Covid-19 and Informal Workers in Asian Cities: Impact, Response, and Implications for Urban Recovery

As COVID-19 took hold across local and international borders in 2020 and 2021, over 1.6 billion informal workers were estimated to have been adversely impacted by mobility restrictions and other ’lockdown’ measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. In the Global South, the pandemic has severely affected the sprawling megacities in Southeast and South Asia that have been driving urbanisation, and where there is a very high concentration of informal workers. This volume examines how informal workers were affected by the responses to the pandemic in five Asian megacities: Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hyderabad (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines).

Gathering voices and experiences from across these subregions, this book engages with issues surrounding state measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters present the gaps and lessons learned in addressing the needs of informal workers. They also shed light on grassroots solidarity initiatives, civic practices, and social networks that have cushioned the devastating effects of the crisis. The book ends with a discussion on the implications of identified state measures and citizen-led responses for (post) pandemic planning and urban governance in Asian cities in an age of recovery.

Redento B. Recio, PhD is a Research Fellow at the Informal Urbanism (InfUr) Research Hub of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning (University of Melbourne).

Kazi Nazrul Fattah, PhD is an urban sociologist based at Melbourne Centre for Cities, the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Nausheen H. Anwar, PhD is the Director of Karachi Urban Lab & Professor City & Regional Planning, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi.

Noman Ahmed, PhD is currently working as Professor and Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Management Sciences at NED University.

Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, PhD is Associate Professor in Urban Planning and Assistant Dean, Diversity and Inclusion.

Michele Acuto, PhD is Director of the Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne, where he is also Professor of urban politics and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning.

Ian Jayson Hecita is an Assistant Professorial Lecturer of Political Science and Development Studies at De La Salle University, Philippines.

Shiva Nouri is a PhD candidate in Urban Planning at the Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne.