Mapping Legalities Urbanisation, Law and Informal Work

Mapping Legalities: Law, Urbanisation, and Informal Work examines the complexities of how law governs urban work environments, especially for informal workers. Published in July 2024, the book explores the challenges that workers in informal employment face in navigating legal systems that often regulate the public spaces they rely on for their livelihoods. These spaces are critical for workers in sectors such as street vending, gig economy work, and waste picking.

The book brings together 28 authors and covers 15 global jurisdictions, highlighting the ways in which legal frameworks often restrict or fail to support informal workers. It challenges the idea that the law is neutral, showing how legal governance shapes opportunities for these workers and how it manifests in urban spaces.  

The authors advocate for reforms to create more flexible and inclusive legal frameworks, ensure that workers are involved in policymaking, and invest in infrastructure that supports the workers' needs.

The book also highlights successful examples of worker advocacy, inclusive urban planning, and legal empowerment strategies. It ultimately aims to reshape legal governance to ensure spatial justice for informal workers, contributing to a broader understanding of how laws and urban spaces intersect in shaping the livelihoods of those in the informal economy.

Abstract based on original source.