New Frontiers of Urban Informality workshop
12 to 13 September 2024 at the University of Sheffield. Register here.
Organised by the DSA Urbanisation and Development Study Group and sponsored by the Development Studies Association, European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, Institute for Global Sustainable Development, University of Sheffield, and Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester.
Globally, there are 2 billion workers in the informal economy, and over 1 billion people live in informal settlements (‘slums’). Many city dwellers also utilise informal (unregulated) providers to access land, infrastructure, and services. Although academic and policy-oriented studies have recently proliferated, there is a need for comparative, interdisciplinary understanding of urban informality.
For further information:
- Martina Manara, University of Sheffield: [email protected]
- Alice Sverdlik, University of Manchester: [email protected]
- Graeme Young, University of Glasgow: [email protected]
Speaker schedule
- 3-4pm Keynote addresses by Professors Diana Mitlin (University of Manchester) and Alison Brown (Cardiff University) will discuss past trajectories and new directions of urban informality research.
- 4-5.30pm Book launch: Authors Melanie Lombard and Philipp Horn will discuss their book Urban Informality: An Introduction (Bristol University Press). Additionally, Nikhilesh Sinha and Colin Marx will share insights from their edited book Urban Informality and the Built Environment: Infrastructure, Exchange and Image (UCL Press). Moderated by Tanzil Shafique (Sheffield).
- 5.30-6pm Reception with refreshments provided
Workshop overview and objectives
Informality is a defining feature of contemporary urbanism. Growing attention from interdisciplinary scholars greatly enriched our understanding of the origins and evolution of urban informality, the forms that it takes, and its impacts upon politics, institutions, livelihoods, and everyday life, particularly in the Global South. At the same time, the actions of governments, civil society, and international organizations have put questions about informality firmly on the policy agenda. This workshop aims to build on these trends by bringing together practitioners and researchers whose work explores urban informality from a range of disciplinary perspectives and in different settings, providing a unique opportunity to share insights on urban informality and to help establish a network that can facilitate further research and collaboration. In particular, it has the following objectives:
- To share innovative approaches to studying urban informality in its various dimensions (political, economic, housing, infrastructure, etc.);
- To provide a platform for established and emerging scholars as well as practitioners working across interdisciplinary boundaries and fields;
- To organise a Special Issue advancing earlier Special Issues on informality; and
- To consolidate a network of urban informality scholars and practitioners.
We welcome submissions that speak to one of our three planned thematic panels:
- Scoping Informality: cross-sectoral engagements with urban informality, including climate change, land, infrastructure, services, housing, labour, finance, and/or taxation.
- Scrutinizing Informality: processes and outcomes of informality including politics, conflicts, exclusions, gendered or other inequalities, and/or rights violations.
- Studying Informality: innovative and/or interdisciplinary theories, concepts and methodologies to enhance understandings of urban informality.
Note on Funding and Participants: We aim to cover accommodation, transport, and meals for 20 participants. However, if funds are insufficient, we will prioritise participation for PhD students and ECRs.