Comm: "Imagine waking up in a typhoon and being too scared to evacuate in case your home of 20 years was demolished. Not by disaster but by building developers.

"Imagine waking up in the morning to find the bulldozers moving in - no warning; nowhere else to go.

"This is reality for millions of the poor in the cities - no security from forced evictions - and no reason to make their homes and neighbourhoods better places to live in.

"Five years ago at the UN city summit in Istanbul, governments recognised that there was no chance to involve the poor in schemes to up-grade slums unless they were given a reason to believe in the future_to do that people who were once squatters needed security of tenure over their plots and the homes that stand on them.

"Five years on those same governments meet this week at the UN in New York to assess what progress has been made. In this, the first of five city Earth Reports we find evidence that in some of the poorest communities the fear of waking up to the thunder of a bulldozer or the crackling of an arsonists flames, is beginning to recede.

Kenya - Nairobi

Comm: "Nairobi - capital of Kenya - a bustling commercial city and probably the African continent's fast-growing city. It's a magnet for the underprivileged seeking jobs and a steady income. They end up here - in sprawling squatter settlements where people live cheek by jowl. Their homes have been built with what materials that exist to hand. There's no electricity. No piped water and little sanitation. But they are home and the people who live here must live with the constant threat of eviction"

Jane Mumbi Weru - Executive Director, Pamoja Trust: "One of the major problems we're dealing with_evicted violently".

Comm: "Those who claim ownership can be ruthless. Tens of thousands are made homeless by gangs who burn their houses or flatten them with bulldozers."

Sebina Wanjiku Kariuki, Organising Secretary: "In 1999 they burnt our village, and they've been harassing us ever since.

"We are scared for the future. The purported landowner continues to threaten us with court action and these threats have become very serious. We are poor people and have nowhere else to go."

Comm: "It's the same story in almost every slum in Nairobi. In the leafless suburb of Kingston, competing and often fraudulent landlords have bulldozed and fenced off part of the land. It is now a lucrative development plot. It was once home to hundreds of families.

"There's a property boom and the squatters are its victims. Developers grab every scrap of land, build back to back housing and put up the fences to keep the poor out of what used to be their home."

Francis Ngotho Mwangi, Pastor and resident: "Rich people are coming_live with our families."

Comm: "The houses are finished in hours. This relentless stealing of their land angers the shantytown dwellers all the more because of the underhand methods used to do it. The rules of the game are set by others and involve bribery, false title deeds - wholesale corruption.

"But here in Nairobi, a short distance down the road, there is a hint of a possible bribe free solution. This restaurant is run by Mama Abdul and her children on a Temporary Occupation Licence - a TOL. TOLs are officially recognised documents that allow poor people, unable to buy land, to operate businesses cheaply - and securely.

"But the TOLs, originated for business purposes, might also have implications for housing. Behind her restaurant, on the same plot, Mama Abdul has built a house - which is also held safely under the TOL system. This use of the Temporary licenses might go some way to easing the battle over land occupation.

"The TOL may be only a temporary solution but it's providing a form of legitimacy for people who would otherwise have none.

"A system that is already working in Kenya can be found down the road to the coast - 400 kilometres to the south east of Nairobi.

"Kenya railways once owned land here on either side of the tracks. But, when in 1964, people started to squat on the land, the railway company decided to donate it to the people.

"The village of Tanzania - Bonderi grew up. Its people now live under a system known as the Community Land Trust which has been working well ever since.

"The villagers are still poor, but they have something that they prize as much as money - security of tenure. No one can move them on. They hold a communal land title. They may sell their houses or pass them on to their children but the land itself cannot be sold. They've come along way from their days as illegal squatters."

Mama Fatuma: "Our situation was dreadful. We used to build at night and they would come and demolish the houses. When this project started it was like being saved from slavery. We thank God for that."

Comm: "Now, security of tenure has led to investment by the residents - and the constant improvement of village life - their shops and their homes.

