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.

This book was written by Keith Pezzoli, and has a forward by John Friedmann. I’ve heard really good things about it and am hoping to check it out soon.

The review mentions that residents of the Ajusco area, on the outskirts of Mexico City, fought relocation by proposing to create “productive ecology settlements.” I wonder what these are exactly? It’s interesting to consider the many different ways that the concept of environmental sustainability is used to influence policy.

Quoted from the book description at the MIT Press website: In many areas of the world, environmental degradation in and around human settlements is undermining prospects for both socioeconomic justice and ecological sustainability. To explore the issues involved in this worldwide problem, Keith Pezzoli focuses on a dramatic instance of conflict that grew out of the unauthorized penetration of human settlements into the Ajusco greenbelt zone, a vital part of Mexico City’s ecological reserve.

IRIN Africa reports that residents of slums have been experiencing rampant crime and destitution as a result of ethnic conflict sparked by the recent elections in Kenya. An article entitled “Arson, riots leave slum dwellers destitute” relates the experience of several slum residents in Nairobi. City neighborhoods with high rates of poverty are particularly vulnerable during political unrest and other crises, a problem that must be addressed in establishing sound urban development initiatives.

Photo of Red Cross workers in Nairobi’s Mathare slums appears on the IRIN website

Quoted from an article in IRIN, titled “Slum-dwellers hit hard by post-election crisis”: The majority of the city’s inhabitants live in its sprawling slums and it is this impoverished population, together with tens of thousands of displaced people in western Kenya, that has borne the brunt of the violence and disruption unleashed in the wake of the 27 December presidential and parliamentary elections.

A Washington Post Feature on Life in Vukani, a South African Squatter Community. Outstanding pictures reveal the challenges facing residents of urban slums in the context of globalization.

Quoted: Vukani means “Wake up!” and represents a cry for help. The people who live in the squatter camp of Vukani near Grahamstown, South Africa, struggle daily in small homes that do not have electricity or clean water.

The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements (2003), by the United Nations Human Settlements Program, is an influential report on urbanization in the developing world. It provides excellent case studies on the origins, problems, and solutions associated with urban slums in the context of contemporary globalization.

Quoted: The most authoritative and up-to-date review of the development of the world’s cities and other human settlements. The first global assessment of urban slums, the challenges they present and the ways to improve the lives of slum dwellers. Statistical annexes provide essential information on demographic, spatial & economic, housing, and environment & infrastructural indicators…

In this article on international urbanization in strategy + business magazine, Stewart Brand provides a detailed account of the current growth in urban populations around the world.

Quoted: Get ready for cosmopolitan slums with thriving markets, aging residents, and the most creative economies in history.

A Washington Post photo essay on Vukani, a South African squatter community, which underscores the need for sustainable planning to ease the upheavals associated with rapid urbanization.

Quoted: Vukani means “Wake up!” and represents a cry for help. The people who live in the squatter camp of Vukani near Grahamstown, South Africa, struggle daily in small homes that do not have electricity or clean water.

Stewart Brand, co-founder of Global Business Network and author of How Buildings Learn, gave a fascinating talk on urbanization and innovation at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club on June 14, 2007. The video of Brand’s presentation, titled How Urbanization Will Drive Innovation on is available on FORA.tv.

Photo credit: Mike Lee

In his article Megacities, Mega Dreams for a Connected World, Suketu Mehta provides a vivid account of life in Bombay, including reasons people move there and how the plight of city dwellers might be improved. The article is accompanied by striking photos by Betsy Karel.

Quoted: For the young person in an Indian village, the call of Bombay isn’t just about money. It’s also about freedom. Suketu Mehta is a fiction writer and journalist based in New York. His first book, “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Photos are from “Bombay Jadoo,” a book of photographs by Betsy Karel, with text by Ardashir Vakil and Suketu Mehta, published by Steidl in Germany. “Jadoo” is the Hindi word for magic.