Legal - illegal / formal - informal

"8. Informality
Informality is a term that carries different meanings in different cities, and as such it requires further clarification. Various words in different context refer to informal phenomena: spontaneous, non-regulated, illegal, clandestine…

There are many kinds of informal processes (spatial, economic, social etc) and they can be formalised, tolerated, implicitly promoted or fought. There are informal processes from the top as well as bottom-up and there are informal processes that are widespread or exclusive (as a practice of particular groups). Informality may also be considered as a neoliberal tactic since it keeps people in a state of uncertainty (and thus of eminent exploitation and control) while privileging others.

Informal processes do not occur in isolation to regulated/formal processes. They are parallel, intertwined processed bringing together different spaces, economies people. The role of the state is always very significant/central in these relationships by sustaining a ‘state of exception’ and defining the limits of legality and regulation. Informal practices can be seen both as a survival practice of deprived people allowing them to access income, housing etc and on the other side as powerful mechanisms of control and exploitation.

It is clear that informal practices (on a spatial or economic level) are not the exclusive ‘privilege’ of the poor. Middle class and elite informality can be found in various settings (not only third world ones as a. Roy has showed), although at that case we might also characterise it as corruption".

Definition in the categories (august 2012):'

Informal urbanization (15) 'urbanization grown outside the formal regulated masterplanning (e.g. slum, shanty-town or unregulated private urbanisations). Although a variety of different processes of informal urbanization exist in different historical and geographical contexts, it is often typified by illegal occupation of land, setting up of makeshift constructions and lack of basic public utilities like water supply, drains, electricity etc. Informal urbanization usually takes place where large sections of the people are excluded from the mainstream economy and find neither work nor shelter, but it is also practiced by the elites operating in ‘special tolerated regimes’. Informal urban processes lie on the borderline between legal, illegal; legitimate, illegitimate; authorized, unauthorized. This border is arbitrary and ever-shifting and is a site of power relations, state power and sometimes violence. Indicative indicators: 1. Data: about being outside the building regulations, urban plans or planning laws (lack of planning permission,); 2. observations on the ground: bad building conditions like risk of  flooding, pollution, landslide, proximity to hazardous site, lack of public infrastructure, services, facilities, self-building, variety)."