Today, cities of the Global South are experiencing annual growth rates sometimes exceeding three or four percent. In the next three decades, they are expected to absorb an additional 2.2 billion people. The accelerating urbanization of these places is following a pattern not unlike what sociologist Louis Wirth observed in Chicago in the first two decades of the 20th century, except for one key difference: today’s expanding metropolises are coinciding with the proliferation of informality in all aspects of life.

This roundtable will look to align current research and initiatives being undertaken to guide the course of the coming decade and beyond. We will consider how the varied interpretations of informality (e.g. a form of marginalization from formal society, a semi-integration into formal society, or a rational form of survival within state-sanctioned institutional arrangements) are shaping the efforts to pursue sustainable urban development over the next three decades, as expressed in global to local responses. We will also analyze different methods for measuring urban informality and examine how national to neighborhood decision-makers are incorporating informality in their policies and programs.

Roundtable Schedule

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Opening Keynote

Speaker: Janice Perlman, author, Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro

10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

How Do Global Agreements Approach Localization and Urban Informality?

Speakers:

William Burke White, Richard Perry Professor and Professor of Law, Penn Law, Inaugural Director, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania

Rose Molokoane, Deputy Vice President, Slum/Shack Dwellers International

Victoria Beard, Associate Professor, Cornell University, Director of Research, Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, World Resources Institute

Patricia Holly Purcell, Head of Partnerships, UN Global Compact Cities Programme

Christopher Williams, Director, New York Liaison Office, UN-Habitat

Moderator: Eugénie Birch, Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research, City & Regional Planning, Wietzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Director, Penn IUR

Discussant: Michael A. Cohen, Professor of International Affairs, The New School

11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Break

11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Where are the Data to Measure Informality? What’s Missing?

Speakers:

Jane Katz, Director of International Affairs and Programs, Habitat for Humanity International

Chandan Deuskar, PhD Candidate, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; formerly World Bank

Ariadna Reyes Sanchez, Postdoctoral Fellow, Global Shifts Program, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania

Joann Vanek, Senior Advisor, Statistics, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)

Moderator: Susan Wachter, Sussman Professor and Professor of Real Estate and Finance, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Director, Penn IUR

Discussant: Erick Guerra, Associate Professor, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania

12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Lunch

Speaker: Martha Chen, Affiliated Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Senior Advisor, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO).

Introduced by: Frederick Steiner, Dean, Paley Professor, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Executive Director, The McHarg Center

1:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Case Studies 1—Programs and Policies Incorporating Informality: From Vending to Property Transactions

Speakers:

James Kwame Mensah, Chief Resilience Officer, Accra Metropolitan Assembly

Kirtana Contractor, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Informal Real Estate in Mumbai)

Anna Rubbo, Senior Researcher, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University

Theresa Williamson, Founding Director, Catalytic Communities

Jessica Arias, MCP/MLA Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Street Vendors in Johannesburg)

Cokie Nanka, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Social Enterprise Incentive Policies, Monrovia and Accra)

Emily Mohohlo, Regional Leader, South African Federation of Poor

Ellyse Murphy, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Mobile Banking in Nairobi)

Moderator: Kimberly Noronha, PhD Candidate, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; formerly Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Discussant: Marja Hoek-Smit, Adjunct Professor of Real Estate, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Break

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Case Studies ll—Programs and Policies Incorporating Informality: Settlements to Education

Speakers:

Maisy Wong, Associate Professor of Real Estate, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Benjamin Palevsky, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, (Motor Bikes in Jakarta)

David Gouverneur, Associate Professor of Practice, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania

Ami Patel, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (Community-Based Organizations in Nairobi, Kenya)

Jane Anyango, Founder and Director, Polycom Development, Nairobi, Kenya

Yonathan Woldemariam, BA student, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, (Informal Employment in Addis Ababa)

Judith Hermanson, President and CEO, IHC International

Zhongyuan Zeng, MCP Student, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania (An Urban Village in Beijing)

Moderator: Sam Geldin, PhD Candidate, City & Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania; formerly Urban Resilience Research Associate, Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network

Discussant:

Alec Ian Gershberg, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Urban Studies, School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

5:00 p.m.

Closing Session