The Right to the City in the ABSTRACT Informal Sector: Claiming In the developing world, the vast majority of Rights or Gaining Access urban poor have been marginalized from their in Kampala, Uganda? cities, denying them what Henri Lefebvre called the right to the city . In response to this denial, many turn to the informal sector as a means to Matthew F. Pietrus claim access to space and to the economy . How- Department of Geography ever, using interviews from citizens participat- DePaul University ing in the informal sector in Kampala, Uganda, Chicago, IL 60614 this paper argues that while the informal sec- E-mail: [email protected] tor provides access to socioeconomic benefits (which is positive), it cannot guarantee them as rights because all activity taking place within it is unprotected and therefore easily and often challenged . This essay then argues that the informal sector cannot and does not confer the right to the city . Finally, it advances that those participating in the informal sector can only achieve the right to the city if they are 1) able to claim rights to shelter and to the economy and 2) able to successfully challenge laws that infringe upon their pursuit of self- improvement . Key Words: right to the city, informality, rights, urban development

INTRODUCTION

Before the warm, equatorial sun peaks and dries the red dirt road, a shoe vendor lays out his blue tarp, carefully displaying an immacu- late array of used and counterfeit shoes . Con- sidering the sandstorm of dust vehicles kick up as they speed by, the shoes gleam surprisingly brightly; an obvious image of constant care . Alongside the dozens of other vendors and scantily built shacks which boast permanent layers of amber dust, he continues meticu- lously aligning his goods . Yet these details are crucial when hawking shoes is the only source of income . Maintaining the cleanliness of goods can make the difference between a day when he earns enough money to feed himself and his family and a day when he does not . When he places his last pair of shoes, he sits above a stagnant drainage ditch polluted

The Geographical Bulletin 56: 3-26 3 ©2014 by Gamma Theta Upsilon Matthew F. Pietrus by green sludge and debris, waiting for the return to property on which they squat . scarce customer that can afford fake Nikes Therefore they have no legal claim to their after buying food for their family . But today own private space . “In slum areas like this,” that customer will not come . Even before carpenters Charles and Thomas informed me, this vendor was setting up, he was unknow- “you find people in the lower level will come ingly being watched by a city policeman, and settle there, and the moment they try easily disguised amid the densely urbanized and build a house…the government comes streets of Kampala, Uganda’s capital . As the and disorganizes [them] by pushing [them] policeman approaches the shoe vendor, an away ”. Without lawful claims to a place or all-too-familiar interaction begins . The city access to a source of livelihood, Kampala is official informs the vendor that he is ille- certainly not a city to which citizens living gally selling his goods and confiscates all of in informality belong . They do not have that his shoes . Then, the vendor pleads with the right . policeman in order to regain his only source In a city like Kampala, where 60 to 85 of livelihood, and finally offers him a bribe percent of the population lives in informal which will hopefully prove sufficient . Indeed, settlements (Giddings 2009, 11; Mukiibi as Isaac, the shoe vendor along Kafumbe 2011; UN-HABITAT 2007, 10), factors Mukasa Road told me after describing this that deny the lower class the right to the city event, “Whatever money I make, it is just for undeniably marginalize the vast majority of protection; it is not for prosperity ”. the city’s population (Fig . 1) . The legacy of a Yet vulnerability does not end at economic complex land tenure system, poverty, and un- activity . When many return home, they derdevelopment deny these citizens the right to space while corruption, poverty, political

Figure 1 . Population of Kampala . Sources: Giddings 2009; UBOS 2002; UBOS 2014; Giddings 2009 (85% estimate); Republic of Uganda 2008 (85% estimate); UN-HABITAT 2007 (60% estimate)

