Incorporating Informality

In recent years, an expanding range of formal-informal linkages, such as the taxation of the informal sector and the creation of informal jobs by state institutions, has increasingly focussed attention on the networked operations of informal markets. Often triggered by political upheaval, economic destabilisation, migratory movements and new labour situations, informal markets shape a form of alternative economic governance wherever and whenever institutional protocols have come to a deadlock. With the informal sector estimated to account for more than half of all economic activity worldwide, a more decisive engagement with economic informality by the worlds governing bodies is increasingly being seen as critical to achieving a more sustainable form of global development. However, current policy approaches are still torn between framing informality as the root problem as a drag on growth, as a recent World Bank report put it and attempts to recognise people involved in the informal economy as valid economic actors and to tap into their entrepreneurial capacities. The research project hypothesises that these differences are indicative of the current tensions around the development of novel forms of formal-informal linkages, especially around new forms of economic governance that go beyond state-oriented notions of how to generate political order and economic growth. Its key aim is to gain a clearer picture of the different motivations, practices and effects of these divergent approaches to economic informality. Based on the findings of a global survey study of the political pressure on informal markets carried out by the same researchers between 2010 and 2015, the project will investigate how the spectrum of policy engagement with informal trade is applied to different physical marketplaces. With the help of local experts, the research team will conduct case studies of twelve marketplaces selected from the previous research project, including amongst others, Bangkoks Saphan Lek, Luandas Roque Santeiro, São Paulos Feirinha da Madrugada and Brckos Arizona Market. The findings of these field studies will be documented and analysed through a newly developed multidimensional mapping matrix that classifies four distinct strategies of engagement with informal markets, ranging from the forced closure or relocation of marketplaces to the infrastructural improvement of market facilities or appropriation of entrepreneurial undertakings. Using maps, charts, diagrams and texts, this mapping matrix will help to generate a basic typology of key spatial policies that are shaping the role of informal markets in contemporary urban development. These findings will be made available through journal articles, an extensive monograph and an online platform and will provide a vital contribution to public debates about emergent forms of hybrid economic governance.

INCORPORATING INFORMALITY: Spatial interventions in informal markets as economic policy indicators In recent years, an expanding range of formal-informal linkages, such as the taxation of the informal sector and the creation of informal jobs by state institutions, has increasingly focussed attention on the networked operations of informal markets. Often triggered by political upheaval, economic destabilisation, migratory movements and new labour situations, informal markets shape a form of alternative governance wherever and whenever institutional protocols have come to a deadlock. With the informal sector estimated to account for more than half of all economic activity worldwide, a more informed engagement with informality is increasingly being seen as critical to achieving a more sustainable form of global development. However, current policy approaches are still torn between framing informality as the root problem - as a "drag on growth", as a recent World Bank report put it - and attempts to recognise people involved in the informal economy as valid economic actors and to tap into their entrepreneurial capacities. Starting from the premise that these differences are indicative of the current tensions around the development of novel forms of formal-informal linkages, the key aim of the project was to gain a clearer picture of the different motivations, practices and effects of these divergent approaches to economic informality. Based on the findings of a global survey study of the political pressure on informal markets carried out by the research team between 2010 and 2015, the project has investigated how the spectrum of policy engagement with informal trade is applied to different physical marketplaces. With the help of local experts, the research team has conducted case studies of twelve marketplaces selected from the previous research project, including amongst others, Bangkok's Saphan Lek, Luanda's Roque Santeiro, Buenos Aires' La Salada and Brčko's Arizona Market. The findings of these field studies have been documented and analysed through a newly developed multidimensional mapping matrix that classifies four distinct strategies of engagement with informal markets, ranging from the forced closure or relocation of marketplaces to the infrastructural improvement of market facilities or appropriation of entrepreneurial undertakings. Using maps, charts, diagrams and texts, this mapping matrix helps to generate a basic typology of key spatial policies that are shaping the role of informal markets in contemporary urban development. These findings have been made available through scholarly articles, an extensive edited volume, multiple research forums and discussion events (Vienna, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Boston, Manchester) and an online platform and provide a vital contribution to public debates about emergent forms of hybrid economic governance.