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Divided Cities: Urban Informality, Exclusion and Violence

Author: Dirk Kruijt
Date: 2008
Size: 11 pages (1.35 MB)

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Summary

What are the consequences of the developing world’s rapid urbanisation and how can these impacts be addressed? This book chapter published by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reviews the expected trends in the rapid growth of cities in the developing world, revealing the emerging political importance of urban poverty. Focusing on informalisation, social exclusion, and violence, it explores the concept of divided cities. Greater attention is needed from donors to alleviate the destructive social pressures building in urban areas.

As of 2008, more than half of the world’s population is living in urban areas. The rapid urbanisation witnessed in the latter half of the twentieth century shows no signs of abating, and evidence suggests that developing countries will account for the bulk of urban growth in the coming years. This mass urbanisation will concentrate all the social pressures of economic development – poverty, social exclusion, informalisation – in the urban setting, creating a potentially destabilising influence on the social, economic and political orders of the developing world.

Latin America represents a clear example of the hazards associated with a mass migration of the rural poor into urban environments. As manifested in the high and persistent inequality in the distribution of wealth, the expansion of slums, and the deterioration of neighbourhoods, rapid urbanisation brings with it many problems:

• Informalisation: The new migrants exist largely within the informal sector, relying on traditional mechanisms, such as ethnicity, religion, and family ties, for survival. This creates a parallel informal society which competes with and undermines formal socio-economic and political institutions.
• Social exclusion: Traditional mechanisms for survival exacerbate existing social exclusionary processes. Cities become divided by social and economic class. The excluded groups form a second-class citizenry, further eroding the underpinnings of democracy.
• Violence: The concentration of poverty into the slum areas of these divided cities creates a breeding ground for violence and criminality. The state pulls out of the area, leaving a power void to be filled by organised criminal elements. The growth of violent gangs and private militias used to maintain order contribute to the creation of parallel governance structures, further alienating residents from the state.

Evidence from a UN-HABITAT study in 2007 suggests that these symptoms are now endemic across cities in Africa and Asia. The degeneration of urban areas is no longer merely a local issue. There is no way of knowing how long order in these cities can be maintained based on the uneasy equilibrium between ‘acceptable’ levels of poverty and exclusion and ‘acceptable’ levels of violence. Given the high rates of urbanisation, destabilisation at the city level would entail serious problems at the national or even regional level in the developing world.

With all the emphasis now being placed on addressing ‘fragile’ and ‘failing’ states, it would be appropriate for donors to look also at ‘failing’ and ‘fragile’ cities, caught in the vortex of these social problems. Policy recommendations for addressing these problems include the following:

• Provide assistance for urban governance and urban management in metropolitan areas
• Improve urban security provisions by investing in ‘civilian’ police forces
• Improve the urban labour climate by promoting labour rights and corporate social responsibility
• Provide targeted support aimed at promoting youth employment and preventing youth crime.

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Source: Kruijt D., 2008, 'Divided Cities: Urban Informality, Exclusion and Violence', in Sourcebook: A Rich Menu for the Poor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Author: Dirk Kruijt , D.Kruijt@uu.nl