4 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda? instability and legal restrictions on informal erating on behalf of the central government . activity prohibit them from earning a livable All of the interviewees were men, a definite wage . Without the necessary protection to le- limitation, but I found it difficult to find gitimately claim rights to the economy and to women willing to be interviewed . In order a home, citizens living in informality cannot to represent parts of the city, I traveled to secure their place in Kampala because where different settlements throughout the Central they work, where they live, and where they Kampala district to find participants as many exist is void of the inalienable civil liberties citizens participating in informality travel that are necessary to guarantee that right . to this region to work . I interviewed people This is the informal sector . Without resources in Katanga, Mulago, Kiseka Market, Old or investment capable of producing adequate Kampala, Kisenyi, along Kafumbe Mukasa infrastructure, Kampala has been unable to Road, Owino Market, and finally in Kibuli accommodate its rapidly urbanizing popula- (Fig . 2) . Once my translator and I arrived in tion, which has created a city characterized these areas, we chose interviewees at random by underdevelopment . Out of this inability and conducted interviews in both English to absorb the almost two million residents and Luganda, depending on the interview- who seek housing and jobs, informal activ- ees’ ability in English . I chose my translator ity and informal settlements have emerged based on recommendations from Ugandan citywide . Despite granting access to space colleagues in Kampala, his proven capacity in and the economy, however, the informal English and Luganda, and his understanding sector cannot secure this access because it is of the research project . To ensure anonym- inherently outside of legal protection . ity, I have changed all of the interviewee’s What then, does the right to city look like names, but have left their occupations and in a place where residents have no legal claim quotations unaltered . All quotes were taken to any types of rights? How should it look? in July 2012, and the corresponding inter- This essay will begin by exploring literature viewee, occupation, and date can be found on the right to the city . Next, it will explain in the works cited . the emergence of underdevelopment and the Before delving into the nuances of the subsequent rise of informality in Kampala . right to the city in Kampala, it is necessary Then, it will show how citizens participating to explain why this essay will not use the term in the informal sector do not have legitimate ‘slum’ or ‘slum dweller’ . UN-HABITAT’S rights to socioeconomic benefits of the city 2003 report The Challenge of Slums recognizes because living in informality cannot secure that slums “are multidimensional in nature” access to space and the economy . Finally, but go on to describe them as having: “lack this essay will demonstrate that the right of basic services, substandard housing, over- to the city in the informal sector does not crowding and high density, unhealthy living exist and can only be achieved if the rights conditions and hazardous locations, insecure to socioeconomic benefits are granted and tenure, informal settlements, poverty and so- if citizens living in informality are permit- cial exclusion” (UN-HABITAT 2003, 11) . ted the right to operate outside of the law The same report also recognizes that the term should it infringe upon their strides towards slum “is loose and deprecatory” with “many self-improvement . connotations and meanings” (UN-HABI- For this research, I traveled throughout TAT 2003, 9) . Robert Neuwirth described Kampala’s informal settlements and conduct- these connotations and subsequently why he ed interviews with twenty-one individuals . rejected the use of the term: Twenty of them participated in the informal sector, while one was a senior city planner Slum is a loaded term… .[that] imme- in the Kampala Capital City Authority diately creates distance . [It] establishes (KCCA), the governing body of the city op- a set of values—a morality that people

5 Matthew F. Pietrus

Figure 2 . Neighborhoods where interviews were carried out .

outside the slum share—and implies separation of principles is one notion which that inside those areas, people don’t this paper seeks to support . Citizens engaged share the same principles… .[Slum] in many activities typical of informality do blurs all distinctions . It is a totalizing so to support themselves, their families, and word—and the whole, in this case, is their prosperity . While it is true that all oc- the false (Neuwirth 2005, 16-17) . cupations in the informal sector—including informal housing (housing/land on which residents squat, or land which is outside of While UN-HABITAT’s characteristics residential zones) and the informal economy that describe the physical space of a slum are (production and exchange of goods and/ correct in many cases—many interviewees or services that are not regulated by laws listed poor sanitation, low quality housing, or policies)—are illegal, they do not share and poverty among their major concerns— the same connotation as criminality . Sell- Neuwirth’s rejection of the use of the word ing shoes without a permit because it is too because it “creates distance” between those expensive does not equate to holding up a within and those outside while implying a shop at gunpoint . Driving a motorcycle taxi

