WIEGO: some of their proposed concerns…
• the right to work
• the right to a place from which to work
• legal rights to property
• the right to public services and infrastructure
• fair prices and wages
• fair and legally enforceable commercial transactions
• fair and legally enforceable employment relations
The following functional areas of urban policies determine who gets which of these benefits:
• Regulation of public space
• Framework for legalizing private property
• Provision of infrastructure and services:
o roads, transport, and communication
o marketing and export promotion
o water, electricity, and sanitation
• Regulation of commercial transactions
Regulations of employment relations\
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
What will be unique about my thesis?
There's not A LOT OF work - especially not a lot of diverse work, other than WIEGO and ILO that I can tell - that has been done to synthesize stuff. It's mostly just research material, data, statistics, trying to actually capture what's going on.
My thesis will fill in the niche that is the synthesis across sectors and regions, a cross-section if you will, and a more indepth look at HCMC and its personal struggles and what its options might be.
Need to be careful not to get caught up in the informal economy debate and slums but focus on the policy response to these particular manifestations of the informal economy in the city.
My thesis will fill in the niche that is the synthesis across sectors and regions, a cross-section if you will, and a more indepth look at HCMC and its personal struggles and what its options might be.
Need to be careful not to get caught up in the informal economy debate and slums but focus on the policy response to these particular manifestations of the informal economy in the city.
Links and things to keep track of
Bangkok Street Vendors blog:
http://bangkokstreetvendor.blogspot.com/
Rethinking Informalization:
http://www.wiego.org/publications/Rethinking_Informalization.pdf
[lots of interesting essays, but from 2002]
Definitions + Theories regarding Informal Economy [WIEGO]:
http://www.wiego.org/about_ie/definitionsAndTheories.php
Street Vendors in Asia: no HCMC, but Hanoi:
http://www.wiego.org/papers/2005/unifem/4_Bhowmik_Asian_Hawkers_EPW.pdf
ILO Informal Economy Database:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/infoecon/iebrowse.search?p_lang=en
http://bangkokstreetvendor.blogspot.com/
Rethinking Informalization:
http://www.wiego.org/publications/Rethinking_Informalization.pdf
[lots of interesting essays, but from 2002]
Definitions + Theories regarding Informal Economy [WIEGO]:
http://www.wiego.org/about_ie/definitionsAndTheories.php
Street Vendors in Asia: no HCMC, but Hanoi:
http://www.wiego.org/papers/2005/unifem/4_Bhowmik_Asian_Hawkers_EPW.pdf
ILO Informal Economy Database:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/infoecon/iebrowse.search?p_lang=en
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Papers I've written that will help...
An amalgam of urban poverty, aid, slums and the informal economy...
- Brookings paper on "Is Slum Improvement the Right Way to Help Urban Poverty?" - 30 pages
- 17.307 - 15 pages on Foreign Aid Reform
- 11.201 - 15 pages on John FC Turner and his impacts on affordable housing
- 11.701 paper?
- Brookings paper on "Is Slum Improvement the Right Way to Help Urban Poverty?" - 30 pages
- 17.307 - 15 pages on Foreign Aid Reform
- 11.201 - 15 pages on John FC Turner and his impacts on affordable housing
- 11.701 paper?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I've switched thesis topics...
"In most of the cities in the developing world the urban poor survive through work in the informal economy. At the same time, these cities attempt a ‘make-over’ by trying to attain the standards of global cities." - WIEGO
I've changed my thesis topic to a comparative policy analysis of municipal policy toward street life in developing countries. (Street life being food vendors, sidewalk sellers, informal open-air markets, etc). I will attempt to see if there are patterns, innovations and unique examples of how cities have valued (or devalued) street life, and whether there really are feasible ways for cities to incorporate this facet of culture that is so easily lost.
I will supplement this policy analysis with a case study of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which has in the past been well known for its vibrant street life. However, in light of "tourism" demands, HCMC is considering the evacuation of many of these street vendors. Do they have options? There are negative effects of street vendors (sidewalk clogging, sanitary concerns, informal economy, public space, urban design) - but [and this is my bias] I think it's a valuable part of life they shouldn't just eradicate.
What are the policy options? What are the issues at hand? What are the urban design considerations? What are the regional patterns? Can we do something other than clear them out?
I've changed my thesis topic to a comparative policy analysis of municipal policy toward street life in developing countries. (Street life being food vendors, sidewalk sellers, informal open-air markets, etc). I will attempt to see if there are patterns, innovations and unique examples of how cities have valued (or devalued) street life, and whether there really are feasible ways for cities to incorporate this facet of culture that is so easily lost.
