Integrating Urban Land Tenure Security in Health Determinants: The Design of Indicators for Measuring Land Tenure Security and Health Relationships in Developing Country Contexts.

Walter Dachaga,Walter Timo De Vries

doi:10.3390/ijerph19053080

Walter Dachaga, Walter Timo De Vries

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19053080

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Abstract

Both urban land tenure insecurity and poor urban health outcomes are research topics of urban geographers and health experts. However, health outcomes or patterns are hardly measured in relation to land tenure security. There are no clear measures or indicators of if and how these two issues interrelate and which type of land tenure deficiency is likely to lead to which kind of health outcomes or patterns. To address this knowledge quandary, we reviewed literature to identify which characteristics of land tenure could relate to which types of health outcomes. The review found four specific land tenure security pathways which significantly influence health outcomes. For each of these, it is possible to identify a set of indicators which could measure the extent of interrelation between land tenure security and health. The result of this process is the design of a list of 46 land tenure-enabled indicators that can be applied empirically. The indicators demonstrate how to design a transdisciplinary approach that connects land management and global urban health knowledge spaces.

Highlights

Understanding persistent and increasing spatial inequalities in health remains an important objective across different fields of academic enquiry for geography, epidemiology, and public health [1]
We identified aspects and indicators of land tenure security that can be linked to health outcomes
We note from reviewing existing frameworks of urban indicators [86], such as the Urban Livability Index, Public Health Indicators, Urban Health Indicators (Index), and Demographic Health Surveys, that they refer to health factors such as housing and access to space, they bundle land tenure security as a single indicator of urban health as though land tenure security is an absolute concept

Summary

Introduction

Understanding persistent and increasing spatial inequalities in health remains an important objective across different fields of academic enquiry for geography, epidemiology, and public health [1]. A key driver for the increasing geographical differences in health is the disparity in the physical environment, which can either sustain or damage health outcomes [1]. This notion recognizes that unequal distribution of resources and opportunities as well as an uneven access to good quality physical environments are likely to account for social disparities in health outcomes. Urban geographers re-engage with the idea that place contributes to health variations, as it contains social relations and physical resources that affect health.

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