Many of the lowest-income groups living in Southern cities lack legal tenure and have either
squatted on land or are living illegally on informal land divisions. If they succeed in
obtaining land tenure and regularisation, families are no longer threatened with eviction and
can invest without fear of losing their assets. Some development agencies, particularly
NGOs, therefore give priority to acquiring land. In some cases there is the hope that, once
legal tenure is secure, households will find the funds to make basic improvements in their
living conditions