Engaging Informality in the New Urban Agenda
The New Urban Agenda, the outcome document of the United Nations Habitat III conference in 2016, was adopted by consensus by all 193 member states of the United Nations. The Habitat III leadership has proclaimed that the document represents a “new paradigm” in urban planning, reversing the “over-determined” model of 20th century Western-dominated planning, and embracing more locally-determined forms of informality. This paper examines the intellectual history of the document, and compares it to its antecedents, thereby evaluating the claim that it represents a new paradigm. The conclusion assesses implications for future planning practice, particularly as we confront an age of rapid urbanization in many parts of the globe.
Abstract
The New Urban Agenda, the outcome document of the United Nations Habitat III conference in 2016, was adopted by consensus by all 193 member states of the United Nations. The Habitat III leadership has proclaimed that the document represents a “new paradigm” in urban planning, reversing the “over-determined” model of 20th century Western-dominated planning, and embracing more locally-determined forms of informality. This paper examines the intellectual history of the document, and compares it to its antecedents, thereby evaluating the claim that it represents a new paradigm. The conclusion assesses implications for future planning practice, particularly as we confront an age of rapid urbanization in many parts of the globe.
About the Authors
Michael West Mehaffy, PhD is Senior Researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and Director of the Future of Places Research Network.
Tigran Haas, PhD is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Design at ABE School, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and the Director of the Centre for the Future of Places (CFP) at KTH.
Power Imbalances in Favela-Upgrading Practices in São Paulo, Brazil
Favelas in São Paulo, Brazil have been undergoing major transformations since the 1980s with the rise of upgrading programs. These programs are widely seen as ways of alleviating urban vulnerability. However, the fact that they change the political structure of favelas, causing power imbalances, goes often untold. This article discusses the outcomes of upgrading efforts in Favela do Sapé, placing a special emphasis on the social actors involved in the upgrading. Characters such as favela dwellers, governments, and parallel powers are assessed through a power planning lens. The present analysis also focuses on the social actors’ relational possibilities that are aimed at changing the power scenarios of favelas.
Abstract
Favelas in São Paulo, Brazil have been undergoing major transformations since the 1980s with the rise of upgrading programs. These programs are widely seen as ways of alleviating urban vulnerability. However, the fact that they change the political structure of favelas, causing power imbalances, goes often untold. This article discusses the outcomes of upgrading efforts in Favela do Sapé, placing a special emphasis on the social actors involved in the upgrading. Characters such as favela dwellers, governments, and parallel powers are assessed through a power planning lens. The present analysis also focuses on the social actors’ relational possibilities that are aimed at changing the power scenarios of favelas.
About the Author
Guilherme Rocha Formicki graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo and is currently a student in the Master in Urban Planning program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. His research focuses on squatter and precarious settlements and poverty reduction.
Clearance of the stream’s margins in Favela do Sapé during the upgrading works. The stream runs between the green guardrails. (Photo by the author)
Exploring the Dangerous Disconnect Between Perspectives, Planning, Policy, and Practice Towards Informal Traders in Durban, South Africa
While cities pursue recognition on the global scale, low-income populations are often negatively impacted by urban growth. Informal workers in Durban, South Africa have fallen victim to this trend, as the municipality’s focus shifts to drawing international investment and cleaning up the city. In this article, I explore the question: How do municipal employee perspectives, current planning and policy documents, and current practice in the city align regarding treatment of informal traders in Durban, South Africa? I find a disconnect between current well-intended perspectives and planning with policy and its enforcement in practice. This disconnect must be addressed to protect informal traders in Durban. [Photo: Flickr/Chris Eason]
Abstract
While cities pursue recognition on the global scale, low-income populations are often negatively impacted by urban growth. Informal workers in Durban, South Africa have fallen victim to this trend, as the municipality’s focus shifts to drawing international investment and cleaning up the city. In this article, I explore the question: How do municipal employee perspectives, current planning and policy documents, and current practice in the city align regarding treatment of informal traders in Durban, South Africa? I find a disconnect between current well-intended perspectives and planning with policy and its enforcement in practice. This disconnect must be addressed to protect informal traders in Durban.
About the Author
Danielle DeVries is a Master’s of Urban Studies student at Simon Fraser University, where she previously completed a BSc Honours in Health and the Built Environment and a Sustainable Community Development Certificate. She worked for the eThekwini Municipality in urban management from October 2016 – April 2017 through a Government of Canada International Youth Internship.