6 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda? without proper paperwork does not equate a place designed for a specific group (usually to recruiting children to distribute drugs . the affluent) while neglecting the needs and Buying and selling untaxed scrap metal does ultimately the rights of another (usually the not equate to coercing women to prostitute poor) . From Brazil (Friendly 2013) to India themselves for individual gain . While nega- (Weinstein and Xuefei 2009), from Northern tive examples like those mentioned can exist Ireland (Nagle 2009) to Turkey (Kuymulu in informal settlements, they are not unique 2013), and from New York (Attoh 2012) to to such areas, since they are likely to exist in Southern Europe (Leontidou 2010), litera- all areas stricken by poverty . ture on who belongs and who is denied access In sum, I will not use the term slum because to the city has emerged as a globally discussed it creates boundaries between those inside phenomenon . and those outside . As Marie Huchzermeyer Henri Lefebvre first wrote about the (2011) suggested in her work on informal right to the city in the wake of the mas- settlement eradication and the right to the sive civil unrest that shook Paris in 1968, city in Africa, “the term slum is not the main but the concept’s ambiguity has allowed concern . While ‘cloaked in negativity’, and many to assert their own claims as to what in urgent need of replacement with a more that right is (Ablode Attoh 2012) . Citing suitable term, it is not the word but an en- different inter-urban conflicts from Paris tire paradigm that needs to be confronted” to Beirut to Los Angeles, Harvey (2003) (Huchzermeyer 2011, 10) . In confronting asserts that the right to the city changes this paradigm, I will use the term ‘informal depending on who in the city is attempt- settlement’ in place of ‘slum’ . When referring ing to assert their right . Similarly, Marcuse to those living or working within slums, I (2009) contends that there is an inherent will use the term ‘citizens’ or ‘citizens par- multiplicity, questioning “whose right is it ticipating in informality’ rather than ‘slum about? What right is it and to what city?” dwellers,’ because they are no different than (Marcuse 2009, 185) . anyone else: they are citizens . The usage of Despite these various possibilities, a sim- these terms attempts to shift the paradigm pler notion would be one that purports a from one that creates separation and labels sense of inclusivity . Citing Waldron (1991), those within slums as different, lesser ‘unde- Mitchell states that “in a society where all sirables’ to one that more accurately describes property is private, those who own none (or the characteristics of the space and the re- whose interests aren’t otherwise protected silience of those living and working within . by a right to access private property) sim- ply cannot be, because they would have no THE RIGHT TO THE CITY place to be” (Mitchell 2003, 34 emphasis in original) . In other words, an inclusive city The idea of the “right to the city” is based is one that provides space to its inhabitants . on the writings of Henri Lefebvre (1967) Furthermore, it must also provide equal ac- and has since been expanded upon by later cess to its benefits such as public services, authors (Harvey 2003 and 2012; Mitchell mobility to different parts of the city through 2003; Marcuse 2009; among others) . The adequate infrastructure, and the ability to right to the city challenges the implicit and access the city’s economy . In other words, explicit marginalization of those who are con- it must allow its citizens the opportunity to tinually underrepresented socioeconomically, prosper . Therefore, only through providing politically, and/or spatially in urban spaces . access both to space and to its benefits can a The right to the city advocates for this group’s city become inclusive . inclusion through political representation, Yet as Harvey pointed out, “the right to equal rights under the law, and access to the the city is not merely a right of access to economy and to space . The city has become what already exists, but a right to change

