Community organizations, tenancy and title

"Muungano sees 2013 as an important moment for the government to begin to recognize slum dwellers' rights to housing. 'What we are saying,' Mwendo explains, 'is that we are not tools to be bought and sold by whatever person is in political favor. What we are demanding is that any eviction that does take place, does so within the legal framework of the constitution.'"

 

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Victoria Okoye, Lagos Community ManagerMakoko residents pursue their right to remain

Victoria Okoye, Lagos Community Manager

In July, the Lagos State Government razed the homes, businesses, and livelihoods of more than 20,000 residents of the waterfront community of Makoko, a major slum in the megacity. The recent destruction of homes and livelihoods is not a new phenomenon in this waterfront community. Seven years ago, in April 2005, the government led a similar exercise, demolishing houses, churches, shops, and community health clinics, and displacing more than 3,000 people. The trend of these demolitions, and similar ones in Lagos State and across the country over the past few years, highlights the insecure position of land tenancy and title for residents in informal communities and slums like Makoko.

The settlement of Makoko dates back generations to at least the 18th century, when the area was established as a small fishing village on the waterfront. In fact, it is said that the existence of this community predates the existence of Lagos itself as a modern city. For decades, the community has thrived in spite of a government that, for more than 120 years, largely neglected its existence. It is a story told in the lack of infrastructure access and basic services, marginal state government influence, and exclusion even from recent population censuses.

For a government firmly fixed on purging Lagos of its stereotypical characterization as a slum-filled megacity and transforming it into an investment and tourism magnet, Makoko represents a very obvious and very visible problem: With its lack of infrastructure and services, the community has developed informally, its residents live in sub-standard conditions, and the state government has formally designated Makoko a slum. Makoko's waterfront location represents a prime real estate opportunity where the government could pursue its interest in promoting high-end, private-sector-led property developments, and the government appears keen on pursuing this strategy.

Makoko residents want to stay put, but a series of legal policies and enactments complicate the lawful basis by which many residents can claim ownership of the land on which they and their families live, and have lived for generations. So the community, with the support of local organizations, is working to solidify their right to exist there, by challenging the laws that would disenfranchise them and demonstrating the community's cultural and economic value.

The precarious legality of tenancy and ownership

Residents in informal slum communities like Makoko have few available legal protections against evictions. While land-owning individuals should possess a certificate of occupancy which would give them title to land, the current land use law vests ownership power in the governor of each state, enabling the local governments with the power to revoke any right of occupancy when the government intends to appropriate the land for a use considered to be in the public interest.

Felix Morka, a lawyer and the Executive Director of the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), has long worked on housing rights issues relating to land title and tenancy, including in the community of Makoko. "The land use law literally gives the governor of each state the power to take land for the public interest ... in reality, governors exercise that power indiscriminately," Morka says.

The above law applies to all areas of Lagos State, but once an area is designated as a slum, landlords and tenants face additional challenges and further limitations of their rights, Morka explains: "If you live in those districts classified as slums" (such as areas like Makoko, Ajegunle, Iwaya, Badiya, and Agege) "you can't get a certificate of title to gain tenure." If you had existing land ownership, he adds, "you're consigned to hold your land and title marginally, without any certificate of credit."

And challenging the government is no easy feat: "Even if there is any individual that has the knowledge and resources to approach the state to be granted a certificate of occupancy, whether pre-existing or not, the government has a policy not to grant such certificate to title," Morka explains.

Tenants, who may be renting properties on yearly, quarterly, or monthly leases, have even fewer rights, but they do have the right to a reasonable notification of their eviction. In 2011, the current governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, signed into law the tenancy law in Lagos State, which was intended to clarify the rights between landlords and renters; it also includes provisions to prevent forcible evictions of tenants without due notification. Under the tenancy law, tenants are entitled to receive reasonable notice — at minimum, one month notice of any eviction (six months in the case of a yearly tenant). However, in the case of the July 2012 evictions and demolitions, the government provided only 72 hours notice.

Additionally, Lagos State's environmental enforcement law grants the local government the power to demolish structures that are considered to be a public nuisance. However, the law does not clarify or stipulate what due process should be observed, what planning is required, nor the level of compensation that should be provided to residents who are forcibly evicted. In Makoko, buildings — including homes — have been constructed on and along key drainage channels, creating environmental hazards that lead to flooding when heavy rains hit. For Morka, while this environmental issue is a key concern, he believes the law grants the government too far too much leeway: "It makes the government immune to public action; you can't even sue for compensation," he says.

