On handling urban informality in southern Africa

In this article I reconsider the handling of urban informality by urban planning and management systems in southern Africa. I argue that authorities have a fetish about formality and that this is fuelled by an obsession with urban modernity. I stress that the desired city, largely inspired by Western notions of modernity, has not been and cannot be realized. Using illustrative cases of top–down interventions, I highlight and interrogate three strategies that authorities have deployed to handle informality in an effort to create or defend the modern city. I suggest that the fetish is built upon a desire for an urban modernity based on a concept of formal order that the authorities believe cannot coexist with the “disorder” and spatial “unruliness” of informality. I question the authorities' conviction that informality is an abomination that needs to be “converted”, dislocated or annihilated. I conclude that the very configuration of urban governance and socio-economic systems in the region, like the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, renders informality inevitable and its eradication impossible

Toronto and São Paulo: Cities and International Diplomacy

With globalization, the largest cities in the world have been growing in economic importance. And their local powers have often been enhanced as a result of decentralization reforms over the past two decades. In this context, cities—and particularly their mayors—have been reaching out to other cities and jurisdictions to pursue a variety of goals. One term for this process is “paradiplomacy,” but most of the literature on the subject gives little attention to the local political dynamics behind these initiatives. In this article, we explore these local dynamics through a comparison of two major cities, Toronto, Canada, and São Paulo, Brazil. The cases show that external initiatives, both in scope and direction, vary according to the political strategies of the elected mayors. These strategies are strongly affected by the local context and by the political logic of mayoral leadership

Big City Mayors: Still Avatars of Local Politics?

With globalization and the decline of nation states, cities have become more important economically and politically around the world. As this trend has established itself, city leaders – and particularly their elected mayors – have assumed greater importance as political actors. In important respects they are avatars of local politics. This significance is visible in the local context, but more city mayors are operating at the local, national and international levels. The paper looks at the local political motivations for this trend, focusing on two factors: local constituency influences, and attempts to strengthen important local policy directions. Given the wider scope of elected mayors in a more globalized world, what are the implications for our understanding of local politics

Sustainable cities : urbanization and the environment in international perspective

Originally presented at a colloquium on "Human Settlements and Sustainable Development", Toronto, June 1990Due to copyright restrictions, this item cannot be share

Big City Mayors: Still Avatars of Local Politics?

With globalization and the decline of nation states, cities have become more important economically and politically around the world. As this trend has established itself, city leaders – and particularly their elected mayors – have assumed greater importance as political actors. In important respects they are avatars of local politics. This significance is visible in the local context, but more city mayors are operating at the local, national and international levels. The paper looks at the local political motivations for this trend, focusing on two factors: local constituency influences, and attempts to strengthen important local policy directions. Given the wider scope of elected mayors in a more globalized world, what are the implications for our understanding of local politics