This paper examines the relationship between urbanization, slum formation, and land policy in Papua New Guinea, with a particular focus on Port Moresby. It traces the origins of informal settlements to colonial-era rural-urban migration beginning in the 1960s, and argues that the persistence of slums is closely tied to Papua New Guinea's customary land tenure system, which covers more than 97% of the country's land and prevents the formalization of property rights. The paper evaluates slum upgrading strategies — including land titling, infrastructure investment, and community-led programs — and considers the roles of international organizations such as UN-Habitat, the World Bank, and Cities Alliance in supporting national policy. It concludes that lasting solutions require a comprehensive approach integrating land ownership reform, infrastructure development, and participatory governance.
The paper effectively uses the "claim–evidence–analysis" structure throughout. For example, it asserts that customary land tenure prevents capital formation, supports this with Cooter's legal analysis and De Soto's property rights framework, and then applies both to the specific case of Paga Hill Settlement to show the real-world consequences. This moves beyond mere description to sustained analytical argument.
The paper is organized into four substantive parts plus a conclusion. Part 1 establishes the theoretical and empirical context for slum formation globally and in Port Moresby. Part 2 examines the land tenure system and the case for reform through titling and upgrading programs. Part 3 surveys the roles of international organizations in slum upgrading governance. Part 4 briefly reviews community-led upgrading models such as SPARC and SDI. The conclusion synthesizes recommendations around a comprehensive, partnership-based policy approach.
Urbanization is a phenomenon affecting every country in the world. This paper argues that Papua New Guinea ought to reform its land policies in order to properly manage urbanization. One of the country's cities, Port Moresby, has been grappling with informal settlements as a consequence of rural-urban migration that has taken place since the 1960s. Currently, up to 50% of Port Moresby's residents — both recent arrivals and long-established inhabitants — live in informal settlements. If the issue of land is not addressed, the situation is likely to worsen, given that the country's rural-to-urban migration is projected to remain on a sustained upward trend. Papua New Guinea's urbanization rate, as per the most recent updates, stands at 4.5% per annum (Cities Alliance, 2011). As Cities Alliance (2011) further notes, most of this growth is taking place "in informal settlements, many without access to services or employment opportunities and located in areas vulnerable to the impacts of climate change." A significant percentage of land in Papua New Guinea is under customary ownership. As cities and other urban centers expand, encroachment onto the customary land fringe will be largely inevitable. It is the failure to unlock the value of most of the country's land — and hence facilitate urban growth — that has led to the establishment of informal settlements, sometimes described in other settings as the characteristic "brands of urbanization."
Slum formation remains one of the most widely discussed issues in urban geography, environmental science, and economics. Various explanations have been advanced to account for it. Slums, according to Cities Alliance (2014), are not a new phenomenon. "They have been part of the history of most cities, particularly in the early years of urbanization and industrialization as populations boomed" (Cities Alliance, 2014). Given the intense competition for profits and land in cities, slums become the only available form of settlement for the urban poor. According to Cities Alliance (2014), slum development is triggered by two key factors: population growth and governance.
With regard to population growth, nations across the world are urbanizing at a faster rate than was the case a few decades ago, as people move from rural areas to cities. In Port Moresby, for instance, rural-urban migration has been occurring since the 1960s. However, it gained significant momentum only within the last two decades (Repic, 2011). From the 1960s onwards, "Port Moresby became a main point of attraction for numerous migrants from every part of Papua New Guinea" (Repic, 2011, p. 77). Most of those who came to the city, as Rew and Epstein (as cited in Repic, 2011, p. 77) point out, were attracted by "waged labor at plantations and industrial compounds." Informal urban settlements in Port Moresby that carry no reference to distinct ethnic origins are therefore largely a colonial legacy, triggered by rural-urban migratory trends from the 1960s. Those who found themselves without accommodation — due to policies that worsened segregation and the failure of employers to house their workers — established urban informal settlements. Most of these, according to Chand and Yala (as cited in Repic, 2011, p. 77), were "established on the outskirts of the rapidly growing town, on marginal land, riverbanks, steep gullies or even swamps." Over the years, those living in informal settlements have not only brought in their rural-based families but have also attracted additional immigrants seeking better prospects in the city, much as the early labor migrants had done.