Moving forward

SERAC is one of a set of human rights organizations working with Makoko community leaders and membership to organize and create a voice capable of reacting to the violence and disempowerment. Through a series of activities, the community aims to address the government's actions and their legal claims to ownership, as well as revitalize their space to demonstrate its value and potential for the city and the city's economy. Individuals' ownership and title to land remains in question, but perhaps collectively the community can demonstrate its essential value, and secure its place and formal recognition as a location of worth that should be protected and respected.

The first step is a legal one. SERAC is working on behalf of the community of Makoko to litigate the matter in court — both the court of Lagos State, as well as that of the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court. "We have four or five cases in court to challenge [the land use] law and its provisions," Morka says, but working through the court system presents its own challenges. In some instances, he explains, the courts may be very protective of the state and its intended action, or the action (demolition) may already be completed before the issue can be taken up in court. "When [a structure or a community] gets destroyed before you even can notify the court, then there's nothing the court can do," he says. "From this point of view, the people are completely isolated."

So community members, leadership, and organizations are pursuing other, additional steps to put pressure on the government to recognize their claims to land and livelihoods. "We are mobilizing and going to the streets to protect the people," Morka says. "[The government has made] reasonableness so difficult, so you have to take these sorts of actions." For example, in immediate response to the demolitions, hundreds of Makoko residents staged a sit-in at the state house, forcing Governor Fashola to acknowledge and respond, at least in part, to their grievances.

Working on behalf of the community, SERAC has also formulated a petition to the World Bank. Makoko is one of nine slum communities currently being targeted by the World Bank-financed Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project, a $200 million infrastructural development project aimed at extending and improving services such as health care services, access to water, electricity, and solid waste management to slum communities.

Under the project, the Lagos State Government is under contractual obligations not to carry out these forced evictions without due process and provision of adequate compensation. According to this agreement, Morka says, "(the demolition exercise) was an abrogation of contract and the bank's policies."

Cultural elements are another strand through which organizations are working with the local community to improve the community space and build citywide recognition of Makoko. The first idea, already in the works, is for a photo exhibition demonstrating the community as a place of peace, cultural value, and tourism potential, as well as a music concert and a community revitalization project.

Morka believes Makoko can be transformed into a tourist destination, but the local community, its people, and its inherent character are the roots through which the waterfront tourism can flourish. "[There is] beauty, culture, diversity, and a really amazing spirit comprised here," Morka says.

Laying out the intent for the photo exhibition, Morka says: "We want to show the faces of the women and the men in their various occupations as people who are contributing to the economy of Lagos and of Nigeria. We are trying to show just the pure beauty of Makoko." In addition, the photo exhibition would be linked to a global postcard campaign. Turning the photos from the exhibition into postcards, people from around the world could mail the Lagos Governor to convince him to stop the destruction of the community.

The community would also host a social forum and music concert, converting open community space into a cultural scene with music and performances. In addition, plans are also in place to start a community-led revitalization of the community. "The community is determined and ready to collaborate with the government and other entities to seek a holistic regeneration of the community," Morka says.

For now, the people of Makoko continue to work to clean up their community space following the demolition. In clearing out rubbish, planting flowers, and refurbishing houses, businesses and other buildings, Morka says the community is hard at work to repair the community and to make it better than it was before.

Together, these actions aim to demonstrate the potential and the value of the community of Makoko. "It's a way to acknowledge this is a community, a people. It can't just be destroyed like that."

Katy Fentress, Nairobi Community ManagerUsing Kenya's Constitution to defend slum dwellers

Katy Fentress, Nairobi Community Manager

Muungano wa Wanavijiji, a Kenyan partner of the Slum Dwellers International network, is battling it out in court to protect the residents of Mukuru kwa Reuben slum from being evicted from land they have occupied for more than thirty years.

On September 9th, one of Kenya’s leading dailies reported on a landmark court case in which a legal team representing Muungano is attempting to sue a series of high-profile politicians — including the ex-president, a presidential aspirant, and prominent entrepreneurs — on behalf of the community. If successful, the case will be one of the first of its type to have effectively used the new constitution as backing for a community's land claims.

