Hot off the press! Lessons of Informality

Never before have cities been so important. Today, cities are home to the majority of the world’s population, accommodate most of global production, and are the goal of millions of migrants around the world. Yet, increasingly, our cities are growing informally, planned and built by non-professionals.

Informality resembles an evolutionary process more than a simple absence of rules. In itself, informality is neither illegal, nor dysfunctional, nor indicative of poverty; in fact, its actors, skills and capital are probably our best chance to solve the world’s growing housing crisis.

Informal settlements made up of corrugated iron shacks and other materials are a ubiquitous feature in the megacities of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In response to the enormous influx of migrants from the countryside, the informal city experienced a phenomenal growth.

While rightly criticised for their lack of hygiene and for their low-level living conditions, these shelters nevertheless provide planning strategies and possibly even a roadmap to a resilient city in an emerging territory. In fact, the unregistered economic activities associated with them proliferate in a similar way and basic urban services are increasingly provided informally.

Edited by Felix Heisel and Bisrat Kifle, Lessons of Informality: Architecture and Urban Planning for Emerging Territories – Concepts from Ethiopia brings together an interdisciplinary team of authors from urbanism, sociology and architecture. The book includes a DVD of _Spaces, a series of six documentaries on informality in Addis Ababa.