Originally posted to polis] Recent developments in Kibera and Dharavi, two of the most high-profile slums in the world, underscore the importance of including informal workers in planning decisions. In Kibera, a UN-backed slum clearance is underway amidst protest from residents whose livelihoods are at risk (and landlords who control informal real estate). The redevelopment plan for Dharavi has been stalled due to upcoming elections, as politicians appear reluctant to alienate the millions of voters involved in the economy it would displace. Slum redevelopment often exacerbates poverty when informal workers are not involved in decision-making processes.

Living conditions in slums can be improved without uprooting local economies. An international research network called WIEGO has been addressing occupational health and safety (OHS) in the informal sector. Through this initiative, researchers find out which government agencies are in charge of OHS and help informal workers open channels for dialog in policy development. WIEGO makes sure they have the resources for effective advocacy. OHS researchers also compile best-practices among government programs that have established successful workplace standards in informal settlements.

WIEGO is part of the Inclusive Cities Project, which promotes the representation of informal workers in planning decisions. They work with membership-based organizations in slums to influence municipal policy. Informal businesses are considered essential to poverty reduction, especially when accompanied with adequate infrastructure, regulation, and stimulus. If these businesses were included under effective legal structures, worker exploitation could be monitored and tax revenues used to finance improved living conditions.

Elinor Ostrom, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, and Ravi Kanbur have recently published a book titled Linking the Formal and Informal Economy: Concepts and Policies. It includes theoretical and empirical studies that identify close relationships between the two sectors. Understanding informal business as an integral part of a city’s economy could encourage legal representation, protection, and accountability. In addition, Ostrom’s research on commons, institutions, social capital, and human-environment interaction is very relevant to planning and development from within informal settlements.

Communities like Kibera and Dharavi have complex and active economies that can be included in legal governance. It’s essential for informal workers to have a way of protecting their rights and livelihoods.

Credits: Photo of a boy in Dharavi by Jonas Bendiksen. Photo of Kibera residents from The Gardian.

The St. Petersburg Guide provides an unpretentious and informative overview of the city’s history through its distinctive architecture. Maintaining so many historical buildings beside a river prone to flooding must be a great challenge. The conversion of the Winter Palace into a museum is also very interesting. Apparently there are other former palaces and estates in the city that might be reused as well.

Quoted from the St. Petersburg Guide: It’s called The Winter Canal, and this is one of the most poetic corners of the “old St. Petersburg”. It was described in Alexander Pushkin’s famous “Queen of Spades”, and until now is the place for romantic dates of people who are in love. This place is especially lovely when seen from the water – when you sail either along the Moyka or along the Neva river in a boat and cast a look on the beautiful arch that frames the Winter Canal…

This page features accessible instructions on setting up environmental field studies. It’s a great way to get started with sampling soil, water, air, plants, and wildlife. Information is provided by the Field Studies Council (FSC), a nonprofit organization that sponsors training, research, publication, and international outreach around environmental sustainability.

Photo appears on the Make your own fieldwork equipment page of the FSC website

Quoted from the Field Studies Council website: FSC has become internationally respected for its national network of 17 education centres, international outreach training projects, research programmes, information and publication services and wide range of fascinating professional training and leisure courses…The FSC believes the more we know about the environment, the more we can appreciate its needs and protect its diversity and beauty for future generations.

The Danda gallery contains hundereds of images of distinctive architecture from around the world. There are at least four large pictures of each structure, which provide a good feel for how they look in context.

Today I visited the former subway tunnel in my home town, Rochester, NY. Later I was surprised to find a lot of information about it online, including a Wikipedia page and a documentary. There is also a group called the Rochester Rail Transit Committee (RRTC), which hopes to resurrect the subway to provide light rail service in the city and up to Lake Ontario.

I’ve posted a photo tour of the section that runs below the Rundel Memorial Building and across the Broad Street Bridge. Here are a few related links: map from 1928, map with proposed new lines, historical photos, contemporary photos, additional information.

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ArchNet contains a wealth of photos, publications, and other resources on architecture and planning. It is produced by the MIT School of Architecture and funded by the Aga Khan Trust. My favorite section is the Digital Library, where you can browse through historical buildings by name, country, style, type, use, and century.

Photo by Joseph Brakhya

Quoted: ArchNet is an international online community for architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, conservationists, and scholars, with a focus on Muslim cultures and civilisations.

ArchitectureWeek’s list of bridges from around the world is a great reminder of the effect bridges have on urban and rural landscapes, blending form and function in an endless variety of ways. Walking bridges can help desegregate neighborhoods and open them to new patterns of use.

Photo by Don Barker

e-architect provides excellent pictures and descriptions of current architectural projects from around the world. In addition to daily news, there are city guides, architect profiles, large-format photos, and links. While the site lacks any real navigation scheme, relying on new windows for just about every link, it more than makes up for this in quality content.

Urban Planet is a collection of features on urbanization from the BBC News. It includes an interactive map that tracks the growth of the world’s largest cities, as well as comparisons of the environmental effects of urban and rural life.

Photo from the BBC Photojournal: Chad urban migrant’s story

Earth Architecture is one of my favorite blogs. It shows, through vivid images and commentary, the possibilities of building with natural materials. Examples are included from the past and present, in locations all over the world.

Photo (from Reuters) appears on the Earth Architecture website

Quoted from the Earth Architecture website: The EARTH ARCHITECTURE website focuses on architecture constructed of mud brick (adobe), rammed earth (pisé), compressed earth block or other methods of earthen construction and serves as a database for the discussion and dissemination of events, resources, and images of earth architecture in the context of contemporary architecture culture.