Informality and Equitable Urban Resilience

This insights brief by the Southern African Resilience Academy (SARA) examines the role of urban informality in building equitable resilience in cities across southern Africa and the Global South. It argues that while informality is often invisible or viewed as a challenge, it provides critical services, livelihoods, and innovation that can enhance urban resilience if harnessed through inclusive governance and partnerships.

• African cities are experiencing rapid urbanization and climate change pressures, with the United Nations projecting that 60% of Africa's population will live in cities by 2030. Climate change is expected to create up to 40 million climate migrants in sub-Saharan Africa under a 1.7°C warming scenario, a number that could more than double if warming reaches 2.5°C.
• Urban informality manifests in three primary ways: unplanned and unserviced human settlements lacking land tenure; unregistered and unincorporated economic activities lacking social protection; and social interaction and governance processes that are unrecognized or considered illegitimate by government agencies.
• Informal systems often provide essential services and support where formal systems fail. Examples include informal waste pickers who recycle up to 90% of post-consumer plastics and packaging in South Africa, and community-led responses like Cape Town's Community Action Networks (CANs), which used social media to coordinate food and medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To effectively integrate informality into resilience planning, the brief recommends using 'bridging organizations'—such as NGOs, academic institutions, or community leaders—who possess legitimacy in both formal and informal systems to mediate sustainable solutions.
• The brief emphasizes that the benefits and burdens of informality are not shared equitably, and those in informal spaces are most at risk. It highlights the Gungano Urban Poor Loan Fund in Harare, Zimbabwe, as an innovative finance mechanism that provides flexible funding to help informal settlement residents cope with climate shocks and COVID-19.
• City governments are encouraged to create inclusive, participatory spaces—such as multi-stakeholder planning forums or participatory visioning processes—to test innovative collaborations with diverse stakeholders, including the private sector and community representatives.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (2023). Informality and Equitable Urban Resilience. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/insights-brief.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. Informality and Equitable Urban Resilience. 2023. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/insights-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=Informality and Equitable Urban Resilience |date=December 2023 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/insights-brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnership2023informality, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{Informality and Equitable Urban Resilience}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/insights-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }