A/HRC/22/46
urbanized land and housing. However, in cases of complete lack of alternative secure
housing elsewhere, they can have detrimental effects, given the real threat of evictions with
no or inadequate compensation and within an extremely short time frame.63 The issue is
how to manage land in ways in which these temporary rights-holders are not left vulnerable
to forced eviction and abuse, and are able to gain increased tenure security in the long term.
81.
Conversely, such temporary permits could be a first step towards increased tenure
security.64 For instance in Brazil, authorities can recognize, by way of leasehold rights to
use and stay for an indefinite period, those individuals or communities who have settled on
public land for at least five years—however these do not offer complete protection, as seen
in the recent evictions of communities benefiting from such permits. 65
D.
Urban planning
82.
Urban planning policies, laws and regulations can have a direct impact on
strengthening tenure security, or, conversely, on increasing insecurity. Planning rules that
often disregard cultural specificities and are based solely on the housing products offered to
the upper classes or dominant groups, coupled with rigid and costly regulatory frameworks
for how land and housing should be developed, often fail to meet the needs of the poor or of
marginalized groups, putting formalization out of their reach and rendering them or their
homes de facto illegal.
83.
Non-compliance with planning laws thus becomes a common justification for the
evictions of long-established communities, often minorities or informal settlers. This has
been the case in Israel, whereby non-issuance of construction permits often leads to
irregular construction and, in some cases, to eviction and demolition orders to the detriment
of minorities.66 In Turkey, an urban rehabilitation project within the framework of a law
regulating the protection and renovation of historical and cultural buildings led to the
demolition of the historic Romani neighbourhood and the eviction of its inhabitants. 67
84.
Another issue is the lack of coherence and harmonization among the multiplicity of
laws and regulations bearing upon urban security of tenure, leading to legal uncertainty,
lack of implementation of key provisions, even unwanted impacts such as evictions. 68
Rights of adverse possession provided for by law might also be limited or denied by
subsequent regulations, or in implementation. 69 In addition, even when planning laws
provide for the regularization of informal settlements, questions of sustainability relating to
the increase of land prices and full availability of services remain.70
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
18
Ibid.
Such as the Certificate of Comfort in Trinidad and Tobago.
See the City Statute (Federal Law No. 10.257/2001); Provisional Measure No. 2220 (2001);
A/HRC/22/67, case BRA 14/2012.
A/HRC/22/46/Add.1, para. 24.
A/HRC/10/7/Add.1, paras. 86-87. See also A/HRC/22/46/Add.2, paras. 39-40.
See NALAS, Challenges of Regularization of Informal Settlements in South East Europe: Overview
of the Relevant Urban Planning and Legalization Laws and Practice (2011).
For example, in Bulgaria, the moratorium on adverse possession of public land preventing Roma from
legalizing their homes (A/HRC/19/56/Add.2 and Corr.1, para. 88); in Cambodia, the eviction of urban
poor with possession rights under the Land Law (see Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia,
Untitled); in Brazil, expropriation with inadequate compensation of regularized communities
(A/HRC/22/67, case BRA 14/2012).
Edesio Fernandes, ―Informal settlements: What can South Africa learn from the Brazilian
experience?‖, Transformer, vol. 18, No. 2, p. 30.
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