The challenge and potential of informal settlements
The United Nations estimates that more than 860 million people are currently living in urban slums! On the one hand, the proportion of people in slums today is lower than … Continue reading
Nourishing livelihoods: the food vendors sustaining Nairobi’s slums
Food vendors play a key role in nourishing their fellow residents in informal settlements, offering ready access to fruit, vegetables, snacks, and cooked foods. But unlike food vendors in markets … Continue reading
The New Urban Agenda must prompt planners to recognize informal labour
If urban poverty, inequality and unemployment are to be reduced, urban informal workers, especially the working poor, needs to be recognized, valued and supported as economic agents who contribute to … Continue reading
A huge underclass of ghost workers are making your shirts in their homes
Most homeworkers aren’t in unions, and the reality is that, for them to be recognized, protected, and paid better, it’s going to take efforts from everyone involved, including governments, brands, … Continue reading
How a New Kind of “Modern” Urban Development Can Include Street Vendors
City designers can recognize that popular patronage of street vending demonstrates demand for these services, and see the bottom-up tendency toward mixed-use development that blends a variety of activities at … Continue reading
Non-agricultural informal work can yield higher returns than formal work
Priorities for Boosting Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence for Mozambique Should policy-makers, including foreign donors, focus employment strategies in sub-Saharan Africa on strengthening access to formal wage employment or on … Continue reading
This Is What Informal Transit Looks Like When You Actually Map It
As transit systems go, the “matatus” in Nairobi exist somewhere between underground gypsy cabs and MTA bus service. The minibuses themselves aren’t owned by any government agency. The fares aren’t … Continue reading
Waste not, want not
The working lives of India’s urban waste pickers show the hidden connections between everything that matters in the city. Managing India’s urban waste will always be about more than just … Continue reading
Statistics on the Informal Economy: Definitions, Regional Estimates & Challenges
Statistics on the Informal Economy: Definitions, Regional Estimates & Challenges presents new regional estimates on informal employment based on direct measures from 40 countries and indirect measures from another 80 … Continue reading
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