According to Cities Alliance (2014), "more than half of the world's population resides in urban areas." The developing world, including Papua New Guinea, accounts for approximately 90% of global urban growth. The world's urban population, as Florida (2014) predicts, is likely to grow to 6.25 billion, with some 5.1 billion of those people living in urban settings in the developing world. Factors that trigger urban migration include inadequate opportunities in rural areas (such as low agricultural incomes and limited job prospects), better living standards in urban settings, and push factors that drive individuals from their places of origin, such as natural disasters including drought.
Governance — specifically poor governance — also plays a role in slum formation (Cities Alliance, 2014). In addition to disregarding the rights of the urban poor, governments in developing countries like Papua New Guinea often fail to integrate the urban poor into urban planning efforts, effectively leading to the formation of slums. As Cities Alliance (2014) notes, many countries find it difficult to cope with rapid urbanization. Most of the time, those arriving in cities "find their own land and build a shack before the government has a chance to learn of their existence" (Cities Alliance, 2014).
Every slum, according to Agnihotri (1994, p. 29), "passes through various stages during its development." The process involves "the formation of various nuclei, expansion of older nuclei and intensification of the oldest" (Agnihotri, 1994, p. 29). This pattern is evident in the informal settlements of Port Moresby: nuclei were formed in the 1960s as people began settling on the city's outskirts, older nuclei have expanded over the subsequent decades, and the oldest settlements have intensified within the last two decades. Agnihotri (1994) identifies land unavailability and rapid population growth as key drivers of slum development, while other contributing factors include housing shortages and the inability of in-migrants to afford alternative accommodation. In Port Moresby, "a chronic lack of affordable housing has resulted in even professionals and public servants moving into informal settlements" (Asia Sentinel, 2012).
When it comes to the persistence of slums, a number of forces affect their size and spread. At the broadest level, there are two sets of forces at work: opposing forces and agglomerative forces (Agnihotri, 1994). Slum spread occurs when the agglomerative forces overpower the opposing ones. According to Florida (2014), "despite major advances, the world's slum population will likely double to 2 billion by 2050."
Why do slums persist? In 2011, the Indian government's efforts to achieve a "slum-free India" were undermined when "the country's Committee on Slum Statistics came out with a sobering estimate" just two years after the initiative was launched (Florida, 2014). Even with enhanced efforts, the country's slum population was on track for 12% growth "between 2011 and 2017" (Florida, 2014). It is also important to note that in some cases, improving the quality of life in slum areas can make matters worse. Although Cities Alliance disputes this claim, Florida (2014) argues that "any improvements in quality of life in slum neighborhoods can increase the pace of in-migration, leading to more overcrowding and a cycle of increasing poverty." In Port Moresby, for instance, the number of people living in urban settlements has risen steadily. By the year 2000, there were approximately "100,000 people living in more than 50 urban settlements that housed one third of the entire population of Port Moresby" (Mike, as cited in Repic, 2011, p. 78). This represents a dramatic increase from the 1964 figure of only 4,500 immigrants. The total population of Port Moresby, as recorded in the 2000 census, was 254,158 people (Jones, 2009).
More than 97% of land in Papua New Guinea has historically been under customary ownership. This has meant "that boundaries have not been surveyed, title has not been registered, and the applicable law is custom" (Cooter, 1991, p. 759). Despite regulating the inheritance, use, and occupancy of land, this customary law is structured in such a way that the sale of land to those outside the kin group is not contemplated (Cooter, 1991). For a long time, no individual has possessed the power to offer land for sale to outsiders. Papua New Guinea could therefore easily be "one of the last places on earth" lacking effective land markets — "not because they have been suppressed as in communist countries but because they have not been invented" (Cooter, 1991, p. 760).