The Enduring Influence of Informality in Istanbul: Legalization of Informal Settlements and Urban Transformation
The phenomenon of urban informality has coincided with rapid urbanization in Turkey from the 1950s onward. By the urban transformation act that was presented in 2012, formal developments and activities have increased in informal areas. Although recent activities are legal/formal, they have caused the reproduction of informality in these areas. With focusing on this spontaneous collaboration of formal and informal activities, this article seeks to understand the new urban fabric that was created by formal and informal builders who are both rule-breakers and rule-makers. The research was carried out in the Güzeltepe neighborhood, a complex neighborhood with a mix of squatter houses and renewal areas. The field study was conducted from 2014 to 2017 with site visits, photo analysis, and archival research. We will reveal and discuss legalization and upgrading processes, and the effects of this transformation. We will then analyze how informality operates as a logic of urban life.
Abstract
The phenomenon of urban informality has coincided with rapid urbanization in Turkey from the 1950s onward. By the urban transformation act that was presented in 2012, formal developments and activities have increased in informal areas. Although recent activities are legal/formal, they have caused the reproduction of informality in these areas. With focusing on this spontaneous collaboration of formal and informal activities, this article seeks to understand the new urban fabric that was created by formal and informal builders who are both rule-breakers and rule-makers. The research was carried out in the Güzeltepe neighborhood, a complex neighborhood with a mix of squatter houses and renewal areas. The field study was conducted from 2014 to 2017 with site visits, photo analysis, and archival research. We will reveal and discuss legalization and upgrading processes, and the effects of this transformation. We will then analyze how informality operates as a logic of urban life.
About the Authors
Hatice Sadıkoğlu Asan is a postdoctoral visiting researcher in the Centre for Environmental Design Research in UC Berkeley. She completed her doctoral thesis on existing housing stock and urban regeneration in Istanbul, and she teaches urban housing and design courses in Bahcesehir University.
Ahsen Özsoy is a professor in the Department of Architecture at ITU. She conducts architectural design studios as well as lecturing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her major fields of interests are housing design and quality issues, earthquake and housing design, environment-behaviour theories, and modernism and housing.
2006 and 2018 Photos from Güzeltepe neighborhood (Images from Istanbul Municipality Archives and adapted by the authors)
Integrating Home-Based Enterprises in Urban Planning: A Case for Providing Economic Succour for Women of Global South
A major challenge of urbanization in the global South has been the unemployment-led informal economy that has grown beyond the capacity of African governments in general and urban planners in particular. The socio-cultural status of women, and other inequalities in largely patriarchal African societies, have caused them to resort to the most invisible and adaptable sub-sector of the informal economy: Home-based enterprises (HBEs). This study examines the contributions and challenges for women in HBEs using empirical evidence from Enugu, Nigeria. The study employed mixed methods and made use of both primary and secondary data. The study findings confirm that HBEs provide economic succour to women excluded by the formal sector. Among the benefits of HBEs are income provision, supplementary household income, provision of goods and services, skill acquisition, social value and self-esteem, and the ability to look after sick family members. The challenges of HBEs were inconsistency and noise effects as reported by non-operators, while operators complained about multiple levies collected by government agencies, poor infrastructure, and insecurity.
Abstract
A major challenge of urbanization in the global South has been the unemployment-led informal economy that has grown beyond the capacity of African governments in general and urban planners in particular. The socio-cultural status of women, and other inequalities in largely patriarchal African societies, have caused them to resort to the most invisible and adaptable sub-sector of the informal economy: Home-based enterprises (HBEs). This study examines the contributions and challenges for women in HBEs using empirical evidence from Enugu, Nigeria. The study employed mixed methods and made use of both primary and secondary data. The study findings confirm that HBEs provide economic succour to women excluded by the formal sector. Among the benefits of HBEs are income provision, supplementary household income, provision of goods and services, skill acquisition, social value and self-esteem, and the ability to look after sick family members. The challenges of HBEs were inconsistency and noise effects as reported by non-operators, while operators complained about multiple levies collected by government agencies, poor infrastructure, and insecurity.
About the Authors
Nkeiru Hope Ezeadichie (First author) is a Lecturer with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria from where she holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban and regional planning. Her research interest includes informal economy and Pro-poor planning.
Uloma Jiburum (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria from where she holds bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in urban and regional planning.
Vincent Aghaegbunam Onodugo (Corresponding author) is Associate Professor at the Department of Management, University of Nigeria (Enugu Campus).
Chioma Agatha Onwuneme is a Graduate Assistant with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria from where she holds bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning.
Attama Kingsley is a graduate of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria from where he holds a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning.
