A large and increasing proportion of people in the urban areas of developing countries are unable to obtain access to legal shelter and are forced to live in various types of unauthorised settlements. Whilst this presents urban authorities with major problems, the situation is even more difficult for the poor themselves. However, various forms of tenure have evolved to meet their needs and create situations in which there is now a continuum of formal, customary and non-formal tenure categories in most cities.

Geoffrey Payne, director of GPA, has been undertaking research on land tenure and property rights issues since 1989, when he was commissioned to undertake an international review of the subject by the World Bank. Since then, he has carried out research for, amongst others, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Cities Alliance, the UN-HABITAT Campaign for Secure Tenure, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SIDA.

In 1999, GPA was commissioned by DFID and the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy in Cambridge, USA to undertake a major international research project on innovative approaches to secure tenure for the urban poor. This included examples from fifteen countries and has resulted in book (see the publications section of this website for details) and a documentary film called 'Land Rites' which was transmitted on BBC World Television in June 2001 as part of the run-up to the United Nations Istanbul+5 conference in New York. Geoffrey Payne was part of the UK delegation to this conference, at which the film and a media pack summarising the case studies was launched. He has been invited by the World Bank to present papers on land tenure and property rights at the Bank's annual Urban Research Forum on several occasions.

Recent GPA research includes a major research project to assess the impacts of land titling programmes in several countries which has generated a number of publications. More general reviews of tenure and rights issues were published by the United Nations (‘Urban Land for All’ in 2004 and ‘Secure Land Rights for All’, with Julian Quan in 2008). In addition, Geoff has undertaken consultancy assignments on land tenure and property rights in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and countries of the Commonwealth.

(For details of publications and how to obtain copies, see the Publications link in the navigation bar).

2011
UK
Commissioned to prepare a report for Commonwealth Environment Ministers on land tenure issues and options in urban areas, presented for discussion in Nairobi, April, 2011.

2010-11
Rwanda
Working with Alain Durand-Lasserve on a sub-contract with Practical Action to review Phase 2 of the DFID funded Land Tenure Regularisation Programme currently being implemented throughout the country.

2008-09
UK
GPA commissioned to prepare a methodological framework for assessing land tenure systems and the extent to which they meet specified criteria, such as increased security, access to formal credit, increased investment in housing and increased municipal revenues.

2008
Norway
Invited to present a paper on the social and economic impacts of land titling programmes at a seminar in Oslo and the final session of the Commission for the Legal Empowerment of the Poor in Bergen.

2008
UK
Commissioned by UN-Habitat to co-author ‘Secure Land Rights for All’, an update of the ‘Urban Land For All’ document originally drafted for the UN and published as its policy paper in 2004. The new document focuses on improving tenure security for existing urban and rural residents and improving access to land for future populations.

2007
Senegal and South Africa
GPA awarded funds to undertake a social and economic impact assessment of urban and peri-urban land titling programmes in Senegal and South Africa. The project was undertaken between June 2007 and 2008. Leading researchers in each country were commissioned to undertake fieldwork and analysis.

2007
Bangladesh
Surveying urban land tenure problems in three cities (Chittagong, Kushtia and Naraynganj) to identify options for improving urban land management and tenure security for the urban poor.

2007
UK
Co-ordinating and managing a desk review with colleagues of international land titling programmes.

2003
Cambodia
Produced a land tenure concept paper for the National Campaign for Secure Tenure of Cambodia, for UN-Habitat.
UK government
Commissioned by DFID to prepare a report for the Cabinet Office assessing the work and proposals of Hernando de Soto on land tenure and property rights’.
ID21
Guest editor of research bulletin ‘Insights’ special issue on land tenure and property rights. 12,000 copies distributed to policy makers, administrators and professional groups internationally.

2002-04
Cambodia – Improving Tenure Security for the Urban Poor
Director of ‘Secure tenure for the urban poor’ project funded jointly by Cities Alliance, UN-Habitat and GTZ to develop innovative approaches to providing secure tenure for the urban poor in Phnom Penh as part of the capital’s social and economic development strategy.

2002-03
Progress in the Provision of Secure Tenure for the Urban Poor
Commissioned by the UK Department for International Development as an extension to the project ‘Innovative approaches to secure tenure for the urban poor’ (below). The project will provided evidence of the strengths and limitations of ‘intermediate’ non-statutory tenure systems in providing secure shelter and their potential contribution to the formulation and implementation of pro-poor urban land tenure policies. It will also contribute policy options to the UN-Habitat campaign for Secure Tenure and the Cities Alliance activities.

2000-01
Innovative approaches to secure tenure for the urban poor
Commissioned by the UK Department for International Development to review innovative approaches for increasing security of tenure for the urban poor. The project will review examples and prepare recommendations (including a film for television) to be submitted to the United Nations Campaign for Secure Tenure and the Istanbul+5 conference in 2001.

1996-97
Urban land tenure policy
International review of policies on land tenure and property rights for the UK Overseas Development Administration (now DFID).

1989-90
Land tenure and property rights
Commissioned by the World Bank to prepare a Discussion Paper.