Mukuru kwa Reuben is an informal settlement that makes up part of the Mukuru belt — a number of slums distributed around Nairobi's main industrial area.

According to a Muungano wa Wanavijiji report: "The settlement was started in 1979 by a lady called Cucu Gatope and her three daughters. The place belonged to a white settler called Reuben who used it as a grazing place for his cattle. After his death (1985?), his friend Matthew remained behind and his five workers took over the farm, invited their friends and built temporary structures using mud and carton boxes."

Different parts of Mukuru kwa Reuben were populated over the subsequent decade, and the settlement grew to be a series of densely-populated villages. Each village has different parties that claim rights on the land and structures, with varying levels of claims depending on the village. The proximity to Nairobi's industrial area makes this a good location for accessing casual labour opportunities and other income-generating activities. The Muungano report shows that the total population of Mukuru kwa Reuben tallies somewhere around 40,000 residents.

In the 1990s, parts of Mukuru kwa Reuben were either sold or allocated as political favours. The resulting title-deed owners were given the land so that they could establish light industries on it. Almost twenty years later, no such thing had been done. One of the claims against the title-deed owners is that they simply used the land as collateral with which to acquire property elsewhere.

In June 2012, landlords informed Mukuru kwa Reuben residents that an eviction was imminent. Members of the community, which includes various schools, clinics, churches and a police station, were not informed of any existing provision to ensure they were relocated after the eviction.

Muungano wa Wanavijiji, one of the most prominent Kenyan organizations fighting for slum dwellers' rights, decided to take up the case, arguing that the landlord's titles were no longer valid and that, under the current right to housing and sanitation clause in the constitution (the new version of which was ratified in 2010), these evictions were in fact illegal and could be challenged.

Muungano, under the legal counsel of Jane Weru, one of the organization's directors and legal advisors, decided to use this opportunity to highlight the corrupt process through which the land had been allocated and the reasons for which the organization felt the land titles should not be considered valid.

Although the court case is ongoing, the presiding judge has temporarily put an injunction on any kind of evictions until the outcome has been decided.

In a recent interview published on the Muungano web site, Weru stated:

"This is a good case. We will be raising the question of the right to housing and sanitation, which is enshrined in the Constitution. We will also be querying the process followed in making these land allocations.... The law under the old constitution was clear that if land was to be allotted to an individual, it should have been sold by public auction. In many of these cases, the parcels were simply dished out to cronies of the powers-that-be. The land was issued for the establishment of light industries. None of these were built on the parcels in question and the Commissioner of Lands was supposed to have recalled the titles. That should happen now."

Muungano members and Mukuru kwa Reuben residents have high hopes that the court will rule in their favor. The Daily Nation reported that one of the landowners, MP Cyrus Jirongo, had his land title revoked earlier this year after a series of questions about the legality of the process through which he acquired the land were raised in Parliament.

"We hope that the government hands over the entire piece of land that Mukuru kwa Reuben is situated on to the people," says Joseph Mwendo, 38, a Muungano activist and resident of Mukuru. "We don't know how the government will compensate the owners, but it is not our problem. The point is that the landowners did not develop the land in the timeframe established in their contract."

Mwendo goes on to note that Muungano sees 2013, the year in which Kenya will celebrate fifty years of independence from British colonial rule, as an important moment for the government to begin to recognize slum dwellers' rights to housing. "What we are saying," Mwendo explains, "is that we are not tools to be bought and sold by whatever person is in political favor. What we are demanding is that any eviction that does take place, does so within the legal framework of the constitution."

The reason Mwendo believes this will be possible is, once again, the new constitution — and, more specifically, the independence it gives to the Kenyan Magistrates' courts, which were previously much more vulnerable to interference by the government in legal proceedings.

Whatever the outcome of this litigation, the simple fact that it has succeeded in forcing politicians and other influential actors to appear in court over illegal land allocation is per se a significant step forward in the battle to combat land grabs and their impact on marginalized communities across Kenya.

Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community ManagerThe future of Mumbai's largest 'slum'

Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager

Mumbai is a city filled with complexity — economically, socially, religiously, and politically. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Dharavi, the city's largest and one of the world's most famous informal settlements. The one-kilometer-squared area houses 600,000 residents who come from all over the country, speaking dozens of different languages and practicing a variety of traditional customs from their home regions. While the diversity of the area is evident, most of the half-million residents have been united on one particular issue: the tenuous future of their community.