"A democratically elected resident's committee meets regularly with the town clerk to run the affairs of the village. Here strategies are planned, disputes resolved and facilities the village lacks, such as the long awaited electricity supply, can be lobbied for.

"The occupants are always improving their village, secure in the knowledge that because of the agreement over title, it's a good investment.

"But the security of tenure that, through good fortune, is benefiting the people of Tanzania-Bonderi, others still have to fight for.

"A land rights campaign has begun - and in a country obsessed with distance running, a marathon to raise awareness of the plight of the squatting communties was staged. Unlike other marathons this one was deliberately routed through some of the poorest and most crime ridden areas of the city.

"But there's a long way to go for the residents of the Nairobi slums. They must confront a City Council no-one trusts and deal daily with a system where petty corruption is the norm.

Jane: "It is difficult_fighting the system that's supposed to be supporting you."

Comm: "But difficult or not they are at least trying to buck the system - with a campaign and practical innovations like the tol and community land trusts providing inspiration for the squatters and their children.

Caption: Lima, Peru

"Just like Nairobi, Lima the capital of Peru has acted as a magnet for people coming from the countryside to the town. In the last forty years alone 6 million Peruvians have arrived dreaming of better prospects.

"Lima's city centre soon gives way to the seemingly endless shanty towns. This is the reality of the population explosion. The early settlers built houses on land that didn't belong to them. Something had to be done. And the Peruvian government both central and local have tried repeatedly by giving land titles - a scheme which was centralised and run by the Commission for the Formalisation of Settlements, COFOPRI, since the early 90s.

Fernando Canturias: "There were a lot of conflicts because people did not own their land and that created many social problems."

Comm: "Lima differs in one important respect from most other cities - the land surrounding the city belongs to the government.

"These are organised land squats - with streets marked out with spaces left for schools, shops and municipal buildings in the future. Crucially land titles are given to house owners who can show they have lived for at least a year in one of the settlements.

"Felipe Diaz has just arrived from the rain forest where it rains every day - he's now growing crops where it never rains.

Felipe Diaz: "I came to look for opportunities for my children to study here and I came to work here (or, for employment). We haven't yet got a title but hopefully they'll give it to us and we will be able to build a house here."

Comm: "Felipe, who is almost self-sufficient, has moved here ahead of most of his family, with just his livestock, his eldest daughter and her son for company.

"Although Felipe is just starting out - in a shack made from bamboo panels lined with plastic - his certain knowledge of tenure security means that his investment of time and money in his property will be worthwhile.

"Although Pachacutec is only one year old it already has some of the facilities of the small town it is rapidly becoming. There's a market for Felipe to buy the few things he doesn't already grow. There's a school, others are planned. Some electricity comes to the town - but not to many homes yet.

"And there's a basic transport system. But there's no running water - no rubbish collection and a long way to travel to work.

"The next stage of development can be seen to the south of Lima. In Villa El Salvador many of the houses are more sturdily built than the bamboo panels of Felipe's house.

"Marcellina Palomino lives in a wooden house she built with her husband. They've been here for nine years - and ONLY last year they received their title deed. There was never any doubt that they would get it - but a title deed is no good by itself.

"People need jobs, services and to be able to use the title deed as a basis for obtaining credit in order to improve their homes."

Marcellina: "We've asked the housing bank for credit but the bank is asking for guarantees and imposing lots of conditions and so on. But they won't lend us the money because this house is in very poor condition."

Comm: "Even after nine years, Marcellina has no running water - and neither have most of her neighbours.

"They have to buy water three or four times a week - an expensive and inconvenient chore.

"And for the whole district, housing nearly a million people, there is no organised municipal rubbish collection service.

"This part of Villa El Salvador also began life as bamboo huts but most people have now managed to rebuild first in wood and now in, in most cases, in brick. Progress is possible - if slow.

"Fernando Romero moved here - to what was then desert - as part of the Cofopri organised land invasion. Everybody was given a plot of 140 square metres and was asked for the nominal price of about 50 US CENTS for the title."

