The Urban

Livelihood

Content

Livelihoods Framework
Urban Economies: Development &
Division
Break
Informal Economy: Issues of definition
Nature of the Informal Economy
Marginalisation: Rules and discourse
Reversing inequality of engagement
Exercise: What would you do?

Livelihoods: An alternative
framework

Shifts emphasis from economic and static

indicators of poverty to process
understanding
Allows focus on those also vulnerable to
poverty
means of gaining a living
Livelihoods depend on:
Access to capital resources held by
individual or others
Economic, social, environmental,

Livelihoods Framework

URBAN ECONOMIES

Urban Economy: POSITIVE FOR

Development

Often huge source of economic

growth
Dense concentration of labour,
infrastructure & capital
UNDESA
(2012)
urbanization;
World Bank
(2012) GDP
per capita

Any objections?

Cities are Freedom!

(UN-Habitat 2012 : 18)

Multi-Dimensional Development?

Inequality Manifest

Urban life increasingly divided: Formal and

Informal

The concept of the informal economy is

fraught with definitional controversy and
argument about coherence and internal
consistency, but has nevertheless survived
several decades of debate to gain
recognition as a useful concept

Imagining the Informal Economy

(what fills this space)

Is it something a little like this?

Issues of Definition
ILO

(1972)

Low barriers to enter for skill and capital

Family ownership

Small scale

Labour intensive with old technology

Unregulated but competitive markets

Associated with poverty, survival and making do
Not capital accumulation, enterprise and ingenuity.
But the Informal Economy is much more than this

A Different Perspective on the

Informal

Informality is not just about the

marginalised
LA: some informal activity earns more
than formal sector
Informal enterprises are set up with
formal redundancy

People move between formal and informal

work often in the same day
Large formal firms hire informal workers
Many activities are quite modern

Some Possible Characteristics

Principal characteristic

Sources

Avoids regulation

Bromley (1978a), Chant (1999)

Dynamic

Gwynne & Kay (1999)

Ease of entry / Low cost

Muskin 1997, Souza & Tokman

(1976)

Incorporates a variety of
activities

Gwynne & Kay (1999), Wasserman

(1999)

Informally acquired skills

Bromley (1978a), Chant (1999)

Labour intensive

Bromley (1978a), Chant (1999)

Minority of workers
protected by labour
legislation and covered
by social security

Aziz (1984), Chant (1999)

Small-scale enterprises

Aziz (1984), Bromley (1978a),

Chant (1999)

Strong family
involvement

Bromley (1978a), Chant (1999)

Scale of Informal Sector

Sub-Saharan Africa
Main source of urban jobs for urban poor
60% of all urban jobs
90% of all new jobs created (1990s)

Latin America
80% of job creation (1980s and 1990s)
Significance varies: 15% of GDP in The
Bahamas 70%+ for Paraguay

Importance of Informal Sector

(ILO 2001)

Marginalisation of the Informal

Transactions and activities unrecorded
IMF/WB symptom of poverty not opportunity
Growing donor emphasis on tax revenue and
Western city planning ideals = pressure to formalise
Responsibility falls to planners and managers:

Restriction: trading hours, identification & spaces

Many cities require licenses
Creates opportunities for corruption/bribing government

(e.g. Bogot, Donovan 2002)

In

most countries there is no legal framework for

inclusion or a consistent attempt to institutionalise
participation

Power of Discourse

Formal economy & state are what?

(ontologically)
Useful to understand in terms of
discourses
Participation in governance denied to
vilified outsiders
Imagery in newspapers
Critical discourse perspective: some have
more power
Elites - as means to protect their

Costs of Marginalising the

Informal
Informal activity problem to be
removed (not developed)
Discourse often justifies and
promotes expulsions which can often
be violent
Evictions cause acute loss for those
affected
Case Study of South African World Cup

Two Points for Thought...

Cross (2000: 43) asserts that planners
and city officials should keep in mind
that a good part of the problem of
informal traders lies not in the
phenomenon occurring in their
streets, but in their preconceived
notions of the appropriate use of
public space.
Unlike the anarchists, I dont believe
the state will ever be abolished. Its a

Possible Interventions

Livelihood analysis to understand needs of

informal
Expanded zones of informality in specific
geographical areas or economic sectors
Space governance for traders
associationsboth formal and informal
Legal recognition of rights
Understanding of social
networks/exclusions
Focus on supporting most marginalised
Accept complexity of representation

CLASS 6
Made by
sHRUTI