Published in Environment & Urbanization, Volume 22, Number 2. This paper discusses how research on urban land promoted the need to formalize the poor’s informal occupation rights as the government developed a new land policy. The research looked at both formal and informal mechanisms to access land by poor and war-affected populations and at the institutions that influence this. Its findings helped persuade the government of the need for consultation, and promoted more awareness of how upgrading and basic service provision could improve land tenure.