7 Matthew F. Pietrus it after our heart’s desire” (Harvey 2003, THE EMERGENCE OF 939) . Harvey made this claim drawing on UNDERDEVELOPMENT Robert Park’s assertion that “in making the city man has remade himself” (Park This insecure access to the city’s socioeco- 1967, 3), reasoning that the denial of nomic benefits results because underdevelop- this ability ultimately denies the right of ment has created a city that cannot accom- self-improvement . A comprehensive and modate its growing population . With a GDP complete right to the city, then, would of just $22 6. billion and an ever-expanding consist of one that is inclusive and also population of 35 million, it is no surprise changeable . Despite successful examples of that Uganda ranks 204th out of 228 coun- marginalized groups achieving inclusion tries with respect to per capita GDP (CIA through continued protests—most notably 2014; UBOS 2014) . One in four (24 .5%) the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s people lives below the national poverty line and Indian independence the first half of ($1 .20/day), 64 .7% live on less than $2 a the 20th century—it remains extremely dif- day, and two-thirds of the population are ficult for groups to incite change when they either poor or vulnerable to poverty1 (World are politically, economically, and spatially Bank 2009; Anguyo 2013; MGSLD 2012) . excluded . In other words, gaining any type After speaking with several citizens living of right—be it political, economic, or the in informality, it became evident that this right to the city—remains an enormous meager income provides barely enough to feat when battling from a position that is feed oneself . “You can come [to the informal structurally and legally alienated as well as settlements] and you can make 5,000 [shil- economically isolated . lings] (about $2),” explained a motorcycle Living in informality would seemingly mechanic named Kenneth, “Out of the 5,000 epitomize the denial of this right, but as you can only have one meal in a day ”. While some argue, the informal sector challenges this estimate is above the national poverty that denial (Neuwirth 2005, 311) for it line, a report by the Ministry of Labour, Gen- creates the opportunity to claim what has der, & Social Development states that “the been denied: a home and a job . Those who poverty line used in Uganda is set at a very have been denied homes build structures low level by international standards, equiva- with scrapped materials while those exclud- lent to ‘extreme poverty’ or ‘food poverty’ ed from the economy find innovative ways in other countries . This represents the very to generate an income . Finding different bare minimum level of consumption needed ways to create housing and gain access to for survival” (MLGSD 2012, xiii) . Yet this the economy requires ingenuity (which is extreme poverty is by no means uncommon something worth celebrating), but the in- or unknown . Okello, a senior city planner in formal sector cannot guarantee the protec- the KCCA gave a similar testament: tion of that access because it is inherently outside of legal protection . Citizens living With the massive influx of people in informality can build a house, but then the concerns were certainly about authorities can forcibly and legally remove fundamentals . It is about…feeding . them or they can begin vending miscel- We are experiencing very poor people . laneous items, but these can be confiscated Children are malnourished; we find that on the grounds of selling without a license . the quality of life they are living is not In Kampala, the informal economy cannot the best… . We are getting people who and does not confer rights or the right to are pressed; they don’t have anything the city, but rather only provides insecure to feed on… .They resort to petty, petty access to space and the economy . work . Hand to mouth .

8 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda?

This poor economic situation extends infrastructural development they outline in not just to Uganda’s citizens; it affects the the KPDP (UBOS 2012) . government as well . As in most developing With a liberalized economy and vast natu- countries, the Ugandan state is poor and ral resources, Uganda would appear to have they simply do not have enough money to a strong base for economic development and implement many of the programs they have public-private partnerships, but as Ambassa- planned . dor Roberto Ridolfi, the head EU delegate to In order to compensate for this lack of Uganda, contends, “There may be potential funding, planners in Kampala and officials in investors with money but unpredictable cor- the national government seek private invest- ruption costs scare them away” (Kimbowa ment . In October 2012 the KCCA drafted the 2013) . While it is true that there has been Kampala Physical Development Plan (KPDP) investment from several international part- which dedicates a quarter of its 120 pages to ners (India, Singapore, Britain, Sudan, and financial needs, estimating that $6 billion will China are the top five), a report by the World be required to implement desired infrastruc- Bank showed that: tural programs and $33 billion more would be needed to sustain them (KPDP 2012, 5) . Despite various privatization reforms While ideally some of this will come from and the development of PPPs, public the local (KCCA) and national governments, spending still finances the lion’s share about 70% would likely need to come from of infrastructure in Uganda . The private both NGOs and public-private partnerships sector contributed an equivalent of 1 .1 (KPDP 2012, 12) . Okello states that their percent of GDP to annual infrastruc- development programs require “public-private ture spending in 2003 . By contrast, the partnerships for most of the activities that we public sector (on- and off-budget) pro- are doing in the city” and that they are “en- vided 80 percent of total infrastructure couraging public-private partnerships [and] spending-amounting to 5 2. percent of donor funding ”. And encourage they must . GDP (World Bank 2007, 39) . KCCA openly admits the realities of their fis- cal difficulties in the KPDP, stating that the Private investors only contributed 1 .1% of “local government…lacks an adequate finan- Uganda’s GDP in 2003 (about $70m) to- cial base to provide basic services, let alone wards infrastructure (World Bank 2007, 39) . support development on any significant level” Similarly, manufacturing, wholesale and re- (KPDP 2012, 6) . For this reason, planners tail trade and accommodation have attracted place the majority of the responsibility for the most investment, while strategic sectors funding development programs on institu- such as energy and water supply, sewerage, tions and corporations independent from the and waste management attracted the least state, making implementation contingent on (UBOS 2012) . In other words, even if in- outside participation . However, given that vestors are not discouraged by corruption, all comprehensive plans to this date have not their investment does not go into physical been implemented, this sentiment is an opti- infrastructure . Even still, corruption is per- mistic one . The most recent Investor Survey vasive in Uganda . Report by the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics From street vendors bribing police officers (UBOS) which analyzed investment projects to accusations of officials in the executive of- from 1991-2010 showed that only 46 percent fice accepting bribes, corruption, as Okello of investment projects have started and remain explains, “starts from the bottom, right in the operational (survival rate) and only 70,000 village up to the institution ”. According to jobs have been created (UBOS 2012) . This the anti-corruption research group Transpar- has attracted about $2 86. billion thus far ency International, Uganda ranks 140th out which is far below what they require for the of 177 countries analyzed and is the most

