Interrogating informality
Informality is growing in a context of increasing inequity, and in many places becoming the norm. However, despite decades of studies and interventions, ‘recognising informality’ is still a key issue. … Continue reading
Informality crusades
Informality crusades: why informal practices are stigmatized, fought and allowed in different contexts according to an apparently ununderstandable logic. This paper suggests that informality and informal practices are present and … Continue reading
Urban Informality as a Site of Critical Analysis
Across the Global South, the realities of urban informality are changing, with implications for how we understand this phenomenon across economic, spatial, and political domains. Recent accounts have attempted to … Continue reading
What’s in a Word? The Conceptual Politics of ‘Informal’ Street Trade in Dar es Salaam
Focussing on policies towards urban street trade in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in this paper I illustrate how despite the widely acknowledged limits to its analytical usefulness, the contested and … Continue reading
The State and the Origins of Informal Economic Activity
Understanding the root causes of informal economic activity is crucial for the effective governance of the informal sphere. Precisely what these root causes are, however, is subject to significant debate. … Continue reading
Transcending (in)formal urbanism
We outline the important place that informal urbanism has acquired in urban theorising, and an agenda to further this standing towards an even more explicit role in defining how we … Continue reading
Temporary appropriation of public space vs legislation governing street use in Mexico City
[Open access until 15th April] Historically there has been a rich discussion concerning the function of streets in cities, and their role in urban life. This paper outlines the relevance … Continue reading
Knowing urban informalities
[Behind paywall] This article reviews three dominant ways of knowing urban informality, noting that, despite the profoundly rich insights they each provide, two critiques of the overall concept endure. These … Continue reading
