We are well into the 21st century yet half the world’s population live in squatter settlements and work in shadow economies, which generate more than one-third of the developing world’s GDP. Slums are not caused by the poor but by governments denying people the right to own and exchange property. When people own their own property they have incentives to invest time, money and energy to improve it because they know that they will be able to benefit from any such improvements. I.e. the ability to obtain mortgages etc. in short, property rights begets capital, which begets innovation, which begets wealth. Sadly, the poor typically don’t have secure title to their land as there are bureaucratic restrictions on transferring title or there is no clear system for titling. 
Without legal deeds they live in constant fear of being evicted by landlords or municipal officials. Illiteracy is a major reason poor people often choose not to seek the protection of local courts since in so many countries laws established under colonial rule have been translated into local languages. When entrepreneurs do set out to legally register business they are discouraged by red tape and costly fees. In Egypt, starting a bakery takes 500 days, compliance with 315 laws and 27 times the monthly minimum wage. The proprietors of such businesses cannot get loans, enforce contracts or expand a personal network f familiar customers and partners. As a result the poor have no choice but to accept insecurity and instability as a way of life.
In India severe restrictions of free transfer of property in most rural areas inhibit investment and encourage urban flight. Planning policies however discourage building homes for these migrants as numerous homes are destroyed if they do not comply with planning rules, essentially forcing people to live in slums and perversely blaming it on population growth. UN Habitat the UN agency for housing the poor, has implemented more plans to stabilize the unplanned aspects of urban growth but grandiose plans like UN schemes and government housing projects simply ignore or worsen the underlying problems. 
It is when governments grant people legal means to control their assets that they empower them to invest and plan ahead. In Buenos Aires, economists studied the experience of two Argentine communities. One had received legal title to its land in the 1980S and surpassed the other group which had nit, in a range of social indicators including quality of house construction and educations levels. The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor – a UN- affiliated initiative made up of two dozen leaders- is exploring ideas to extend enforceable legal rights to impoverished members of society and is seeking to bring about a consensus on incentives for national and local leaders. As the growth of illegal settlements amply demonstrates, the poor are not helpless all they need is governments to grant them fundamental human rights of freedom and responsibility.