In/Formal Marketplaces

A trove of groundbreaking insights into formal-informal linkages in urban transformation

Informality is on the rise like never before: its transformative power can be seen in the new ways we produce, consume and live. Commerce plays a crucial role in these changes, impacting everything from nomadic labor to online services, street food kitchens to pop-up shops. But nowhere is the tension between the formal and the informal more evident than in the struggles of contested marketplaces.
This book provides a deeper understanding of the formal-informal linkages that have given shape to some of the world’s largest and unique open-air marketplaces. Its rich and engaging visual analyses of markets in cities such as Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Dubai and New York reveal the hidden connections between informal trade, neoliberal governance and urban development. These detailed studies follow the global survey of informal markets published in the two-volume set Informal Market Worlds: The Architecture of Economic Pressure (Atlas + Reader).