Urban Informality
Author | : Ananya Roy |
Publisher | : Lexington Books |
Total Pages | : 356 |
Release | : 2004 |
ISBN-10 | : 0739107410 |
ISBN-13 | : 9780739107416 |
Rating | : 4/5 (10 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: The turn of the century has been a moment of rapid urbanization. Much of this urban growth is taking place in the cities of the developing world and much of it in informal settlements. This book presents cutting-edge research from various world regions to demonstrate these trends. The contributions reveal that informal housing is no longer the domain of the urban poor; rather it is a significant zone of transactions for the middle-class and even transnational elites. Indeed, the book presents a rich view of "urban informality" as a system of regulations and norms that governs the use of space and makes possible new forms of social and political power. The book is organized as a "transnational" endeavor. It brings together three regional domains of research--the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia--that are rarely in conversation with one another. It also unsettles the hierarchy of development and underdevelopment by looking at some First World processes of informality through a Third World research lens.