Slum Upgrading Legal Assessment Tool handbook and matrix

The Slum Upgrading Legal Assessment Tool is a diagnostic self-assessment tool to identify, in a  structured, objective and systematic way, the strengths and weaknesses of the regulatory framework  made of all legislation and regulations enacted at different levels and in force in country. It is designed  to be used either alone or, ideally, within the context of a broader law reform method that begins with  issue identification and legal mapping and moves all of the way through to recommendations for reform.  It is a useful tool to guide the process to agree on actions that are needed to address the identified gaps.

The Assessment Tool uses an indicative approach, relying on a limited number of indicators in each of  its five thematic areas: land, planning, basic services, housing and financing. While it produces what  appear to be quantitative outputs, these are built on a primarily qualitative analysis that is designed as  a framework to catalyze discussion within a national or local context and not as a means of ranking. 

The legal assessment framework uses two sets of indicators, the first is related to the functional  effectiveness of law, which includes indicators related to: 1) Consistency of policy objectives; 2)  Transparency and efficiency of mechanisms and processes; 3) Organizational of institutional  responsibilities and roles; 4) Clarity in standard of drafting and 5) Capacity for implementation.  However, this part will not be discussed in this handbook.

The second set of indicators are technical in nature and they are related to land and security of tenure,  planning, access to basic services, housing and financing. The technical content will be elaborated in  details.