Land Tenure and Water/Sanitation Service Provision: Informal Settlements Around Buenos Aires

The metropolitan area around the city of Buenos Aires is largely being developed as informal settlements lacking legal land tenure and the provision of basic infrastructure services. With the privatization of public services in Argentina came the promise of universal coverage to all residents in the concession area. In practice, the privatized utilities are reluctant to extend service to settlements without land tenure. Informal communities have thus developed an "extra-legal" system for accessing services and land tenure. The inconsistency between theory and practice, the legal and "extra-legal" sector, as well as water/sanitation and land policy all merit investigation. The Capstone consultant assisted the International Institute on Environment and Development with research and data collection that led to recommendations for action.