Informality Revisited

Informality Revisited offers an overview of recent debates about Latin American government programmes for the formalisation of informal settlements and housing provision in a neo-liberal context. Contributions from Latin American researchers analyse the contradictions in government actions and evaluate the consequences for urban poverty.

• Brings together nine leading Latin American researchers in the field of land and housing policy to address the question of informal urban development, particularly in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru
• Highlights the interrelationships between the production of formal and informal urban development and demonstrates how economic and legal reforms intended to make the market more effective and profitable have affected the production of urban space
• Explores how Latin American governments are applying neo-liberal principles to land and housing policies
• Investigates the implications of government actions for the production and commodification of urban land as well as the formalisation of property rights and provision of housing for the urban poor 
• Contributors draw on a wide range of quantitative and qualitative data, including census results and previously unpublished official statistics