The United Nations Millennium Declaration articulates the commitment of Member States to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020 - Target 11 of Goal No.7. This task is monitored by UN-HABITAT.

Originally, the United Nations system assigned two indicators for this target: the proportion of people with secure tenure (indicator 31) and the proportion of people with access to improved sanitation (indicator 32). But it was recognized that tenure and sanitation did not constitute a complete response to the target.

UN-HABITAT therefore arranged a gathering of experts to assess these indicators and to refine the definitions of secure tenure and slums. The experts' opinion was that because of its political dimension and regional diversity, the definition should be as generic as possible, so as to allow global acceptance and comparisons, using indicators that reflect local variations, specific trends and dynamics.

Based on the strategic values highlighted in UN-HABITAT's Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, this dimension should not be understood narrowly as a question of access to land and one roof. Instead, it should be seen as a platform for development, with long-term implications for security, housing investments, planning and other social and economic effects. It is a concept that also encompasses protection from locations deemed unhealthy because of environmental hazards that pose a threat to the inhabitants.

Despite these fundamental considerations, the definition and related sub-indicators that are part of the slum indicators were selected in a method as simple and operational as possible. Hence, the definition and measurement include a focus on "evictions" - the extreme result of general harassment of people merely trying to provide themselves with a basic necessity of life.

Along with this sub-indicator, it was decided to include a second sub-indicator, the proportion of the urban population who have documents as evidence of secure tenure. The measurement of this sub-indicator does not take into account the tenure type, nor does it consider that the tenure status (owner, tenant or other) is a reliable indicator of secure tenure. This position is in line with UN-HABITAT's Global Campaign on Secure Tenure, which focuses primarily on the need for security, rather than on the precise nature and form in which the tenure is applied.

The evidence of documentation varies from country to country, city to city. It includes, inter alia, legal ownership that can be proved by an official tittle deed, a written agreement, which can be defended in court, and other tenancy agreements such as a temporary occupancy license, certificates, or permits issued by non-official authorities (traditional chiefs). It may also include documents such as municipal tax papers, water bills, etc. For these two sub-indicators a provision was made to measure the equal right of women to secure tenure.

-Eduardo López Moreno, Chief, Global Urban Observatory, UN-HABITAT

Land prices are a key indicator of land availability and development in cities. A responsive urban environment should be able to have land accessible and available at a reasonable range of prices in order to respond to the demand of individual households and the private sector.

One indicator developed by UN-HABITAT is the land price to household income ratio. It is the ratio between the median price of 1 square meter of highly-developed, developed and raw land and the median household income per month.

Highly developed land is that serviced at least with roads, water and electricity and possibly drainage and sewerage. Developed land refers to plots serviced with roads only.

Raw land refers to unserviced plots with or without planning permission. Results on land prices in selected cities are presented in table 1 below.

The land price to household income ratio (right) not only indicates if affordable land is available to cater for the needs of the different segments of the population. It also shows if the local government is able to respond to the growing needs by developing infrastructure in undeveloped parts of the city or providing incentives for new developments. Low values for this ratio indicate that land markets are not highly speculative and are driven by relatively high supply and low demand for land.

In Asia-Pacific, a square meter of highly developed land costs roughly 3 months of household income. In Sub-Sahara Africa, it costs only 15% of a monthly income.