Urban Informality in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Urban Informality in South Africa and Zimbabwe
Author: Inocent Moyo
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2021-01-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030654850

This book adds to the research of urban informality in the Global South with a specific focus on South Africa and Zimbabwe. It addresses the agency and the potential transformative capacity of the phenomenon of urban informality in connection with Southern African cities and towns. It adopts a political economy approach to analyse the evolution of informality in cities and its implications for urban planning. It brings to bear how the South African and Zimbabwean historical and/or ideological and contemporary political and economic trajectories have impacted on the ever changing nature of urban informality, both spatially and structurally and/or compositionally; thus resulting in unique urban materialities, which are aspects that have scarcely been studied or discussed in the extant literature. This book, therefore, seeks to close the academic gap by dealing with the dearth of literature on spatial (re)locational discourses of urban informality. The work positions urban informality as a resilient force with potency in terms of political mobilisation and (re) shaping urban spaces. Though these are fundamental issues, they have received comparatively little attention, especially in literature that focuses on the Southern African region. Accordingly, undergraduate and post-graduate students, as well as academics in the fields of Urban Geography, Political Science, Development Studies, Sociology, Town and Regional Planning among others, will find the range of topics and depth of coverage in this book particularly valuable. Similarly, practitioners and activists on issues of urban informality and urban governance will find the book very useful.

Reconsidering Informality

Reconsidering Informality
Author: Karen Tranberg Hansen
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789171065186

This book brings together two bodies of research on urban Africa that have tended to be separate, studies of urban land use and housing and studies of work and livelihoods. Africa's future will be increasingly urban, and the inherited legal, institutional and financial arrangements for managing urban development are inadequate. Access to employment, shelter and services is precarious for most urban residents. The result is the phenomenal growth of the informal city. Extra-legal housing and unregistered economic activities proliferate and basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. Recent decades of neo-liberal political and economic reforms have increased social inequality across urban space. After an introductory chapter by the editors, the contributions are grouped into the following sections: - LOCALITY, PLACE, AND SPACE - ECONOMY, WORK, AND LIVELIHOODS - LAND, HOUSING, AND PLANNING The case studies are drawn from a diverse set of cities on the African continent. A central theme is how practices that from an official standpoint are illegal or extra-legal do not only work but are considered legitimate by the actors concerned. Another is how the informal city is not exclusively the domain of the poor, but also provides shelter and livelihoods for better-off segments of the urban population.

Africa’s Radicalisms and Conservatisms

Africa’s Radicalisms and Conservatisms
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2021-01-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004445072

This book features essays that untangle, express and discuss issues in and around the intersections of politics, social justice, intolerance, terrorism, minorities, poverty, and education, and as they relate to the two concepts of radicalisms and conservatisms in Africa.

Urban Geography in Postcolonial Zimbabwe

Urban Geography in Postcolonial Zimbabwe
Author: Abraham R. Matamanda
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2021-05-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030715396

This interdisciplinary book provides a cross-sectoral and multi-dimensional exploration and assessment of the urban geography perspectives in Zimbabwe. Drawing on work from different disciplines, the book not only contributes to academia but also seeks to inform urban policy with the view of contributing to the national aspirations of Zimbabwe attaining middle-income status by 2030. Adopting a multi-dimensional assessment that transcends disciplines such as urban and regional planning, human and physical geography, urban governance, political science, economics and development studies, the book provides a background for co-production concerning urban development in the Global South. The book contributes into its analysis of the institutional and legislative framework that relates to the urban geography of Zimbabwe, as these are responsible for the evolution of the urban system in the country. The connections among different sectors and issues such as environment, economy, politics and the wider objectives of the SDGs, especially goal 11 aspiring to create sustainable communities by 2030, are explored. The success stories relating to urban geography in Zimbabwe are identified together with the best possible practices that may inform urban planning, policy and management.

Comparing Refugees and South Africans in the Urban Informal Sector

Comparing Refugees and South Africans in the Urban Informal Sector
Author: Jonathan Crush
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2017-09-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1920596410

This report compares the business operations of over 2,000 South Africans and refugees in the urban informal economy and systematically dispels some of the myths that have grown up around their activities. First, the report takes issue with the perception that South Africans are inexperienced and unmotivated participants in the informal economy. Many have years of experience and have successfully grown their businesses. Second, it contests the view that refugees enjoy a competitive advantage because they come to South Africa with inherent talent and already honed skills. On the contrary, over 80% of those surveyed had no prior informal sector experience and learned their skills on the job and after coming to South Africa. Third, the report shows that there is fierce competition in the urban informal sector between and within the two groups. However, business competition between refugees and South Africans is mitigated by the fact that they tend to dominate different sections of the informal economy with South Africans dominant in the food sector and refugees in the household products and personal services sectors. Finally, the report takes issue with recent arguments that all informal sector businesses are equally at risk from robbery, extortion and other crimes. It shows that South Africans are affected but that refugees are far more vulnerable than their South African counterparts. The report therefore confirms that xenophobia and xenophobic violence are major threats to refugees seeking a livelihood in the informal sector, especially if they venture into informal settlements.