9 Matthew F. Pietrus

Figure 3 . Corruption Perception Index (CPI), 2001-2014 . Source: Transparency International . corrupt state in East Africa (Transparency years . We don’t expect anything ”. And why International 2013; TI Kenya 2013) . Con- should they? Corruption extends from the sidering Uganda’s static political situation— upper echelons of the executive office to with President Yoweri Museveni remaining lowly authority figures like the police and has in power for the past twenty-nine years—it created an environment that scares away the is no surprise that levels of corruption have investment necessary to improve their lives . remained virtually constant (Fig . 3) . In May Corruption extends far down the politi- 2013, the prime minister and other politi- cal hierarchy . Citizens participating in the cians were accused of taking bribes from oil informal sector discussed a myriad of similar companies in the wake of Uganda’s newly situations, most of which include the po- found oil reserves (Matsiko 2013) . In January lice, the institution which most Ugandans 2013, Ugandan Member of Parliament Ceri- believe to be the most corrupt and which nah Nebanda died a day after challenging the took the top position “as the most bribery president’s authority concerning healthcare . prone sector” (TI Kenya 2013, 2; Transpar- After a pathologist collected samples sus- ency International 2012) . Sitting on a milk pecting foul play, he was arrested before he crate in a fortress of recycled metal, Milton could leave the country to run tests, which explained that siphoning funds reserved for led many to suspect that government officials public services was not uncommon: had poisoned her (Kalyegira 2012; Kakaire 2012) . Because the same political leaders for Those people who are supposed to be whom corruption has become commonplace between [us] and the government, the remain in power, corruption levels have pla- mediators, they do not implement the teaued . As Jeffrey and fellow wheelbarrow services how they are supposed to . How pusher Moses explained, “we don’t hope for they use the money that [the govern- anything good so long as [there are] the same ment] gives them is not monitored… leaders we have been seeing for the past 25 [and] the services which we need in our

10 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda?

