Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics

Chandan Deuskar

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 2022

Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics

Chandan Deuskar

In the series The City in the Twenty-First Century

https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512823103

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this book, Chandan Deuskar explores how politicians in developing democracies provide urban land and services to the urban poor in exchange for their support, demonstrates how this impacts urban growth, and suggests innovative and practical ways in which urban planners can try to be more effective in this political context.

In many rapidly urbanizing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, local politics undermines the effectiveness of urban planning. Politicians have incentives to ignore formal urban plans and sideline planners, and instead provide urban land and services through informal channels in order to cultivate political constituencies (a form of what political scientists refer to as “clientelism”). This results in inequitable and environmentally damaging patterns of urban growth in some of the largest and most rapidly urbanizing countries in the world. The technocratic planning solutions often advocated by governments and international development organizations are not enough. To overcome this problem, urban planners must understand and adapt to the complex politics of urban informality.

In this book, Chandan Deuskar explores how politicians in developing democracies provide urban land and services to the urban poor in exchange for their political support, demonstrates how this impacts urban growth, and suggests innovative and practical ways in which urban planners can try to be more effective in this challenging political context. He draws on literature from multiple disciplines (urban planning, political science, sociology, anthropology, and others), statistical analysis of global data on urbanization, and an in-depth case study of urban Ghana.

Urban planners and international development experts working in the Global South, as well as researchers, educators, and students of global urbanization will find Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics informative and thought-provoking.

Author information

Chandan Deuskar has several years of experience working on urban development in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, with the World Bank and other organizations. He holds degrees in city planning and architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Columbia University. He was raised in Mumbai, India, and currently lives in Washington, DC.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction. The Challenge of Planning the Informal City Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. GLOBAL PATTERNS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
PART II. POLITICS AND PLANNING IN URBAN GHANA Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
PART III. POLITICALLY ADAPTIVE PLANNING Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Conclusion. Recognizing the Play Being Staged Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235

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