Dharavi, once on the outskirts of Mumbai's central area (which is situated at the southern tip of the peninsula) was originally occupied by fishing tribes pushed out of an industrializing, 19th-century urban center. As migration has increased in Mumbai, many of these new urban dwellers have settled in Dharavi as well. However, what was once the northern hinterlands of the city is now, increasingly, the central hub of the ever-expanding Mumbai, and Dharavi today occupies one of the most central and strategic positions. The city's two major train lines intersect at Sion, in the heart of Dharavi, and the city's biggest corporate park, Bandra Kurla Complex, which houses everything from embassies to major international banks, is just across the Mithi River. The slum area's real estate value has reached a premium. If Dharavi were to be bulldozed tomorrow, it is estimated the government would be able to sell the land for $25 billion.

Redeveloping Dharavi

And so the complications of a city filled with complications manifest themselves in the redevelopment of this small but densely populated plot of land. Dharavi, despite its long history and upgrades by its residents, has been officially labeled a "slum." In 2004, the government instituted the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP), a complex multi-stakeholder public-private partnership (PPP) initiative — including international developers, bureaucrats, state agencies, civil society, and social movements — that seeks to give new apartments to the area's dwellers. The square footage of these new homes, however, has been a subject of controversy: the original government plan was a meager 180 square feet, but in the wake of community resistance the square footage has since been raised to 225 square feet, then to 300, and recent demands are for the flats to reach an area of 400 square feet.

The battle over square footage runs deeper than a simple fight for bigger spaces. Residents, and groups supporting the residents, feel that the government's approach to slum redevelopment — particularly for the valuable plot of land on which Dharavi stands — favors economic incentives for builders' gains over fulfilling the community's needs. Under the plan, the government has raised the Floor Space Index (or FSI), which specifies the permitted buildable area in relation to a plot size. For example, on 100 square feet of land, an FSI of 1 would mean that 100 square feet can be built up, either in one floor of 100 square feet or two floors of 50 square feet each; accordingly, an FSI of 2 would indicate that 200 square feet could be built on this 100-square-foot plot. In Dharavi, the government has raised the FSI to 4 — higher than in the rest of Mumbai — to incentivize developers with the potential to build luxury housing to subsidize the required free slum housing. As Rakhi Mehra of microHome Solutions explains, "Even an extra FSI of 1 is substantial in high-value areas like Dharavi, where another 100 square feet is like gold. In India, giving higher FSI to developers without mandating some minimum density will not really impact the affordable housing supply."

Furthermore, the DRP has "artificially" sectioned off Dharavi into five areas that were each bid upon by different private developers (see further details of the DRP here on urb.im). Complicating matters, in pursuit of making the area into an "economic hub," critics say the government and its partners have neglected the existing thriving economy in Dharavi, which The Economist valued at US$500 million in 2005.

Martina Spies, a Vienna-based architect who is researching Dharavi, wrote an article earlier this year on urb.im arguing that the government's designation is a misnomer. The area is not a "slum" but a "settlement," she explains. UN-HABITAT defines a slum as a "run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security." This, she says, does not describe the area. Spies says the residents have gone to great lengths to upgrade their situations, and that there is a thriving economic and social fabric there. "One of the most fascinating facts and qualities in Dharavi are the improvements on a very micro-level — all created by the people themselves, transforming Dharavi from a so-called slum into an established settlement. Their incredible strength and discipline has guided Dharavi's tenants in upgrading their homes by themselves with the help of small bank loans or private savings," writes Spies.

No one-size-fits-all solutions

One of the major issues with the DRP is that it has created one monolithic plan and goal for an area that is highly diverse, not only in terms of its distinctions mentioned above, but also the various housing and tenure situations. Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove, founders of URBZ — an organization in Dharavi dedicated to creating user-generated cities — describe the land titles and occupancy rights in the city as some of the most complicated in the world. In a position paper for the "21st Century Indian City" conference at the University of California at Berkeley held earlier this year, they write, "An array of legislations, policy ordinance, acts and notifications, customary laws, special programs and schemes collide with local practices, populist politics and public opinion to create a mangrove-like pattern of ownerships in the city. At once deeply rooted and floating on murky grounds, occupancy rights seem to be, at the end of the day, determined by politics rather than the rule of law."