area like [rubbish collection] we don’t described, KCCA uses this money for action have it…The government has funded area plans which have a seemingly straight- and [the mediators] don’t implement . forward process: “You go into an area, you identify [its problems], you [make] an action While it is easy to condemn these officials area plan, you implement it and you finish ”. for stealing money intended for public use, In the informal settlements of Kisenyi and they too are confronted with poverty . They Mulago, Okello told me, the KCCA and too have families to feed and children to send the World Bank have worked on rehabili- to school, and their incomes cannot fill those tating and creating channels to help control needs . Underneath a wooden awning that flooding . Flooding continually ruins roads, protects their work, carpenters Charles and spreads disease, and inundates housing . Thomas articulated that “very many people Thus, alleviating this problem would greatly are selling off their land [and] the little improve the quality of life for citizens living they’ve acquired in a long time in order for and working in the informal settlements . Yet their children to study ”. Whether through all of the residents interviewed in both Mu- corruption or other informal activities, the lago and Kisenyi have not seen any positive goal is the same: to protect one’s family . change in their areas . In fact, when asked Okello reiterates this notion: what physical changes had occurred while he has worked as a mechanic living in Mulago, [The] politician is looking for money Kenneth stated that “I have been here over [and] not giving the service . The tech- ten years but I don’t see any great change” nocrat has come in and also has not and that “I don’t expect I will be better [been] given probably enough money to off [in] the future ”. Similarly, a bed sheet take his children to school so everyone vendor named Joseph told me that the only is trying to survive the system . They are changes he had seen were personal changes; using the system to survive which is nothing had changed in his neighborhood . extremely unfortunate . That is the cor- Finally, leaning over his wheelbarrow Jeffrey ruption . People are trying to survive… expressed that “I have never seen anyone take because of meager pay . action in order to make the place clean or a fair environment ”. This inability to success- Money obtained corruptly helps to feed fully implement even small-scale projects is families and pay children’s school fees . Those the result of rapid urbanization, ineffective who exercise their power dishonestly are not leadership, a resulting lack of trust in the gov- necessarily immoral but rather surviving by ernment, and a complex land tenure system any means possible in a country where poverty that impedes development . is far-reaching . Low-level corruption is (gener- Kampala has experienced rapid urban ally) not the result of power-hungry, immoral growth and planners have been unable to actions, but rather a consequence of wide- accommodate the ever-growing population . spread poverty in which people do anything This quick expansion (Fig . 4) is certainly they can to improve their family’s situation . multifaceted, but it is primarily due to rural- Still, corruption diverts both the little fund- urban migration . Despite having the ninth- ing that the government has for development highest annual growth rate (3 .24%) and as well as much-needed foreign investment third-highest birth rate (44 17. births/1,000 which consequently diminishes any hope for population/year) in the world (CIA 2014) as citywide (or countrywide) development . well as decreasing mortality and infant mortality While a lack of funding prohibits large rates (UBOS 2012), Uganda’s urban centers are projects, the small budget that does exist growing faster than its national average because allows developmental bodies like the KCCA urban economic opportunities exceed those in to implement micro-scale projects . As Okello rural areas (UBOS 2002; Kisamba-Mugerwa

11 Matthew F. Pietrus

2013; Mulumba et . al 2009) . Joseph traveled programs come negative consequences such 300 miles to Kampala from Kisoro—a town as displacement and relocation and they in the southwestern corner of Uganda—hop- promise to protect citizens from this threat . ing to gain from the city’s economic benefits Similarly, with the agreeing nods of his fel- by selling bed sheets . His answer to why he low wheelbarrow pushers Moses and Amos, came to Kampala most adequately sums up the Jeffrey noted that politicians’ promises do most popular pull factor to the city: “I came to not normally coincide with actual change: work…to make money ”. Since 1980, there has been over a 600% This situation we are living in is not increase in the urban population, with 18 4. something new we have been in it, we of the country now living in an urban center have just gotten used to it . We complain (UBOS 2014; Nyakaana 2007) . Twenty five to the KCCA; they elect new leaders . percent of the country’s urban population They promise us all the good things to lives in Kampala, and with its population improve the [informal settlements] but over 1 .5 million far surpassing the second we don’t see any improvement . Another largest urban center (Kira at 313,761), it is five years comes, they elect new leaders Uganda’s primate city . Each year, the city they come in the same way, but we see is the destination for tens of thousands of no improvement . They only come back Ugandans in similar situations as Joseph . to win our votes . Out of the inability to respond this growth, inadequate infrastructure and unplanned Thus, the economically marginalized have settlements developed throughout the entire lost faith in their government . Without that city, and now, of the 1 .5 million residents in trust, planning will not be successful (Talvitie Kampala, an estimated 1 to 1 3. million live 2012), and development will not occur . High- in informal settlements (UBOS 2014; Gid- lighting this negative citizen-state relationship, dings 2009; Mukiibi 2011) . As prominent Kenneth and fellow motorcycle mechanics Ugandan periodical New Vision put it “Kam- Patrick and Andrew stated that “[we] have al- pala is one big slum” (31 October 2012) . ready lost trust in the government… [they] are Second, my interviewees felt that the major not doing anything for us . The government is concern of many political leaders is not al- not giving us some ways out to make money ”. leviating poverty, lack of adequate housing, Others believe that the government is not only and unemployment, but rather reelection . As idle, but actively hindering Uganda’s prosper- Okello explained, that goal sometimes comes ity . According to three young auto mechanics through the stigmatization of development: in Old Kampala named Kizza, Michael, and James, “[The government] is providing little The politicians would use the poor to the population of Uganda” and “[they people…every opportunity, every don’t] want any good thing in the country ”. chance they look at it from votes . Votes When asked how the citizens participating in votes votes . I don’t have to say that it is the informal sector react to any attempts to only the opposition that looks at it from implement programs, Okello stated that “they this way . No . It [is] also from the central [consider] politics and … they imagine that government . There are programs that whatever program you are bringing is about are very impeded because…the central displacing them and denying them anything . government will say don’t touch my So their participation is limited ”. Even though people . And honestly you say, ‘where planners like Okello continue to develop pro- are we going?’ grams which strive to improve life in informal settlements, the pervasive distrust for the state In other words, during elections politicians constrains participation and hinders their perpetuate the notion that with development implementation .