Spanish male voice: "(Now) we've legally obtained our land title we can we can build a proper house_A small group of families have already constructed their houses because they have a private income but 90% of the families don't have the financial security to build their houses."

Comm: "But, title deed or not, Fernando and his wife - and most of his neighbours - need to borrow more money to finish their houses.

"And communal projects are in short supply. An organised land invasion that plans ahead for schools and community facilities cannot work if there is a bottleneck that prevents funds from getting through to the communities who need it most.

"The policy of giving land titles has its limitations - but the Cofopri system is one that can work, if land is available. Likewise, while titles are important it's their role they play in legitimising peoples claims that gives people the confidence to invest and upgrade.

Caption: Bangkok, Thailand

"While in Lima the large expanse of government owned desert enables the city to spread and enables the authorities the chance to grant titles. Most cities do not have this recourse.

"But as cities expand and become ever more congested, its increasingly difficult for the poor to travel to the centre from the outskirts to find work. They can spend five or maybe more hours getting from the slums where there is no work, to the better-off parts of the city.

"In Bangkok over a million people are living in what is euphemsitically known as informal settlements within the city boundaries. Samakkee Pattana is one of these and home to 498 families. People first settled here 10 years ago. Some came direct from the country. Others are second generation migrants who'd moved from another part of Bangkok.

"Like many of her neighbours seamstress Sommith Paisopa heard about Samakkee Pattana from a friend. She's lived here for six years with her husband and two children."

Sommith Paisopa: "This is what housewives do for supplementary income we need it because our family is poor. If the husband alone works it's not enough because the school fees and other household expenses are quite a lot you see.

"Living here is good because it's near where my husband works it's central in the capital."

Comm: "Just as in many other 'squatter communities' people used their own initiative to find ways of tapping electricity and water. Not illegally - they actually pay more."

Sommith Paisopa: "The rate for water is quite expensive here because(we're paying) it's the same charge/rate as small industry. We're renting what they call second rate rent. We rent it for the whole community and distribute it to each member by unit cost."

Comm: "When the community heard that they might be evicted in 1996 fear of what had happened to other groups drove them to seek help from an NGO."

Somchai Chuaykliang: "We supported activities which would strengthen the community and help people help themselves and co-ordinate with other agencies so we can work in the community to help get themselves/ self organised."

Comm: "Acting on Somchai Chuaykliang's advice the community decided to learn about their rights and went to the National Housing Association, NHA, to find out how they could negotiate a contract with the landowner, the Clergy Foundation. Together they came up with a solution which works for both the community and the landowner."

Landowner: "The community members proposed/asked for a long term lease so that they can improve themselves and we agreed to twenty years with a rent review every five years which will be determined by the economic situation/inflation."

Comm: "Part of the deal is that the NHA will improve the infrastructure within Samakkee Pattana. As the community has secured a twenty year lease the municipality will install more than the basics of water and electricity. Had their lease been shorter the infrastructure provided would have been more basic.The community turned out in force to participate in a meeting with the NHA to discuss their priorities.

"So do the people feel more secure now that they have a form of lease?"

Kam Pong: "After we signed the contract we felt more secure to a certain extent and less/not afraid of eviction but if the community does not follow the conditions of the Clergy Foundation we can be evicted or have our contract cancelled so we are going to do their best to follow the conditions so we aren't evicted."

Comm: "The NHA has found that one sign of security can be seen in the investments people begin to make."

Nath Kiatrabin, Deputy Governor: "Once people feel more secure they start to upgrade their homes and improve their environment."

Comm: " Now the people know they will not be moved out, they are beginning to invest their time and slender resources in improving their homes.

Caption: India - Ahmedabad

"There's a lot more to 'security' than a piece of paper showing you own the land. Providing security also means establishing an environment where not only services, but people work.

"The freedom to set up shop and trade is essential if the poor are to survive and - who knows - one day prosper in the big city.