HBE in Uwani managed by a woman and involving the use of a temporary structure (Photo by authors)
A Granny Flat of One’s Own? The Households that Build Accessory-Dwelling Units in Seattle’s King County
This paper inserts itself in current debates about the legalization of Accessory-Dwelling Units (ADUs), by casting a new light on the profiles of households filing ADU permits in the unincorporated areas of Seattle’s King County. Correlations between the concentration of minority households and the permitting of ADUs might call into question preconceived notions that such legalizations benefit suburban, older, white middle-class households in the first place. We seek to address the relationship between legalizing ADUs in King County, the major county of the Seattle metropolitan area, and general characteristics of households who build ADUs, based on age, race, and income. Findings underline premises for further evidence about the fact that minority homeowners benefit from the local permitting of ADUs. These findings could be the translation of a particular adequacy between ADU legalization and the long-term projects of local homeowners to transform their residential space.
Abstract
This paper inserts itself in current debates about the legalization of Accessory-Dwelling Units (ADUs), by casting a new light on the profiles of households filing ADU permits in the unincorporated areas of Seattle’s King County. Correlations between the concentration of minority households and the permitting of ADUs might call into question preconceived notions that such legalizations benefit suburban, older, white middle-class households in the first place. We seek to address the relationship between legalizing ADUs in King County, the major county of the Seattle metropolitan area, and general characteristics of households who build ADUs, based on age, race, and income. Findings underline premises for further evidence about the fact that minority homeowners benefit from the local permitting of ADUs. These findings could be the translation of a particular adequacy between ADU legalization and the long-term projects of local homeowners to transform their residential space.
About the Author
Magda Maaoui is a PhD Student in Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP. Her research interests focus on housing policy, real estate development, urban history, community planning and spatial justice. Her current focus is on the evaluation and comparison of housing policy programs in American and French metropolitan areas, in how they perpetuate - even exacerbate - existing logics of inequality and poverty. With a global academic and professional experience acquired in Europe (France, Denmark), Africa (Algeria, Senegal) and the Americas (United States, Costa Rica), projects she worked on range from sustainable policy to education, community planning and neighborhood revitalization. Magda is registered in France as a civil servant (2010) with research and teaching credentials. She is also a Fulbright Fellow (2016). She received a Bachelor in Geography and Planning from the Université Lyon II Lumière, and a Masters in Geography and Planning from the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. She held a Visiting position at UC Berkeley during her Masters training.
Households with a permitted Accessory-Dwelling Unit in King County’s unincorporated Community Service Areas, since the 2010 legalization (Image by author)
Design Dichotomy: Impact of Design Intervention on the Recreational Open Spaces of Urban India—A Photo Essay
Well performing recreational open spaces (ROSs) are essential amenities that improve the quality of urban life in the context of rapid urbanization prevalent in developing nations. In Indian cities, the quantity and quality of recreational amenities like parks and playgrounds do not compare well with global standards. Design interventions that are undertaken while developing ROSs significantly impact their value in terms of attractiveness, accessibility, and usability. To evaluate this impact, an empirical survey of select ROSs was conducted in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The analysis revealed the dichotomous nature of design interventions. Multiple interventions or ‘too much design’ resulted in the open space losing its ‘openness’ and allowed only an orchestrated use of space. Whereas the lack of any intentional intervention or ‘too little design’ resulted in informality, which made the open space susceptible to encroachment. Using photographic evidence, this essay illustrates the dichotomous nature of design intervention affecting the use value of ROSs in urban India.
Abstract
Well performing recreational open spaces (ROSs) are essential amenities that improve the quality of urban life in the context of rapid urbanization prevalent in developing nations. In Indian cities, the quantity and quality of recreational amenities like parks and playgrounds do not compare well with global standards. Design interventions that are undertaken while developing ROSs significantly impact their value in terms of attractiveness, accessibility, and usability. To evaluate this impact, an empirical survey of select ROSs was conducted in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The analysis revealed the dichotomous nature of design interventions. Multiple interventions or ‘too much design’ resulted in the open space losing its ‘openness’ and allowed only an orchestrated use of space. Whereas the lack of any intentional intervention or ‘too little design’ resulted in informality, which made the open space susceptible to encroachment. Using photographic evidence, this essay illustrates the dichotomous nature of design intervention affecting the use value of ROSs in urban India.
About the Authors
Divya Subramanian is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Centre for Urban Science & Engineering (C-USE), IIT Bombay, India. Her doctoral research topic deals with public open spaces and their management in the Indian context.
Arnab Jana is a professor at the Centre for Urban Science & Engineering (C-USE), IIT Bombay, India. His research interests are Infrastructure planning & location allocation model and Application of ICT in urban and regional planning.
Open air gymnasium in a public park in Bengaluru (Photo by authors)