This Article Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Nkurunziza, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Informal mechanisms for accessing and securing urban land rights: the case of Kampala, Uganda

International Development Department, School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK, e.nkurunziza{at}bham.ac.uk

There is a growing consensus in research that informal settlements are not as chaotic as often portrayed. The processes through which households in these settlements access housing land are not anarchic but are structured and regulated by some form of social ordering. This paper analyzes and explains the nature of the institutions that actually regulate and underpin land delivery processes in Kampala's informal settlements. Contemporary land access processes are examined in three case study settlements where institutions that are responsive to the local contexts have been developed and utilized. These non-state institutions are shown to be eclectic in nature, drawing on various normative orders including state law, rules of market exchange and customary practices. Their success in delivering large quantities of housing land is attributed to the social legitimacy they command, evidenced by the general acceptance and respect they enjoy from those whose relations they regulate.

Key Words: informal • Kampala • land • secure • tenure • Uganda • urban

Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 19, No. 2, 509-526 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0956247807082833


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?