Despite the association of slums as being "illegal" — encroaching on city-owned or privately-owned land — many residents of Dharavi have legal tenure or are legal renters. And while their status brings with them certain rights, the DRP has stripped Dharavi's dwellers of the essential ability of improving their situation. Srivastava and Echanove provide the example of the Vishal Cooperative Housing Society (CHS) in Dharavi, a chawl that was built by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) before independence in 1947. In other words, since it was built by the city corporation itself, the chawl's residents are "legitimate citizens" who pay rent to the city, not "illegal" slum dwellers.

The DRP, however, has complicated the situation of the Vishal CHS residents. In fact, they have taken their case and peculiar situation to the city's Human Rights Court, arguing — despite the city's denial — that they have a human right to self-develop as legal tenants. And, in fact, ordinarily this right would be granted to them. However, because the chawl is in Dharavi, where the DRP trumps all, they are denied these basic rights. As Srivastava and Echanove explain, the DRP is "de facto depriving all residents of Dharavi of the rights they would have enjoyed if they were living in any other part of the city." While the residents of CHS have the means and ability to independently improve their housing situation, they will have no choice but to relocate themselves into government-developed buildings — if, and when, the DRP ever comes to fruition.

Given these complicated and murky circumstances surrounding the DRP, many NGOs and community-led initiatives have stepped in to assist Dharavi's residents. Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) and Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA) have worked closely with Dharavi's residents, listening to their concerns and ideas. Many of their concerns center around the fear of losing space for economic activities, since many residents work out of their small homes or use the outdoor and rooftop spaces for their labor. They are also concerned about the destruction of the social fabric that comes with moving from one-or-two-story residences into large, concrete apartment blocks.

In 2010, SPARC and KRVIA released a publication, "ReDharavi," that called for more resident participation and community control in the DRP process. Further, they suggested that the mega-master plan be broken down into smaller approaches that recognized the different housing situations in the area — nagars, chawls and co-ops — as well as tenure diversity.

The DRP spreads north

The DRP has been in the works for almost a decade, and, in actuality, very little has been accomplished. Yet, despite the controversy surrounding the plan, the model seems to be taking hold in other areas.

The city of Ahmedabad has a population of nearly six million and is the seventh largest city in India. The city is experiencing many of the same issues as other major urban areas, including its larger neighbor, Mumbai. In spite of the city's challenges, Ahmedabad is known for its entrepreneurial spirit and inventive nature. After all, it was from Sabarati Ashram in Ahmedabad that Mohandas Gandhi led the people of India on a non-violent freedom struggle to victoriously overcome British rule. Three decades later in 1972, the pioneering Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) formed in the city, and today is one of the leading organizations for underserved women in India, and perhaps the world.

In keeping with the forward-looking innovation that runs through the city's blood, a new project was launched in July 2011 to make Ahmedabad a "slum-free city." What is surprising, though, is that in a city of such out-of-the-box thinking and entrepreneurship, the Gujarat state government has decided to adopt Mumbai's DRP model as it embarks on an ambitious plan to upgrade the living quarters of 440,000 slum dwellers in the city. Initially, the PPP project, called "The Regulation for the Rehabilitation and Redevelopment of the Slums 2010," will focus on 1,200 families who reside in the "crime-prone" slum of Amraiwadi. As in Mumbai, pro-builder policies will provide plenty of opportunity for developers to capitalize off the slum residents' situation.

The spread of Mumbai's redevelopment approach to its neighboring state begs the question: Is this the future of development in India? Are there alternatives? B.R. Balachandran, an Ahmedabad-based urban planner and Executive Director of DBS Affordable Home Strategy Ltd, says that new and innovative low-cost housing models are a viable alternative to the governments' plans in both Mumbai and Ahmedabad. First and foremost, though, these projects need to consider the needs of the residents.

DBS Affordable Housing Initiative

"Housing is a game changer," says Balachandran, who champions a "holistic" approach to integrating DBS clients into the formal housing system. DBS looks beyond a concrete building or residence into products and services that facilitate its customer base's transition to formal ownership of their property. The company offers social services that support housing, including facilitating access to home loans, financial literacy, livelihood support, education and health services. Most important, however, is the "active handholding" as families who have mostly lived in slums and informal settings move into housing ownership. This is critical component in making housing a "transformational intervention," says Balachandran.

