TOC Image: Urban Policies
Urban Policies
Problem Statement
The world’s urban population has more than doubled in the past 30 years. In 2008, for the first time in history, the majority of the world’s population lived in urban areas. In the global South, this rapid urbanization has not been accompanied by industrialization, with the urban poor largely surviving through work in the informal economy.
Over half of the urban workforce in most developing countries – and over three quarters in some developing countries – are engaged in the informal economy. An estimated one of every three people living in cities in the developing world lives without access to adequate shelter, water and sanitation – in a slum. Yet city governments, pre-occupied with competing for foreign investment and “world class city” status, largely neglect informal workers and slum dwellers, and often actively evict them.
Reducing urban poverty requires reversing this exclusionary trend. A fundamental rethinking and reshaping of urban priorities, plans, regulations, and policies to incorporate the working poor is required.
The Urban Policies Research Report Series and Briefing Notes provide in-depth examinations and options for many issues.
informal economy needs to be recognized as part-and-parcel of the economy of towns and cities of the developing world. Urban authorities must allow street vendors, hawkers, small kiosks and shops to exist alongside large retail shops and malls; must incorporate waste pickers into modern solid waste management systems; and must support home-based production through basic infrastructure and appropriate zoning policies. There is an urgent need to provide basic services: access to water, sanitation and shelter to the urban poor, especially for those whose homes double as their workplaces.
What is required, in brief, is to prioritize infrastructure delivery to the poor and to develop an inclusive approach to urban zoning; urban regulations and laws; and urban plans and policies. This, in turn, will call for inclusive urban planning processes in which representatives of the working poor have a voice in policy-making. However, conceptual, institutional and resource barriers prohibit this alternative vision for cities.
Goals & Objectives
WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme seeks to enhance the capacity of the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy to shape the urban policies and environment in which they live and work by having increased organizational strength, representative voice, and official visibility.
For cities to be accountable to the needs of the working poor in the urban informal economy – especially women, who are concentrated in the segments of informal employment with lowest earnings and highest risks – three enabling conditions are essential:
- Voice – organization of the urban working poor, especially women, into membership-based organizations accountable to their members, and representation of these organizations in relevant policy-making and rule-setting institutions
- Visibility – official recognition of the economic contribution of the urban working poor, especially women, through improved labour force and other economic statistics, as well as in policy research.
- Validity – legal identity and recognition of the urban working poor, especially women, and their membership-based organizations.
WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme is designed to build and promote these enabling conditions for three sub-sectors of the urban informal workforce: home-based workers, street vendors, and waste pickers. The goal is to achieve secure and improved living/working environments.
Read a paper by Marty Chen (2010) on Supporting Urban Livelihoods, Reducing Urban Poverty.
Current & Planned Activities
In October 2008, WIEGO – together with the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), StreetNet International, HomeNet South Asia, and the waste picker movement in Latin America supported by the Avina Foundation – launched a global programme called Inclusive Cities for the Urban Working Poor.
WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme has developed and is implementing a joint research and dissemination agenda. It focuses on the following:
- Assessing the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Informal Economy
Few analyses of the crisis have considered the impact on the working poor. In mid-2009, WIEGO and our partners in the Inclusive Cities project conducted focus group interviews with informal workers in 10 developing countries. The findings of this study are presented in a report entitled “No Cushion to Fall Back On: The Global Economic Crisis and Informal Workers.” The findings in this report were cited in United Nations General Secretary’s report “Voices of the Vulnerable: The Economic Crisis from the Ground Up.”A second round of the study was undertaken in 2010 where the same interviewees were revisited. The findings of the second round are presented in a report entitled “Coping with Crises: Lingering Recession, Rising Inflation, and the Informal Workforce.” During 2011 this research method is being developed into an annual assessment of the impact of a range of countervailing forces on the informal economy. For more information on this topic, see The Global Economic Crisis and the Urban Informal Economy.
- Statistical Profiles of the Urban Informal Economy
For policy visibility but also inclusive planning processes, statistics on urban and city level informal economy and specific urban worker groups are critical. This research aims to establish the best possible statistical picture of the size and contribution of the informal economy in urban areas in general, and a number of large cities, in particular. Where the data allow, profiles have been constructed for waste pickers, street traders and home-based workers. Researchers are also reflecting on the strengths and limitations of existing data collection techniques so as to facilitate cross-country learning about how best to capture statistics on the urban informal economy. The first report reflects on South Africa; read Research Report No. 7. For more on this topic, see Urban Informal Economy Statistics.
- Documenting Policy and Organizational Practice
This work has, and continues to, assess trends in urban policies, planning processes, services/infrastructure delivery and organizational practice for home-based workers, street vendors, and waste pickers. Particular attention is paid to identifying and disseminating policy and planning approaches and organizational practices that have resulted in securer livelihoods.This is with a view to strengthening organizations of informal workers and their voice in policy making processes. It also aims to facilitate cross-context learning among urban practitioners in general and worker organizations in particular. Read more about Documenting Policy & Organizational Practice.
- Analyzing Budget Allocations to the Informal Economy
Pioneered by the women’s movement, interrogation of resource allocation within government budgets has proved to be a powerful policy analysis and advocacy tool. This component of the WIEGO / Inclusive Cities work has adapted these techniques for the informal economy. Analysis of budget allocations for informal workers has been conducted in Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, and the Philippines. Each case focused on one city, and two or three types of informal workers. Debbie Budlender, who co-ordinated the project, synthesized the findings in “Informal Economy Budget Analysis in Brazil, Pakistan, Peru and Philippines, Research Report, No. 1” and has also produced a technical guide for those interested in conducting informal economy budget analyses (see Technical Briefing Note No. 1). Read more on the Informal Economy Budget Analysis.
- Assessing the Impact of Mega Events on the Working Poor
Hosting mega events is often a catalyst to excluding informal workers in general and street traders in particular from urban plans. This work aims to understand the multifaceted nature of the impact of these events on the working poor and to publicize these findings. Lessons will be distilled to inform partners in countries that will be hosting similar events in the future. In 2010 the focus was on the Soccer World Cup in South Africa and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. This component of our work aims to support and complement StreetNet’s World Class Cities Campaign. See more about Mega Events and the Urban Working Poor.
- Influence Planning Curricula to Better Reflect the Concerns of Informal Workers
Urban planners and built environment professionals are critical to “city making” but are often ill-equipped to plan “for” informality. This work aims to develop, test, and begin to institutionalize an urban planning curriculum on the urban informal economy. So far the work has concentrated on engaging with the African Association of Planning Educators and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. See more on Influencing Planning Curricula - To Better Reflect the Concerns & Needs of Informal Workers.
- Observatory of Laws and Policies that Impact on the Working Poor
Laws and policies critically shape the environment in which the urban working poor operate. This observatory reflects the status quo, but special attention is being paid to laws that have resulted in more secure livelihoods for informal workers. It runs in parallel with the in-depth country studies. (See more about this project.) The aim is to strengthen the legal position – the legitimacy or validity – of informal workers. (To participate in this process, request access to the workspace for the Law and Informal Working Poor.)