"Our final destination is the town of Mahatma Gandhi - Ahmedabad in India. Here there are signs the Gandhian legacy is still strong. The city has decided to embrace slum inhabitants as the future of their city's prosperity and growth

"Ahmedabad is one of India's most industrialised cities. And almost half of its population of 3.5 million live in slums."

Rajendra Joshi, SAATH: "Historically urbanisation has happened, will happen and no one been able to stop it...and in urban areas slums have a very important role to play. What slums do is they act as a transition point for rural people to become urban people. So people can earn_But sadly what has happened is that there hasn't been transition in terms of the quality of life improving."

Comm: "Hopefully this poverty 'trap' won't exist for much longer. Thanks to the dream of a few local visionaries who ten years ago developed a plan to integrate the slums."

P.U. Asani: "By 1991 41% of the population were living in slums. A very high proportion of the people were living in subhuman conditions in the city. The corporation felt that in spite of the efforts the quality of life had not improved most had not even toilets/piped water,_this was creating the problems_therefore new way of looking at the problem and come up with some innovative solutions...The package is unique in the world_which has four partners_Everyone shares the costs and it has succeeded."

Comm: "The slum networking project identified security of tenure as the most important issue. As, before the local authorities and NGOs could think about working in the slums, they had to make sure the residents would feel secure.

"There were two communities where they chose to test the idea. One was Pravineagar Guptaneagar.

Rajendra: "In Pravineagar the land is private land. It was public land then it was sold off then to various people who then sold it again and so now no one knows who it belongs to.

"People have not encroached they have paid for it The municipal corporation realised that it would be almost impossible for eviction to take place because people had been staying for so long."

Comm: "Given that the slumdwellers had an unwritten right of tenure it might appear that there was no need to guarantee their security. But the projects' real ambition was to encourage people to participate in the upgrading of their housing and neighbourhood. And without any form of security - just as in Thailand - there was little chance of making the scheme work."

Asani: "Why should a slum dweller share the cost of internal infrastructure if you are not giving the title of land. What would give them a level of comfort in investing should it be long term investment or was 10 years enough? We wanted to avoid any speculation of land we wanted to avoid any elements grabbing this land from them so we thought that 10 years tenure given to this number would be adequate security to invest money of just 50 dollars and we'll ensure that this land will not be taken away."

Comm: "Having guaranteed peoples' security for 10 years the Slum Networking Project asked for an investment of just 2000 rupees - nearly 50 dollars - per household to install all the services necessary to improve the neighbourhood. But, while land rights and services were important, the planners believed that the slumdwellers themselves should be involved in the development of their community."

"Encouraged by a local NGO called SAATH, the Initiative for Urban Equality, there was no stopping them. Especially the women who became the most active participants - setting up a healthcare unit providing training and jobs for women slumdwellers as well as medical care.

"But their biggest achievement is setting up an informal bank which now has 445 accounts. This works in parallel with the savings group which began with money from a core group of women and now has 548 members. Some loans are used to set up small businesses which can be used to make money but most of the money is used to improve homes.

"Ultimately, it was discovered that the more the council invested in the slums, the more the people invested in themselves. In one slum where the council put up 1 million rupees, the people turned around and invested 2 million. Many of the homes are now so smart you'd never believe they began with a shack."

Woman's voice: "The way we are working here. Such work should be done everywhere in the world and with the women specially, women like us can make things happen."

Comm: "So what are the chances that the scheme can be adopted elsewhere?"

Asani: "The question is this a replicable model_my strong conviction is that this should be implemented in the country or in places where there's a problem with slums. These people say we are now part and parcel of the city we have all the facilities that the mayor has and this has changed the entire feeling_so that they feel we are no more slumdwellers.

"On the issue of tenure we do not subscribe to the idea that the slumdweller should be given a title of land to invest money which will promote the sale of land to the rich and people will go back to the land and the problem between those who have and have not."

Comm: "In the next Earth Report, 'Street Wise', we hear what the people think about Istanbul Plus Five.

"While in TVE's companion series, 'Life', there's another take on urbanisation in 'Blueprint for Success' from Barcelona."