Elsevier

Land Use Policy

Volume 119, August 2022, 106223
Land Use Policy

Land tenure security for low-income residents' urban livelihoods: A human development approach review of temporary occupation license

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106223Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Land tenure security is a pre-condition to safeguard secure livelihood for urban low-income residents.

  • Temporary Occupation License (TOL) offers tenure security despite its lack of formal ownership over the land.

  • TOL provides legal access to state land for housing and the protection from forced eviction.

  • Legal access and protection increase residents’ capability to perform valuable socioeconomic functions.

  • Pursuing human development approach via administrative decisions and participatory manner can enhance land tenure security for urban low-income residents.

Abstract

Existing studies on the human development approach discuss how eliminating capability deprivation and enlarging people’s choice led to improvement on their overall wellbeing. However, land tenure security, the pre-condition to safeguard secure livelihood for poor and low-income urban residents is rarely discussed. This study examines the potential of the human development approach to the land tenure security debate by using a desk review of literature on both concepts. It employs the usage of a land policy instrument, known as the Temporary Occupation License (TOL), which aims to provide urban low-income residents with tenure security despite their lack of formal ownership over the land. In this context, land tenure security is understood from the subjective perspective, rather than from its traditional economic objectives. Findings show that the pursuit of human development through TOL results in an enhanced security of tenure amongst urban low-income residents in two forms. Firstly, protecting them against the threat of eviction through the principle of equity in which TOL provides opportunity for nonlandowners with legal access to state land for housing. Secondly, allowing households to gain the benefits of labour and capital invested in the land. For instance, the principle of efficiency embedded within TOL allows households to utilise land according to their priorities and needs; empowerment allows them to make decisions pertaining to housing and tenure upgrading, whereas sustainability allows citizens and authority to achieve developmental results that benefit both parties. The study concludes that the pursuit of the human development approach in land management, through administrative decisions and conducted in a participatory manner, can indeed enhance land tenure security for urban low-income residents.

Keywords

Human development
Land tenure security
Urban low-income residents
Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL)

Abbreviations

TOL
Temporary Occupation License
COR
Certificate of Rights
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UN
United Nations
CoC
Certificate of Comfort
CLT
Community Land Trust
NCC
Nairobi City Council
NGOs
non-governmental organizations
FPSG
Fixed Period State Grant

Cited by (0)

1

Present address: Centre for Research in Development, Social and Environment (SEEDS), National University of Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA.