Systematic Review of Informal Urban Economies

Mpendulo Harold Thulare,Sifiso Xulu,Inocent Moyo

doi:10.3390/su132011414

Mpendulo Harold Thulare, Sifiso Xulu + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011414

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Abstract

Amid globalization and market liberalization, urban informality has continued to grow in leaps and bounds in many parts of the world. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of studies conducted on urban economic informality at various geopolitical contexts to provide an update on the current state of knowledge in the urban informal economy-related research. A total number of 290 studies were sourced from various academic sources; however, a total number of 166 research papers satisfied the requirements of this review paper. The findings of this paper show that research on the urban informal economy has grown from 2000 to 2021, which is a 22-year period in which this review paper was based. The main themes of urban economic informality research depict it as a multifaceted system that is constituted by inputs, processes and outputs that have linkages with the formal economy. Based on these findings, it is recommended that more research should focus on how to integrate research on urban economic informality into the broader agenda of sustainable development.

Highlights

The phenomenon of urban informalities is a global reality that manifests both in the cities of the developed and developing countries [1,2]
The informal sector refers to production and employment that occurs in unregulated or unregistered enterprises, while informal employment refers to any form of employment which is without social and legal protection, and lastly, informal economy refers to all informal economic units, informal economic activities, and informal workers [4]
This review aims to provide an update on the current state of knowledge in the urban informal economy

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of urban informalities is a global reality that manifests both in the cities of the developed and developing countries [1,2]. There are other concepts which are used interchangeably to describe urban informality; these terms are the informal sector, informal economy, and informal employment, but these concepts hold different meanings. For the purposes of this paper, the focus is on Urban Economic. The concept of UEI is used synonymously to the urban informal economy and it should be understood that these have similar meanings and connotations. Urban economic informality is characterized by informal economic activities that are undertaken for the purposes of earning a living for survival, profit, or a combination of the former and latter; these economic activities may not satisfy laws in relation to but not limited to production and distribution regulations [5,6]

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