Slum upgrading programs generally concern themselves with the legalization and regularization of properties where tenure is unclear or insecure, as well as the provision of basic services. Physical upgrading can include the installation of street lights, improved solid waste collection and management, enhanced water supply, electricity, drainage, and the construction of footpaths and access roads. One proposed solution, according to Florida (2010), is the creation of holistic policies that encourage both ownership and investment while also improving "the quality of life without transferring benefits to slumlords or further driving explosive population growth." Countries that have significantly contained slum growth — such as Egypt and Brazil — appear to have relied on a combination of factors, including "efforts to increase the transparency and efficiency of land markets, to improve local governance, to increase public investments massively, and to increase the supply of cheap housing" (Florida, 2014). The relevance of adjusting land ownership systems is therefore difficult to overstate.
It has been argued that slums in developing countries result from weak or unenforceable property rights and an underdeveloped system of formalized titles. Formalized titles, as De Soto (1994, p. 3) explains, are "standardized instruments of exchange registered in a central system governed by legal rules… proof of ownership and protection from uncertainty and fraud." Formalization plays a critical role in incentivizing land investment. This means that slum conditions should improve markedly if squatters and slum dwellers are provided with formal titles to their homes. In addition to providing security of tenure, titles would create a strong incentive to invest in the land. Land ownership remains one of the most fundamental resources for capital extraction — title holders can use their titles as collateral to access loans or credit. According to Cities Alliance (2014), people are more likely to invest in both better homes and their communities when they are granted protection from eviction and develop a sense of long-term stability. Over time, "these incremental improvements by residents can upgrade the entire community" (Cities Alliance, 2014). The importance of backing land rights with a clear legal framework cannot be overstated.
Currently, the majority of land rights in Papua New Guinea are held by customary landowners. Implementation of ongoing reforms will transform these customary owners into landlords. The resulting development and economic growth are likely to produce marked increases in household incomes, with further improvements in housing, access to basic services, and access to credit. Interest in land titling initiatives has gained significant momentum in recent years, particularly in the context of urban slum settlements — especially following De Soto's influential argument that most land occupied by slum dwellers is, in many cases, extremely valuable. Yet most occupants have no formal claim of ownership because they lack titles. The Paga Hill Settlement illustrates this clearly: it accommodates approximately 3,000 people and "is situated on customary, or traditional land owned by the Lohia Doriga people in a prime location adjacent to Port Moresby's downtown business district" (Asia Sentinel, 2012). Because the settlement stands on customary land, its value cannot be unlocked for meaningful development. For those who live there, this is essentially "dead capital," and it will not change until life is breathed into that capital through the issuance of land titles.
Papua New Guinea is in the process of implementing a new land reform program aimed at mobilizing land for development. Key components include improvements in land administration, the settlement of land disputes, and the reformation of customary land tenure. If successful, these land reform and land titling programs are likely to create investment incentives and improve individuals' and groups' access to loans from formal financial institutions.
Previous attempts to unlock customary land for economic purposes have not always succeeded. The Special Agriculture and Business Lease (SABL), established in the late 1970s, was in principle a welcome development but was misused by unscrupulous actors, leading to a disproportionate reduction in land held under customary tenure (Numapo, 2013).
Rapid urbanization is being experienced in almost every country across the world. This urbanization continues to place pressure on the public services and infrastructure of affected cities, with the proportion of people living in informal settlements increasing steadily. The case of Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, is no different. Lasting solutions lie in the adoption of a comprehensive approach, the facilitation of partnerships between local government and external and local stakeholders in both the formulation and implementation of strategy, and the mobilization of the necessary financial and organizational resources. Such a comprehensive approach should integrate land ownership reform, infrastructure investment, and improved service delivery. Without meaningful land reform, informal settlements in Papua New Guinea are likely to grow rather than recede, as the drivers of rural-urban migration show no sign of abating.
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