This transformational intervention is what the Dharavi Redevelopment Model is lacking and why its potential is questionable. The top-down approach and leap from slum to high-rise misses the need for incremental steps towards integrating the urban poor into the formal housing market. The house is an investment in their future, and, says Balachandran, "there need to be incremental investments in this that the community needs to be a part of." In other words, simply "replacing a bad house with a better house" lacks the holistic approach and involvement that DBS believes is essential to moving people up the value chain and into the formal housing market. For this to happen, government investment in housing must simultaneously involve investment in moving the poor up the socio-economic ladder by including health, education and "equipping them to deal with life."

DBS' affordable housing model acknowledges an important point in housing upgrading for the poor: the process that is needed to successfully improve their circumstances. In a redevelopment project as complicated as that in Dharavi, it is essential to make this community-centered process a part of every step in the project. Without involving the voices of the people, the DRP — or any of India's urban renewal projects — runs the risk of missing the mark completely, undoing the livelihoods, social structures and intricately interwoven environments in Dharavi that have been so carefully developed over so many years.

María Fernanda Carvallo, Mexico City Community ManagerLa tenencia de la tierra en la Ciudad de México

María Fernanda Carvallo, Mexico City Community Manager

En los últimos años en México ha habido reformas importantes en las leyes que regulan la tenencia sobre la tierra. Ello obedece, entre otras razones, a la alternancia política que tuvo lugar en el año 2000 y también a una corriente progresista en gran parte de América latina que, teniendo como sustento el reconocimiento generalizado del derecho a la vivienda, ha llevado a reformas legislativas sin precedentes.

En este sentido, si bien no se pueden obviar los avances registrados, pasar enteramente de las leyes a la praxis aún no ha sido del todo posible y todavía son muchos los problemas que enfrenta el país para dar acceso equitativo a la tierra, sobre todo a quienes habitan en predios o asentamientos irregulares.

Los grupos indígenas siguen siendo población vulnerable al despojo y/o expropiación de predios, las mujeres aún están rezagadas en acceso a créditos para adquirir su propia vivienda y la privatización excesiva continúa mermando las posibilidades de que la población que vive en condiciones de mayor marginación pueda tener su propio terreno.

Asimismo, el crecimiento urbano desmesurado ha incrementado la demanda por servicios públicos y ésta, a su vez, ha propiciado el crecimiento de la construcción de viviendas a los que no todos pueden tener acceso, creando un círculo de exclusión y concentración de vivienda en sectores muy reducidos. Lo que orilla al establecimiento de un mercado informal de tierra en donde, de acuerdo a Clichevsky en "Pobreza y Acceso al Suelo Urbano", la Cd de México ha asentado bajo este esquema y a través de invasiones directas al 40 por ciento de su población.

La tenencia de la tierra en la Ciudad de México

El derecho a una vivienda adecuada está estipulado en la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Además, la constitución también establece que el Estado tiene el deber irrestricto de proteger ese derecho ante cualquier atropello. Sin embargo, es importante señalar que no garantiza el derecho universal a la tierra para todas las personas como lo hace con el derecho a la propiedad, aunque sí contiene normas específicas sobre el derecho a la tierra de grupos especiales como los pueblos indígenas y aquéllos que viven en asentamientos urbanos y rurales informales.

Asimismo, con base en el artículo 27 constitucional, el Estado está obligado a garantizar un sistema de planeación de vivienda democrático al tiempo que amplía sus canales de acción a través de la participación de académicos, organizaciones de la sociedad civil, empresarios, en el mismo.

De este artículo se desprende la Ley de Planeación, que tipifica la tierra en tres tipos:

  • Pública, entendida como aquella conformada por terrenos que son propiedad de la Nación y los asignados a instituciones públicas.
  • Social, conformada por terrenos comunales y ejidales.
  • Privada, conformada por terrenos urbanos y la pequeña propiedad.

Con base en estas disposiciones, el gobierno mexicano ha elaborado distintos planes de desarrollo para combatir la pobreza urbana a través del desarrollo de viviendas con base en aspectos económicos, sociales y ambientales para favorecer a los grupos vulnerables.

Sin embargo, es importante primero tener en cuenta cómo se maneja y gestiona el suelo en casos de asentamientos irregulares. Son dos los procedimientos a tomar en cuenta. Primero, se formaliza la transmisión de los derechos de los terrenos a quienes los ocupan para, después, reconocer ese espacio como parte de un área urbana que tiene el derecho a recibir servicios públicos.

