PERCEPTIONS OF TENURE SECURITY IN A SQUATTER SETTLEMENT IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Abstract

International development agencies and governments in the developing world view private property rights as the key to unleashing housing improvements in squatter settlements. The common understanding about these settlements is that inhabitants make substantial improvements to their initial houses after they receive a property title (Harms 1982; Harris 1998; de Soto 2000). The assumption is that a property title gives them tenure security and reduces the probability of eviction. Moreover, such security is a prerequisite for the inhabitants to invest in the improvement of their houses. Hence, tenure legalization is one of the leading strategies for squatter settlement upgrading adopted by government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). But how does legalizing a squatter settlement affect its inhabitants’ perceptions of tenure security? My investigations in Shamaspura, a squatter settlement in Lahore, Pakistan, reveal a gap between legal and perceived tenure security in regard to housing improvements. This chapter explains how these inhabitants perceive property titles and the importance they attach to these titles.