12 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda?

Figure 4 . Urban area growth in Kampala, 1995-2010 .

13 Matthew F. Pietrus

Third, Uganda’s land tenure system sustain adequate development, The First (explained in more depth later) makes it Urban Project, which was mostly funded by extremely difficult for planners to imple- the World Bank and partly by the KCCA, ment their programs . In brief, Uganda has has failed in its waste management project . multiple land tenure systems under which Despite the “deployment of some 550 skips many landowners do not have title to their and 30 transport refuse collection vehicles” property . According to the National Devel- (World Bank 2000, 6) waste continues to pile opment Plan, individual land owners con- up not only within informal settlements, but trol 99% of land in Uganda’s central region within waterways as well . Affecting the proj- (where Kampala is located), and “95% [of ect’s rehabilitation of the Nakivubo Channel them] do not have land titles” (Republic of which strove to alleviate flooding in Owino Uganda 2010, 160-161) . Thus, who owns (World Bank 2000, 5), inadequate garbage what land is unclear and inhibits develop- disposal has forced residents to dump their ment plans because no one knows where waste in the channel, consequently forcing they can build . As Okello states, “the land it to overflow (Keehan 2011) . Finally, this tenure system here in Kampala [is] a complex plan aimed to rehabilitate about 45 km of as- one whereby in implementing most of these phalt roads and 27 km of gravel roads (World programs, we get resistance from many of the Bank 2000, 5) . However, none of these was land owners ”. Moreover, with 99% of land in informal settlements and adequate roads owned by entities other than the state, where remain a major concern of development development can take place is extremely (Kampala Capital City Authority 2012; limited . In the KPDP (2012) they state that Republic of Uganda 2010) . land tenure and private ownership of space For citizens participating in the informal impedes development because it “[limits] sector like Jeffrey, inadequate roads and con- the supply of developable land… [requires] stant flooding inhibit their ability to work . enormous financial resources to enable land He explained that “[the politicians] promise acquisition…significantly [complicates] and good roads, but we don’t see anything” and [delays] the planning and implementation that “in most cases now, we do community of assorted projects… [and deters] foreign work . If we see [that] the city council does investors” (Kampala Capital City Authority not respond to [flooding] very fast, we do 2012, 113-114) . Unable to understand who community work . Where there is a heap of they must consult, where they can implement soil, we come and pour it in the potholes and projects, and without available or affordable we have to collect the rubbish here ourselves ”. land on which they can develop, the KCCA Because navigable and maintained roads are and other developmental bodies cannot be- essential to the livelihoods of a variety of gin many of their projects: there is nowhere workers in the informal sector—like wheel- they can develop . barrow pushers, boda drivers, and all those Finally, although different organizations who rely on those professions—they have no have created urban plans that have attempted choice but to do this work themselves . Actual to control the growing number of informal development is therefore like everything else settlements, most have not been implement- in informal settlements: informal . Where the ed and those that have were unsuccessful . city fails to provide adequate infrastructure, Professor J .B . Nyakaana of Makerere Uni- citizens living in informality must develop versity has argued that despite the existence their communities themselves . of several comprehensive plans, “develop- Other plans like the National Slum Up- ments in Kampala, especially housing, have grading Strategy and the Kampala Physical continued to be haphazard, unplanned and Development Plan which strive—among located outside planned area[s]” (Nyakaana other things—to improve the number of et al 2007, 7) . Exemplifying this failure to housing units, create better drainage and