El problema es que según la ley de Planeación, las políticas de regularización están centradas en la titulación de los terrenos y raramente ésta viene acompañada de regularización en servicios. Además, esta regularización está diseñada sólo para propiedades públicas, por lo que los terrenos privados no tienen ningún tipo de amparo.

Cada Estado tiene sus propias leyes sobre la tierra. La legislación del Distrito Federal no varía de forma considerable con lo establecido en la Ley de Planeación. Sin embargo, el Distrito Federal es la entidad federativa que más rápido se ha urbanizado y que aún debe innovar en materia legislativa para que la expansión urbana no dañe los lugares que aún tienen una fuerte actividad agrícola, como Tláhuac, Milpa Alta y Xochimilco.

Cabe señalar también que estos lugares, por desarrollar agricultura tradicional, cuentan con un régimen comunal de tenencia de la tierra que se ha mantenido desde hace más de cien años, aún con las reformas implementadas en la administración actual, resultado sobre todo de una identidad cultural que siempre ha defendido la tierra, los bosques y el ambiente.

Un nuevo enfoque de regularización terrenal

Desde hace más de 30 años, el Gobierno Federal creó la Comisión para la Regularización de la Tenencia de la Tierra (CORETT), una instancia que, en el marco de la política de desarrollo nacional, permite el establecimiento de bases para la construcción de mejores condiciones de vida: suelo, servicios y vivienda. A pesar de ser una dependencia federal, en sus labores participan los tres órdenes de Gobierno, Federal, Estatal y Municipal.

La CORETT busca regularizar con base en las disposiciones jurídicas aplicables, la tenencia de la tierra en donde existan asentamientos humanos irregulares ubicados en predios ejidales, comunales y de propiedad federal. También promueve la adquisición y enajenación de suelo y reservas territoriales para el desarrollo urbano y la vivienda, en concertación con los sectores social y privado, particularmente con los núcleos agrarios.

El programa más importante que desarrolla la CORETT es el Programa de Apoyo a los Avecindados en Condiciones de Pobreza Patrimonial para Regularizar Asentamientos Humanos Irregulares (PASPRAH), un programa del Gobierno Federal que apoya con un monto máximo de 8 mil pesos para obtener la escritura pública o título de propiedad de un predio asentado de manera irregular.

Sin embargo, no cualquiera puede ser beneficiario de este programa. Se necesita comprobar que quien quiera acceder a él se encuentra en pobreza patrimonial, es decir con un ingreso insuficiente para adquirir la canasta alimentaria y realizar gastos necesarios de salud, vestido, vivienda, transporte y educación; y que vive en comunidades urbanas que la CORETT identifica como zonas marginadas.

La CORETT también ejecuta un programa de regularización de tierra social a través de expropiaciones de asentamientos por causa de interés público. Para ello, identifica y delimita el área que se va a regularizar, que debe estar ocupada por lo menos en un 80 por ciento. Es decir, el asentamiento debe estar consolidado y tener construcciones permanentes. Asimismo, el área que va a regularizarse debe ser considerada en los planes municipales de uso del suelo como adecuada para el desarrollo urbano y se deben excluir las superficies que presenten riesgos naturales o físicos.

La política de tenencia de la tierra está basada principalmente en un ordenamiento territorial a través de la regularización, más que a través de los desalojos. Con el programa de la CORETT, la regularización de la tenencia de la tierra promueve el patrimonio legal de los hogares, aumenta el valor del precio, permite que las familias soliciten créditos para mejorar o ampliar la vivienda, así como heredar o vender legalmente la propiedad.

Retos para la regularización de la tierra

La planeación urbana en ciudades súper pobladas enfrenta un gran reto; en la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México la regularización del uso del suelo se divide para fines prácticos en suelo de conservación ecológica y uso habitacional, el último con un pequeño porcentaje de disposición territorial. Si bien no ocurren desalojos violentos en la Cd. De México, las acciones de la CORETT por medio de la expropiación de los predios ejidales, cambio de uso de suelo o regularización de la tierra para la expansión urbana, produce expulsiones de campesinos, ya que al regularizar la tierra toma el precio de esta muy bajo y el dinero que se les da a cambio por la tierra no les es suficiente para su reubicación y adquisición de la vivienda, por lo que se observa un fenómeno muy acentuado de migración hacia las zonas semiurbanas y rurales.

