ABSTRACT

This paper explores how the informal economy is enhancing urban sustainability in the context of global South urbanism. It uses evidence collected through ethnographic methods from Norton – a small Zimbabwean town to demonstrate how the informal economy is driving sustainable urbanism in its small ways in the absence of a functional formal economy in the town. While it acknowledges sustainable concerns around informal urbanisation, the paper argues that the sector can be an asset that can be harnessed to advance the sustainable urbanisation agenda. The study argues that some of the sector’s activities are playing a big role in; natural environment stewardship, skills development, promotion of social cohesion, indigenous knowledge systems and Ubuntu as well as contributing towards economic development. The paper argues for city and national governments to put more efforts to harness these seemingly small contributions in the quest to build more sustainable cities.

摘要

本文探讨了在全球南方都市主义背景下，非正规经济如何提高城市可持续性。它使用通过来自津巴布韦小镇诺顿（Norton）的民族志方法收集的证据来展示在该镇缺乏功能性正规经济的情况下，非正规经济如何以小规模推动可持续城市化。虽然它承认对非正规城市化的可持续担忧，但该论文认为，该部门可以成为一种资产，可以用来推进可持续城市化议程。该研究认为，该部门的一些活动在其中发挥了重要作用；自然环境管理、技能发展、促进社会凝聚力、本土知识系统和Ubuntu以及为经济发展做出贡献。该论文主张，城市和国家政府应更加努力利用这些看似微不足道的贡献，以寻求建设更可持续的城市。