Informality and the question of Legitimacy Part 1

The impressions of the first days and the discussions so far touch certain topics with very problematic discourses. When it comes to the informal city and its relation to formality, key concepts of equity, legitimacy, and tolerance gain a pivotal role in discussing the past and present conditions but also in formulating any future vision. An informal life seems less than before (if it indeed has ever been motivated by freedom) subject of a self-conscious expression or political nature but a process stemming out of necessity. Still informality as a surviving strategy has to answer to its legitimacy to certain extent. As formal provision is causal to informal service and production circles (houses, economy, services, etc.) society at large has tendency to take tolerant stances towards the informal city. But there is also another side to it Informal lives sometimes follow the logic of profit maximisation or is aimed to accelerate socio-economic accession. Particular problematic I trust are socio-economic layers of the population informal and formal spheres overlap. The lower middle class or higher strata of the poor could represent dimensions of possible frictions. If a household gains greater wealth by choosing (!) for informality the question of legitimacy arises for the comparable households paying taxes and higher charges by their formal lives. Regularization schemes must have been carefully applied. So far walking some areas of favelas indicated that their – if boldy put – has been partly wealth accumulation as well on the cost of the large urban community (and the tax payers)
Without the intention to elaborate on an argument my intention was to give another illustration that informality escapes any black white distinction. Informality is the safety net for the most marginal population groups but at the same time a source of market-distorted competition for some on the costs of others, with the open end of illegal and illicit practices, harming society at large.