Cape Town project could improve land rights access for world's poor

London

AN innovative makeover for shacks in a Cape Town slum could improve access to property rights for the world's poor and allow them to enjoy ownership of the land they live on, the developers behind the project said.

The "Empower Shack" scheme will rebuild 72 homes in Khayelitsha township on city-owned land. The city has said that, at some future date, it will rezone the land and hand those property rights to the families.

With that assurance, residents could invest in their homes without waiting for official rezoning or in fear of eviction, said Alfredo Brillembourg, a partn…