Int J Urban Regional Res

315

194

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“…In his highly influential work, de Soto (2000) argued that, although the poor have many assets, they cannot use them as collateral to access credit and invest in business because they lack property titles. De Soto's ideas inspired a set of policies focusing on land titling (Gilbert, 2012), which have been widely adopted, although it is striking how such policies have been pursued with little evaluation of the empirical evidence and despite strong criticisms (Musembi, 2007;Durand-Lasserve and Royston, 2002;Marx 2009). However, it has increasingly been recognised that titling is not a panacea capable of solving all the problems of the urban poor and that implementation is problematic: it is costly for both land administration agencies and owners Royston 2002, Gulyani andBassett, 2007); insufficiently flexible to take account of different pre-existing land regimes (Payne et al, 2009); and does not improve access to formal credit (Musembi, 2007).…”

Section: Reforming Urban Land Tenurementioning

confidence: 99%

Collective or individual titles? Conflict over tenure regularisation in a Kenyan informal settlement

Rigon

2016

Urban Studies

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Providing formal titles to residents in densely populated informal settlements without fuelling conflict or encouraging gentrification presents several challenges. It has been argued that, in some contexts, forms of collective tenure such as a Community Land Trust may help to overcome some of these problems. This paper analyses one attempt to legalise informal tenure arrangements, minimise relocation and prevent gentrification by introducing collective titling in an informal settlement in Nairobi. The paper demonstrates how attempts to build consensus on the most appropriate tenure system were deeply embedded in local conflicts between existing structure-owners (owners of shacks/buildings on land which is not theirs) and tenants. The state was unable to carry out the land reforms it had proposed -to protect the land user rights of all residents -because they implied a redistribution that was resisted by local elite actors. This paper argues that tenure reforms are shaped by contextspecific power relations; in this case the process was characterised by the implementers' need to maintain fragile agreements with local elites in order to avoid conflict. Tenure reforms are based on different ideas of whose rights should be recognised and competing claims are both negotiated through and shaped by the implementation process. Tenure reforms for contested land in informal settlements not only require technical mechanisms to prevent gentrification and displacement, but must reflect a serious consideration of local power relations and the capacity of the state to deal with conflicts arising from redistributive plans. Key words:Land; tenure; informal settlements; conflict; elites Acknowledgements I wish to thank all the community members, the Government of Kenya, the project donor and the United Nations. Without their openness and availability, this research would not have been possible. I am most indebted to Melanie Lombard and Carole Rakodi for their support and guidance throughout. I would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the editors of Urban Studies for their thoughtful comments and helpful suggestions. FundingThis research was generously supported by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. 2Collective or individual titles? Conflict over tenure regularisation in a Kenyan informal settlement.

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“…Thus, even when there is a relationship between poverty and informality (Marx, 2009;Lombard, 2015) informality does not necessarily imply poverty. (Roy & AlSayyad, 2004;Hansen & Vaa, 2004;Roy, 2005;McFarlane, 2012;Varley, 2013;Marx & Kelling, 2018;Acuto, Dinardi, & Marx, 2019) extending this question to various aspects of the city and urban development, as well as the state and governance processes.…”

Section: Defining Urban Informalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding formal and informal relationships in settlement upgrading for planning just and inclusive cities: the case of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Alvarez¹

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Since colonial times a formal/informal divide entrenched in systems of urban planning in Phnom Penh, Cambodia has been used as a governmental tool by the state to marginalize and exclude informal settlements. This tool has also been used to impose a market-oriented model of urban development that is insufficient in progressing the aspirations, needs, and claims to justice of people living in these settlements. In fact, this model has led to the development of a highly unequal and unjust city. This problematic touches on a key aspect of planning knowledge which affects many other cities of the global south. Binaries are a characteristic of western thought and capitalism. This way of thinking reproduces a hierarchical worldview with a privileging pole and unequal power relationships by making divisions between formal/informal sectors, public/private property, ordinary/global cities, and individual/collective ways of life. Binaries turn the merely different into an absolute other and exclude and marginalize the reality of difference in cities. Despite growing evidence of formal and informal relationships in cities, most research has tended to concentrate on understanding these systems separately. My research addresses this knowledge gap. In this thesis I explain how formal and informal relationships are composed in the context of informal settlement upgrading practices in Phnom Penh with emphasis in three dimensions: a) land access, b) finance for housing, infrastructure and livelihoods, and c) political recognition. I use a case study of one informal settlement in PhnomPenh to evidence how the state is implicated in informality and how these relationships produce social and spatial inequalities. I also explain how formal and informal relationships are characterized by a negotiability of value of citizenship rights, were collective action plays a key role as a mechanism that vulnerable groups rely on to legitimize their claims and secure land, housing, infrastructure, livelihoods and political recognition. This research is guided by theoretical propositions on social and spatial justice, specifically processes of accumulation by dispossession that result from the financialization of land and housing. Within this framework, the concepts of space, power, and collective action are used to transcend exchange value and illuminate the use value of cities. II

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Conceptualising the potential of informal land markets to reduce urban poverty

Cited by 21 publications

References 22 publications

Comparative Urbanism: New Geographies and Cultures of Theorizing the Urban

Comparative Urbanism: New Geographies and Cultures of Theorizing the Urban

Collective or individual titles? Conflict over tenure regularisation in a Kenyan informal settlement

Understanding formal and informal relationships in settlement upgrading for planning just and inclusive cities: the case of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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