Inclusive Cities for the Urban Working Poor - Seminar by Matha Chen
A seminar led by Martha Chen, co-founder of the WIEGO and an affiliated professor at Harvard University. In the global South, more than half of all urban workers are informally employed, as much as 80 percent in some cities. Yet most urban planners, designers, and policy makers do not factor the livelihood needs and concerns of the informal workforce into their plans, designs and policies. And many city governments and local officials are hostile to informal workers and their livelihood activities – stigmatizing and penalizing them. This impasse between the reality of informal work and the mindsets, policies and practices of dominant urban actors needs to be overcome – especially if cities seek to reduce poverty and inequality and otherwise promote the SDG/2030 agenda.