Urban Informality: Its Genesis and Future beyond Stigma and Abolition

Résumé

More than often informality as a concept connotes, in the common perception, with negative and 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. The direct implication of such deductions and judgment on urban policy was to make these settlements vanish without a prior understanding of this phenomenon, which is urban informality.

In this paper we explore the origins of urban informality, its genesis and etymology to demonstrate that informal settlements are only a manifestation of an underpinned economic system. This leads us to question the duality and opposition between informality and formality, and to what extent is informality synonymous to social exclusion and marginality. We argue that urban informality is an important component of planning nowadays and that it should be studied as such not dismissed based on non-conformity to norms and laws. We believe that urban informality has many things to teach us about the future of planning.