En este mismo contexto, ante la carencia para el uso habitacional, la población vulnerable y de escasos recursos son clientes cautivos de los agentes informales para la venta ilegal de propiedades generando un ciclo vicioso en donde es necesario la innovación de tipos de tenencia alternativas y la disposición de bancos de tierras para la expansión urbana. Por parte de la sociedad, de acuerdo a la CEPAL, una de las posibles soluciones a la causa del problema es la participación de la población asociada para la concientización de la población en relación a la problemática y defensa de sus derechos.

Por otro lado, más allá de la regularización de la tierra, el desarrollo de infraestructura básica es otro de los retos para que el Estado provea un nivel de bienestar mínimo, pues se enfrenta a los grandes costos de llevar la infraestructura debido a la carencia de la instalación de esta, por lo que hay un gran área de oportunidad para que la sinergia del Estado y de la sociedad civil implementen alternativas innovadoras para la satisfacción de las necesidades de los hogares. ¿Conoces algún proyecto social que provea de esta infraestructura a los asentamientos que se originaron de manera irregular?

Catalina Gomez, Rio de Janeiro Community ManagerCatalytic Communities: Working to protect Rio's favelas

Catalina Gomez, Rio de Janeiro Community Manager

Catalytic Communities is a nonprofit organization that was established in Rio de Janeiro in 2000. In a little more than a decade, it has become an active voice in promoting a more educated understanding of Rio's favelas and in destigmatizing these communities. "CatComm," as it is usually called, aims to integrate the favelas into the wider society and generate greater knowledge about their rich cultural and social value. To accomplish these goals, it actively promotes capacity-building initiatives among low-income community leaders and youth, as well as conducting neighborhood visits and research.

Rio's local governmental efforts to "put its house in order" before the upcoming World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016 have given rise to several claims of mismanagement, and CatComm's most significant current role is arguably to provide a powerful voice against such mismanagement. The specifics include illegal evictions, as well as a lack of information provided to favela dwellers — or, at the very least, a serious lack of clarity — with respect to several revitalization and urban transformation projects.

CatComm's concern is that these claims are not happening in a single community or an isolated case, but in several areas around the city. In 2010, in response to this concern, CatComm established Rio on Watch as a platform to monitor and follow up on the city's urban development process leading up to 2016, with a focus on highlighting local voices, especially those of favela dwellers and community organizations.

The eviction in Rio's first favela, Morro da Providência, is one of several cases that Rio on Watch has helped to make visible. The local government plans to install a cable car and a funicular tram and to build better roads — all of which seems very positive at first glance, but not so much on closer inspection. Theresa Williamson, CatComm founder and Rio on Watch publisher, recently co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times entitled "In the Name of the Future, Rio Is Destroying Its Past." In this piece, she explains that Rio's government is failing to establishing the appropriate communication channels and engaging in dialogue with community dwellers regarding the projects that will be taking place in their own neighborhood. She notes that "around 30 percent of the community's population has already been marked for removal and the only public meetings held were to warn residents of their fate." Theresa also points out that only about 36 percent of the residents in Morro da Providência hold documentation of their land rights, compared with 70 percent to 95 percent in other favelas. That makes this neighborhood one of the most vulnerable areas of the city, with residents unaware of their rights and deeply worried about losing their homes.

Besides Morro da Providência, Rio on Watch is covering different claims of evictions around the city, including the case of Curicica, a group of favelas in Rio's southern area which the new Trans Olympic Highway will cross. Rio on Watch has published several articles on these communities in an effort to provide alternative perspectives and understandings of their urban and social conditions. Rio on Watch also wants to record and present the mechanisms for coping and resilience which these vulnerable communities have developed, putting a human face on Rio's transformation process.

One key aspect of these reports worth highlighting is that many residents and community representatives aren't against the projects or against the changes these projects will bring: they are mostly affected and concerned by the lack of communication from the local government. Many community members simply want to be properly informed about these projects and their implications for their own lives and communities -- and would like to participate in the transformation process.

We invite you to visit the Rio on Watch web site, which includes articles covering several eviction cases as well as exploring many positive aspects of favela residents' lives. You will also find videos and documentation there that explore the complexities surrounding Rio's urban transformation for the World Cup and the Olympics.


 

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