66 neglect of the poor and their economic advancement. The informal sector creates an advantage for those otherwise unemployed, therefore, this sector should not be considered as an unregulated burden but rather as an economic catchment area advantageous to its users. Researchers who subscribe to this school of thought also outline the notion that formal enterprises create unfair competition for informal enterprises. The argument lies around the initiative to establish a system where formal and informal enterprises are not incorporated within the same regulatory environment. The intention behind this is to increase the spatial efficiency to improve the viability of the operations, keep costs reasonable, maintain a tax base and limit unfair competition (Wangwe and Mmari, 2013). The different descriptions of the informal sector by the different researchers subscribing to the different paradigms gives rise to the heterogeneity of the economy. Despite this, there are still gaps in clarity and understanding of the economy as a whole due to its complexity and the limitations of each paradigm.
67 the urban environment (Delius, 2017). Other influential elements of this shift are technological innovations in the agricultural sector that replace the need for human labour, and the effects of climate change (Sassen, 2003). These major elements have affected agricultural production negatively, decreasing labour competiveness in the agricultural sector and resulting in job losses. The transition and the migration into cities inevitably cause overcrowding and the urban environment becomes increasingly informal, especially in the dark areas of the city. It is very difficult to determine just how large the informal sector actually is, despite numerous attempts to do so.
The informal economy in developing countries, particularly African countries, has become a beacon of hope for employment for the majority of the unemployed. This is based on people and the states’ belief that the economy will grow sufficiently with modern industrial developments and that jobs will become available to them in the cities (Becker, 2004). The poor and unemployed thus migrate to urban areas to enter the economy in numbers and end up entering the informal economy, despite the fact that the spatial aspects of the urban environment are ill equipped to deal with their influx. Continuing migration and rising unemployment rates mean that the informal markets are going to remain as permanent fixtures in the urban areas of both developing and developed countries. In closing, the topic of informal employment and the informal economy is widely interpreted as an ‘issue’ for the privileged, but a ‘survival strategy’ for the underprivileged and poor (Becker, 2004).
3.3.2. Transition of operational systems: from a subsistence sector to a capitalist sector
Information from the urban areas of Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa shows that the issue of the informal economy persists and has become an undeniable truth and challenge. There is a high rate of non-agricultural employment ranging from 45-85 per cent in the urban informal markets of these regions (Becker, 2004, p. 6). This high rate is seen because the agricultural sector is being drained of human labour as explained above and people can most often only find work that is non-agricultural in nature. These non-agricultural informal activities sustain the unemployed and the employed poor, as they generate a higher income from their trading than they would have earned as wages in formal employment.
These activities also comprise of old and new urban jobs, established by the unskilled and uneducated, and these jobs all contribute to the regions’ GDP/GNP (Mwasinga, 2013). On a global level the informal economy is increasing and the phenomenon has become a norm for the poor and their livelihoods. Towns and cities are now experiencing the same emergence of informal activities. The problem is that these informal activities interrupt globalisation
68 objectives for a more fluid trading system, designed to improve spatial categorisations (National Planning Commission, 2015).
Existing debates acknowledge the basic needs which are a necessity for the poor’s social and economic livelihoods. They identify the moral realities of the informal economy’s operational patterns. They also look at summarised international issues that affect the urban space, local systems and production; pointing out key issues which influence the growth patterns of the informal sector regardless of the existing spatial planning. Key issues generally affect women more than men as women dominate the informal space (UN Habitat, 2004; Chen, 2001: 4-5). Becker (2004: 18) speaks on street vending becoming one of the largest categories of informal work accommodating women, especially in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. This is basically due to the point that there are increasing numbers of women who are heads of their households and have dependents. The majority of the migrants are women and children and migrants generally have difficulty entering for entry into formal employment because they are uneducated and unskilled. The alternative for them is to enter the informal market so that they can earn a living.
3.3.3. Investments into the urban environment
Debates also encompass technical and telecommunications investments into the urban environment to transform the urban form, but these investments seldom benefit informal workers. Investments are generally directed at higher tier capitalist operators in keeping with globalisation ideology, the majority of whom lie within the formal sector. Globalisation attempts to use hyper mobility as a means of generating profit. Sassen (2003) is of the view that the migration patterns are evidence of structural adjustment programmes (of the 1980s and 1990s) aimed at improving countries’ social and economic welfare, where citizens are encouraged to migrate into other, better urban environments for the chance of a better life.
Investments that attempt to contribute to the growth of the informal sector in developing countries are often hindered by various exploitative practices, such as exposure to foreign goods, privatisation and public sector restructuring.
The lack of policy formulation for the informal sector and the lack of advocacy support for spatial planning affect the process of investment control and management in achieving their intended goal of growth in the sector. Skinner (2008) outlines that this causes the informal economy to decrease further in efficiency, control, management and independence as the population increases and fewer investments are made. The response of the transition with regards to investment also affects the formal economy by minimising the employment capacity within the formal economy. Some researchers like Landau (2010) allude that spatial
69 planning inequalities are major issues that result from exclusive and exploitative development initiatives. Investments and capital within the urban form are also unequally distributed and utilised (Ndabeni, 2016).
Lacking investment and increased rates of international migration further results in political crises (Metcalfe-Hough, 2015). Increases in voluntary migration or forced migrations are seen in African countries whose cities lack investments and capital as a result of political instability. This is common in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. In these countries these events force citizens to enter the informal market as a means of earning an income, even though there is little to gain from the marketplace (Landau, 2010).
Governments are constantly attempting to solve the problem of capital transactions and migration patterns, but Lucas (2015) asserts that the problem is difficult to solve. Various initiatives led by governments to secure and stabilise investments are aimed at dealing with informal operators’ activities. These initiatives include evictions (as in the case of Zimbabwe’s ‘Operation Murambatsvina’) and permit requirements to create barriers to trading. Another strategy is the integration of informal vendors into urban plans, such as in Bhubaneshwar in India where vendors have been incorporated into spatial planning frameworks (Kalyani, Hod and Reader, 2016). National governments are, however, still concerned with the question of how to adequately incorporate the informal market into the urban fabric.
3.4. URBANISATION AND A CONTINUOUS CHANGE IN URBAN DESCRIPTION