Unpacking institutional constraints in housing tenure security: the case of Bogota’s Comprehensive Neighbourhood Upgrading Program (CNUP)

Despite decades of housing tenure policy, insecurity persists in Latin American informal settlements, where access to services, infrastructure and legal recognition remains uneven. Bogotá’s Comprehensive Neighbourhood Upgrading Program (CNUP) addresses these conditions through urban legalisation, neighbourhood upgrading, housing improvement, façade interventions and titling, but implementation has varied. This article examines how institutional resources and governance arrangements shaped these approaches from 2008 to 2024. A qualitative case study draws on nine interviews with current and former CNUP officials, alongside official documents, administrative records and spatial data. The analysis considers legal, economic, temporal, and political resources, community support, and inter-institutional coordination. Implementation depended on interactions among these factors: approaches with shorter timelines, standardised procedures, and fewer external dependencies delivered more consistently, whereas complex legal processes, sustained investment needs, and multiple approvals increased delays. The study shows how a programme comprehensive in design can become fragmented in practice.