Debating the Informal Sector and Urban Planning in Botswana

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the relationship existing between the state and the informal sector in Botswana. Despite embracing global calls for inclusive human settlements, the relationship between the state and the informal sector in Botswana equivocates between hostility and tacit recognition. This ambiguity is explained in terms of two overlapping stances, namely, the elitist and exclusionist natures of the country's settlement planning legislation. Botswana's settlement planning legislation plays a significant role in the creation of the informal sector, yet the existence of this same sector would not be openly embraced. Relying on the concept of human rights and justice implied in calls such as “just cities,” “right to the city,” and “sustainable livelihoods,” this chapter makes a case for coproduction of interventions with a view to establishing inclusive and sustainable human settlements that recognize the unavoidable nature of the informal sector.