1st of 4 learning documents by BPD on WSUP's African Cities for the Future programme: Providing water and sanitation services to the urban poor takes place in contexts with complex formal and informal land ownership arrangements. How can these be overcome? This Topic Brief presents an overview, possible solutions and recommendations. WSUP’s work in providing water and sanitation services to the urban poor takes place in contexts with complex formal and informal land ownership arrangements. Firstly, the people in most need of improved water and sanitation are often tenants, and this raises diverse challenges: for example, landlords may be unwilling to invest in better toilets. Secondly, improving water and sanitation services often requires land for construction of communal or public facilities, and land tenure again raises diverse problems here. How can these challenges be overcome? Drawing on WSUP’s experience in the African Cities for the Future (ACF) programme, this Topic Brief gives an overview of this area, and discusses solutions that have been developed within the ACF programme. The Topic Brief also offers practical guidance on this issue for programme managers. In summary, this Topic Brief has discussed how the dynamics of tenure and tenancy underpin the incentives and priorities of the major stakeholders in improving basic services. The poor living conditions of low-income settlements with high tenancy rates are a result of a lack of investment by all parties. Lack of adequate space for basic services is a result of informal urban development that exceeds the capacity of town planning. Tenure and tenancy dynamics can be complex and strongly rooted in political and historical underpinnings. Understanding how these dynamics influence different programme options is key to developing appropriate basic services for the urban poor.

Bibliographic information

Scott, P. (2013). Dealing with Land Tenure and Tenancy Challenges in Water and Sanitation Services Delivery Building Partnerships for Development (BPD), Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), UK

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Urban informal settlements (slums)English

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