Motivation

Our role is to work with urban informal workers who operate from public spaces and constitute a major sector of the informal economy in South Africa.

Thailand

Globally the informal economy is growing exponentially, and its role is becoming more and more important. From a development perspective, informal economic activities are a significant source of livelihood for poor workers that support large numbers of dependents, especially the disproportionate number of women that have been found to predominate in this sector.  From a planning perspective, informal workers provide the urban poor with goods and services in appropriate quantities and forms, and at times of the day, and in parts of the city, that contribute to the functioning of cities. Lastly, from an economic perspective, although individual incomes are often low, these activities cumulatively contribute significantly to local economies (gross geographic product).

In spite of all this, the informal sector remains just that, ‘informal’, and therefore largely excluded from mainstream processes; in terms of allocation of budgets for infrastructure, government planning, economic development, social support and etc. Part of the conundrum is that in many instances urban informal workers operate in the (often contested) public domain or on the margins, with little or no acknowledged ‘claim’ to the space that they occupy.

India

Ironically the impact of the informal economy on the ‘formal’ cities’ infrastructure and urban management is impossible to ignore. Strategies to eliminate or control the informal (often illegal) activities, invariably do not work without associated disproportionate effort being spent on enforcement, and with adverse consequences for the economic survival of urban informal workers and for the cities themselves.

Asiye eTafuleni strives for a balanced approach through thoroughly consultative and participative processes in the provision of support for urban informal workers, while enhancing the public domain through facilitating better urban management; and thus leading to an improved urban experience for all.