ESF/N-AERUS International Workshop Leuven and Brussels, Belgium, 23-26 May 2001 COPING WITH INFORMALITY AND ILLEGALITY IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN DEVELOPING CITIES

COPING WITH INFORMALITY AND ILLEGALITY IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN DEVELOPING CITIES ESF/N-AERUS Annual Workshop 23-26 May 2001 Leuven, PGCHS-K.U.Leuven Brussels, La Cambre Organized with the support of the European Science Foundation (ESF) by: The Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanization in the South (ESF/N-AERUS). Organizers: Han Verschure (Convenor, PGCHS-K.U.Leuven), Marc Gossé (Convenor, La Cambre-Brussels), Forbes Davidson (Convenor, IHS-Rotterdam), Alain Durand-Lasserve (ESF Network Coordinator), Michael Mattingly (N-AERUS Co-co-ordinator), Liz Riley (N-AERUS Co-Coordinator). The 1999 Venice ESF N-Aerus International Workshop highlighted the concepts and paradigms of urban management in developing countries. During the 2000 Geneva ESF N-Aerus International Workshop, the question was debated of cities of the South: sustainable for whom ? The 2001 Leuven-Brussels ESF N-Aerus International Workshop will analyse the foundations, the content and the characteristics of public policies with regard to informality and illegality in human settlements. For the last three decades - that is to say since the expansion of 'irregular' settlements has been perceived as a lasting structural phenomenon - the debate on housing policy insistently refers to the question of the informality and illegality of human settlements, without reaching any satisfying solution. For a long time it appeared that, in order to get rid of this problem, it would have been sufficient to combine measures of repression of illegal occupations, of prevention, of tenure regularisation and of large-scale land delivery to the poor. Because informality and illegality are usually understood to be the result of processes, basing an approach on one or the other does not take into account the cultural and physical dimensions of urban form, which is essential to evaluate the relevance of these measures. In any event, the results have been limited and disappointing. In many developing cities, the map of illegality - corresponding to a large extent to that of poverty - indicates a steady sprawling of the phenomenon, particularly at the periphery of cities, and this in spite of a slackening of their demographic growth and the emergence of governments which are more sensitive to the aspirations of civil society. The question of the dealing with informality and illegality related to land and planningremains to be answered: how can city authorities cope with informality and illegality in urban settlements and housing that accommodate the majority of the population of cities in developing countries? In order to tackle this issue it is necessary to question the actual nature of this informality and illegality. The general issue of informality (of activities, employment, markets, neighbourhoods, settlements, housing) has given rise to a great deal of literature, at least during the last three decades. Regarding urban management, it has produced various adjustments and compromises. This does not apply to illegality, as if it posed a series of politically embarrassing problems which city authorities are helpless to address, such as the unequal access to resources, exclusion and repression. A separate call for papers to be discussed in this Workshop has been made to all N-AERUS members. THE ESF N-AERUS workshops series Concepts and paradigms of urban management in the context of developing countries (Venice, 1999); Cities of the South: sustainable for whom? (Geneva, 2000); Coping with informality and illegality in human settlements (Leuven and Brussels 2001).

CALL FOR PAPERS ISSUES FOR DEBATE REPORTS FROM WORKING GROUPS WORKSHOP PAPERS ORGANISATION OF THE WORKSHOP CONTACTS

N-AERUS: Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South
http://www.naerus.net