I will supplement this policy analysis with a case study of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which has in the past been well known for its vibrant street life. However, in light of "tourism" demands, HCMC is considering the evacuation of many of these street vendors. Do they have options? There are negative effects of street vendors (sidewalk clogging, sanitary concerns, informal economy, public space, urban design) - but [and this is my bias] I think it's a valuable part of life they shouldn't just eradicate.
What are the policy options? What are the issues at hand? What are the urban design considerations? What are the regional patterns? Can we do something other than clear them out?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Slums from the nonacademic perspective
Tuhus-Dubrow, Rebecca. “Learning from Slums.” The Boston Globe. March 1 2009. Web.
Slums have grown increasingly in the media spotlight, especially with the advent of blockbusters like Slumdog Millionaire. Typically, though, slums of the developing world are found only in media when a major crime ring is busted, or riots occur, or something noticeable happens. It is rare for the mainstream media to pick up on the topic of slums and address it in a candid and careful manner, but the Boston Globe interestingly does so in their Ideas magazine, providing a layman's overview of slums, methods of addressing, and some of the debates around the topic.
The author starts off by accurately stating the sort of tension found among development practitioners interested in slums, saying that slums "...are as a rule overcrowded, unhealthy, and emblems of profound inequality. But among architects, planners, and other thinkers, there is a growing realization that they also possess unique strengths, and may even hold lessons in successful urban development." This rhetoric is very exemplary of the attitude put forth by influential planners like John Turner which suggests that slums are not the problem but indeed, the solution.
Slums, as a matter of fact, hold many advantages. Economically, the amount of enterprise, informal economy, economics of agglomeration and so on provide a potentially beneficial system to the urban poor. High density and close living conditions, while potentially harmful health wise, can foster strong social networks, and the reuse of trash in creative methods helps environmentally. The author even goes as far as to suggest that "Indeed, slums embody many of the principles frequently invoked by urban planners: They are walkable, high-density, and mixed-use, meaning that housing and commerce mingle."
The article then goes on to discuss cursorily the historical debates, current ideology and potential trends of dealing with and understanding slums. Citing famous planners and rights-bearers, the author briefly mentions slum giants such as Turner and Hernando de Soto, and discusses the debate behind slum upgrading - an expensive but possibly positive process.
The tension between romanticizing these areas or not crediting them fully continues throughout the article, with some attention spent on the efforts of those in the "developed world" to utilize and borrow certain aspects of these marginalized communities and use them to inspire our own buildings and plans. "we can also learn from the spirit of collaboration in informal settlements, and their ingenuity in the use of space."
I myself have always wondered about this particular question. What can we learn from slums? Is there not something to be captured in slums that is not beneficial - not just to them, but to those in other countries? This article was, therefore, encouraging, showing that there exists a common debate still.
Slums have grown increasingly in the media spotlight, especially with the advent of blockbusters like Slumdog Millionaire. Typically, though, slums of the developing world are found only in media when a major crime ring is busted, or riots occur, or something noticeable happens. It is rare for the mainstream media to pick up on the topic of slums and address it in a candid and careful manner, but the Boston Globe interestingly does so in their Ideas magazine, providing a layman's overview of slums, methods of addressing, and some of the debates around the topic.
The author starts off by accurately stating the sort of tension found among development practitioners interested in slums, saying that slums "...are as a rule overcrowded, unhealthy, and emblems of profound inequality. But among architects, planners, and other thinkers, there is a growing realization that they also possess unique strengths, and may even hold lessons in successful urban development." This rhetoric is very exemplary of the attitude put forth by influential planners like John Turner which suggests that slums are not the problem but indeed, the solution.
Slums, as a matter of fact, hold many advantages. Economically, the amount of enterprise, informal economy, economics of agglomeration and so on provide a potentially beneficial system to the urban poor. High density and close living conditions, while potentially harmful health wise, can foster strong social networks, and the reuse of trash in creative methods helps environmentally. The author even goes as far as to suggest that "Indeed, slums embody many of the principles frequently invoked by urban planners: They are walkable, high-density, and mixed-use, meaning that housing and commerce mingle."
The article then goes on to discuss cursorily the historical debates, current ideology and potential trends of dealing with and understanding slums. Citing famous planners and rights-bearers, the author briefly mentions slum giants such as Turner and Hernando de Soto, and discusses the debate behind slum upgrading - an expensive but possibly positive process.
The tension between romanticizing these areas or not crediting them fully continues throughout the article, with some attention spent on the efforts of those in the "developed world" to utilize and borrow certain aspects of these marginalized communities and use them to inspire our own buildings and plans. "we can also learn from the spirit of collaboration in informal settlements, and their ingenuity in the use of space."
I myself have always wondered about this particular question. What can we learn from slums? Is there not something to be captured in slums that is not beneficial - not just to them, but to those in other countries? This article was, therefore, encouraging, showing that there exists a common debate still.
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