The impact of regulations and procedures on the livelihoods and asset base of the urban poor - a financial perspective

Abstract

“…the total value of the real estate held but not legally owned by the poor of the Third World and former communist nations is at least $US9.3 trillion - wealth that also constitutes by far the largest source of potential capital for development. These assets not only far exceed the holdings of the government, the local stock exchanges and foreign direct investment; they are many times greater than all the aid from advanced nations and all the loans extended by the World Bank”. De Soto, (2000)