Urban Informality: Its Genesis and Future beyond Stigma and Abolition

AMJAU, African and Mediterranean Journal of Architecture and Urbanism

Adil Zabadi¹  Safiya El Ghmari¹ 

[1] Dept. Risk Management & Spatial Development, Centre for Research and Studies in Urban and Regional Planning, National Institute for Urban and Regional Planning, Rabat, Morocco;

关键词: urban informality;    informal settlements;    social exclusion;    marginality;    informality;   

DOI  :  10.48399/IMIST.PRSM/amjau-v3i1.26746

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Morethanofteninformalityasaconceptconnotes,inthecommonperception,withnegativeand unofficial ways through which formality is bypassed. In fact, when linked with the urban context, the first image that comes to mind is that of an informal settlement: slum, shanty towns, bidonville, ...etc. These settlements are usually described as ugly, cancerous, unhealthy districts of the urban landscape, and their inhabitants are treated like marginals in the city and are socially excluded from the realm of the city. In this paper we explore the historical origins and etymology of the term “informality” before reviewingdifferentapproachesandtheirevolutionfromsegregationtointerdependenceand complementarity. We then suggest a definition of urban informality and its impact on urban policy based on a non-binary structure. And we demonstrate that urban informality is merely a manifestation of the current economic capitalist system and differentiate between two kinds of urban informalities: high-level and low-level. We finally suggest that urban informality and particularly informal settlements should be studied as spontaneous and autonomous process not pathological formation in the city. It is only then that it is possibletodebunkthemythofmarginalitythatwehaveshowntobeaninducedself-fulfilling prophecy.Finally,weconcludethispaperbydepictingvariouswaysinwhichthe paradigmshifttoinclude urban informality as an epistemology to study cities and urban development is happening.

【 授权许可】

Unknown