Employment and Poverty during Economic Restructuring: The Case of Bogotá, Colombia

Gilbert, Alan

doi:10.1080/0042098975727

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Informal workers faced challenges including declining income and intense competition in a fl ooded market, as was noted earlier in this journal (Gilbert, 1997). From 1998 to 1999, Colombia dipped into the worst recession in 70 years, with official unemployment at 20 per cent.…”

Section: The Development Of Apolitical and Atomistic Vendor Unionsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Informal Cities and the Contestation of Public Space: The Case of Bogotá's Street Vendors, 1988—2003

2008

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The resurgence of informal street trading poses serious challenges for local officials responsible for the maintenance of public space. This article contextualises the tension between public space recuperation and informality, providing a detailed case study of Bogotá, Colombia (population 7.6 million). From 1988 to 2003, Bogotá's mayors implemented one of the most ambitious public space campaigns in Latin America. The `tipping-points' behind Bogotá's transition are illuminated with emphasis on the introduction of free mayoral elections and the enervation of informal vendor unions. Using a cohort panel design, this research also examines the working conditions and occupational hazards faced by vendors both before and after relocation to government-built markets. It reveals how formalised vendors experienced declining income levels, but improved working conditions. The final section examines public policy implications and the extent to which Bogotá's experience follows traditional models of public space planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Section: The Development Of Apolitical and Atomistic Vendor Unionsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Informal Cities and the Contestation of Public Space: The Case of Bogotá's Street Vendors, 1988—2003

2008

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“…In Latin America, a similar economic crisis in the 1980s largely led to an increase in the urban informal sector, although there was also a growth of open employment as was the case in Indonesia (Aguilar, 1997;Latapi & de la Rocha, 1995;McGee, 1997;Portes, 1989). In a similar manner, the informal sector grew rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa as a consequence of the ongoing economic crisis and structural adjustment programs (Gilbert, 1997;Riddell, 1997). Of course, our argument does not predict what will happen to the labour force as societies undergo economic recovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Labour Market Adjustment in the Time of Krismon: Changes in Employment Structure in Indonesia, 1997–98

McGee

Firman

2000

Singap J Trop Geogr

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This study examines the labour market outcomes of the recent economic crisis (krismon) in Indonesia, focusing on the change of employment structure between 1997 and 1998. Indonesia's labour market has been extremely flexible in adjusting itself during the crisis. Labour has moved from "modern" economic sectors to agricultural and "informal" sectors, reflecting the strategy of poor households to cope with the hardship. While the impact of the economic crisis on the majority of male workers has been severe, female labourers have become increasingly involved in several jobs to enable the survival of their families.

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“…China's new urban poverty under market transition or the so-called poverty of transition is actually rooted in the disjuncture between the newly built market system and the socialist system (Wu 2004). If the issue of urban poverty is not sufficiently addressed, Chinese cities will move in the direction of the highly segregated cities of Latin American (Gilbert 1997), with a large informal sector living in slums and ghettoes.…”

Section: Background and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Profiling Urban Poverty in a Chinese City, the Case of Nanjing

He¹,

Webster

et al. 2008

Appl. Spatial Analysis

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We report on a large-scale household survey conducted in the city of Nanjing, in 2005, which forms a preliminary study for a major ESRC/DFID funded investigation into urban poverty and property rights changes in China. To capture an initial portrait of the urban poor, the Nanjing study focuses on the most essential elements of their daily lives, i.e. demographic characteristics, access to social entitlements, housing conditions, neighbourhood interactions and social networks. It is the first study to comprehensively examine the morphology of urban poverty at the city scale. Urban Hukou (urban citizen rights) households with no unemployed member are found to be better off than working rural migrants. Urban Hukou households with at least one unemployed member have a similar poverty incidence to rural migrants; the latter suffering from a series of interrelated disadvantages. There are distinct groups of urban poor, each being affected by a particular set of impoverishing factors. Poor urban-registered households are typically characterised by unfavourable personal or household characteristics, such as a large number of dependent household members and prior employment in a state owned enterprise. The impoverishment of rural migrants is largely connected with institutional discrimination such as lack of rights to social security benefits and unfavourable employment opportunities.

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Employment and Poverty during Economic Restructuring: The Case of Bogotá, Colombia

Cited by 15 publications

References 26 publications

Informal Cities and the Contestation of Public Space: The Case of Bogotá's Street Vendors, 1988—2003

Informal Cities and the Contestation of Public Space: The Case of Bogotá's Street Vendors, 1988—2003

Labour Market Adjustment in the Time of Krismon: Changes in Employment Structure in Indonesia, 1997–98

Profiling Urban Poverty in a Chinese City, the Case of Nanjing

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