In many African cities, informal food traders sell everything from fresh produce to fried chicken feet at affordable prices to people who need the food most. Luke Metelerkamp is convinced: informal trading is hunger-proofing Africa's cities, arguably providing the continent's largest nutritional safety net.
The world today needs solutions, to eradicate poverty in a holistic and sustainable manner. They lie in better technology, affordable finance, and induced market linkages. All these are factors that can be incentivised through city governments, argue Huda Jaffer and Nirmita Chandrashekar, emphasising that the poor should be part of the solution and not the problem.
"The City We Need Now!" (TCWNN) is a campaign by UN Habitat that is inclusive and promotes gender equality. Prof. Analia Pastran, Co-Chair of the Professionals Group and Member of the Steering Committee of the UN Habitat’ World Urban Campaign, on the importance of female professional alliances.
Anna Walnycki and Alice Sverdlik present the new framework co-created by the IIED's Human Settlements Groups and key urban stakeholders.
How do women get to work when there is no public transport they can safely use? Much too often, they simply do not. Sahar Aloul on what needs to change in Jordan's transport policies.
Amman's infrastructure is not accessible to everyone. This has far-reaching consequences for people with disabilities – their everyday lives, their education, and their employment. Asia Yaghi analyses challenges and options.
The informal economy contributes significantly to the wealth of many cities worldwide, but local legislators rarely recognise the rights of informal workers to use public space. Tania Espinosa Sánchez from WIEGO shares critical insights from Ciudad de México.
Construction raw materials are a source for local value addition – if their potential is fully tapped. The sector project "Extractives and Development" of the “The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources" (BGR) presents its research results – and emphasises the need to pay special attention to labour rights and environmental protection.
Mexican cities feature an array of innovative market formats, redefining producer-consumer relationships while creating interactive, public spaces at the same time. Jorge Javier and Dr Cecilia Tortajada on the reinvention of old institutions.
Analyses of Ghana's e-waste import tend to focus on the dangerous effects of its informal processing. Richard Grant and Martin Oteng-Ababio employ the concept of urban mining to take a more differentiating look at a thriving informal economy.
Cities are experienced differently by their residents due to a multitude of factors. Analysing several neighbourhoods in Egypt's Greater Cairo Region, Professors Diane Singerman and Danielle Higgins call for an intersectional approach that considers gender, employment status, and geography when trying to understand causes of urban inequality.
Migrant workers in cities often experience exclusion and discrimination. Hoang Phuong Thao explains the particular situation of women migrant workers in Vietnam, and why SDG implementation is a great tool for integrating disadvantaged groups into the urban development process.
When opening creative spaces, it is not enough to simply designate a space and add tools and technology, says Roman Vydro, co-Founder of Garage Hub, a community workshop in Kharkiv, Ukraine. What is way more important, is to include a variety of people and let their input create an entire creative ecosystem.
Across Latin America, software developers are urgently needed. Laboratoria, an organisation launched in Lima, Peru, focusses on meeting this demand – and, at the same time, opens urban labour markets for women.
"LivelyHoods" forges economic opportunities for youth and women in Kenyan slums – while at the same time promoting clean energy. What are the project's success factors and what challenges does it face?