Unlawful Occupation

Unlawful Occupation
Author: Marie Huchzermeyer
Publisher: Africa World Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781592212118

In the past few years the issue of land invasion and government reposnses to landlessness in the Southern African region has been at the forefront of international attention. By confronting the the questions of exclusion and unlawful occupation this book examines the appropriateness of the informal settlement response in South Africa through a comparison with Brazil. This detailed comparison sets forth the difference in the approaches of both countries, with South Africa employing the individualised, standardised intervention and Brazil a more responsive one.

Informal Migrant Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Growth in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique

Informal Migrant Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Growth in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
Author: Crush, Jonathan
Publisher: Southern African Migration Programme
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2017-01-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1920596100

While increasing attention is being paid to the drivers and forms of entrepreneurship in informal economies, much less of this policy and research focus is directed at understanding the links between mobility and informality. This report examines the current state of knowledge about this relationship with particular reference to three countries (Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and four cities (Cape Town, Harare, Johannesburg and Maputo), identifying major themes, knowledge gaps, research questions and policy implications.

Resilience and Sustainability in Urban Africa

Resilience and Sustainability in Urban Africa
Author: Innocent Chirisa
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2021-08-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 981163288X

Resilience has become a very topical issue transcending many spheres and sectors of sustainable urban development. This book presents a resilience framework for sustainable cities and towns in Africa. The rise in informal settlements is due to the urban planning practices in most African cities that rarely reflect the realities of urban life and environment for urban development. Aspects of places, people and process are central to the concept of urban resilience and sustainable urban growth. It stems from the observation that urban vulnerability is on the increase in Zimbabwe and beyond. In history, disasters have adversely affected nations across the world, inflicting wide ranging losses on one hand while on the other hand creating development opportunities for urban communities. Cooperation in disaster management is a strategy for minimising losses and uplifting the affected urban settlements. The significance of urban planning and design in the growth and development of sustainable urban centres is well documented. Urbanisation has brought with it challenges that most developing countries such as Zimbabwe are not equipped to handle. This has been accompanied by problems such as overpopulation, overcrowding, shortages of resources and the growth of slum settlements. There need is to seriously consider urban planning and design in order to come up with contemporary designs that are resilient to current urban challenges. There are major gaps in urban resilience building for instance in Harare and the local authority needs to prioritise investment in resilient urban infrastructure. ​

Africa's Informal Workers

Africa's Informal Workers
Author: Ilda Lindell
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2013-04-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1848138334

Africa's Informal Workers is a vigorous examination of the informalization and casualization of work, which is changing livelihoods in Africa and beyond. Gathering cases from nine countries and cities across sub-Saharan Africa, and from a range of sectors, this volume goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual agency, addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal workers make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organized actors, providing grounds for tension but also opportunities for alliance. The collection examines attempts at organizing across the formal-informal work spheres, and explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers. Part of the ground-breaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers is a timely exploration of deep, ongoing economic, political and social transformations.

Mean Streets

Mean Streets
Author: Crush, Jonathan
Publisher: Southern African Migration Programme
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2015-11-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1920596119

This book powerfully demonstrates that some of the most resourceful entrepreneurs in the South African informal economy are migrants and refugees. Yet far from being lauded, they take their life into their hands when they trade on South Africa's "mean streets". The book draws attention to what they bring to their adopted country through research into previously unexamined areas of migrant entrepreneurship. Ranging from studies of how migrants have created agglomeration economies in Jeppe and Ivory Park in Johannesburg, to guanxi networks of Chinese entrepreneurs, to competition and cooperation among Somali shop owners, to cross-border informal traders, to the informal transport operators between South Africa and Zimbabwe, the chapters in this book reveal the positive economic contributions of migrants. these include generating employment, paying rents, providing cheaper goods to poor consumers, and supporting formal sector wholesalers and retailers. As well, Mean Streets highlights the xenophobic responses to migrant and refugee entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in running a successful business on the streets.