14 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda? dispose of solid waste (Republic of Uganda few positive attributes do not in any way 2008; Kampala Capital City Authority 2012) justify the continued existence of slums and have brought about little change on the should not be an excuse for the slow progress ground . None of the interviewees had seen towards the goal of adequate shelter for all” any positive change in their living conditions (UN HABITAT 2003, vi) . and some have actually witnessed deteriora- Indeed, while the informal sector does give tion in their quality of life . Both Isaac and rise to robust markets and extremely creative a matoke (cooking banana) vendor named individuals who find innovative ways to Godfrey who works in Kibuli stated that “the survive, in many cases much of this activity changes I see are not for the better; [they] are takes place in informal settlements which are for the worst ”. characterized by outbreaks of disease, unsani- As a result of a lack of resources, abun- tary living conditions, and lack of adequate dance corruption, and ineffective and un- infrastructure . They represent the intense used funding, Kampala has become a city of marginalization of the urban poor into informal settlements . In this environment, massive enclaves of poverty, health hazards, adequate housing and access to the formal and socioeconomic and political instability economy seldom exist, causing many citizens (Davis 2006) . In these places, residents may to participate in the informal sector either find themselves amid piles of garbage along through squatting on land they do not own dilapidated roads and living in shanty homes or through participating in the informal that are ever-vulnerable to flooding and col- economy . People create their own jobs in lapse . Such living conditions demonstrate the untaxed and unregulated money-making struggle of local authorities to respond to the endeavors or they claim their own space by demand for services, such as in Kampala: squatting . Whether it is through petty trade, taxi driving, jewelry bead-making, or manual Kampala City Council acknowledges labor, the informal sector provides a (usually that the amount of garbage generated meager) livelihood for millions . has overwhelmed its capacity to collect and dispose, given the enormous cost, INFORMALITY AND INFORMAL leading to formation of heaps of un- SETTLEMENTS IN KAMPALA collected solid waste, offensive odour, continuous environment pollution As the informal sector grows on a global and repeated occurrence of sanitation scale—informal settlements incorporate related diseases like cholera and dysen- thousands more every day, and now in- tery (UN HABITAT 2007, 1) . clude over one billion people worldwide (UN HABITAT 2003)—it has attracted Immovable mountains of garbage become opinions as diverse as the activities that hills on which children play . Improper or take place within it . Some scholars celebrate absent waste disposal, insufficient drainage, the magnificent spectrum of activities tak- and inadequate housing foster the spread ing place in extremely densely populated of disease and exacerbate health problems . environments (Brand 2009), while others While it requires innovation to create a home believe that the informal economy is a haven from recycled sheet metal, crude bricks, and for entrepreneurial freedom (Bennett et al . foraged wood, shanty homes (or muzigos) 2007) . UN-HABITAT contends that infor- struggle to serve as safe shelter in many cases . mal settlements help to drive a city’s economy The mere density of residents living in such because the informal activities within it ex- settlements is cause for concern . When asked tend beyond the scope of shantytowns and how many people stay in one home, Milton, permeate entire cities (UN HABITAT 2003, a scrap metal collector who lived in informal vi) . Yet the same report admits that “these settlements for fifteen years, informed me that

15 Matthew F. Pietrus muzigos—which are single room structures— This difference between gaining access to and house up to seven people with one family2 claiming a right to socioeconomic benefits living in a single room . In the city of hills, is an important one . The latter, while not Kampala’s informal settlements often times immune from revocation, provides citizens a sit in valleys, making them especially vulner- legitimate rights claim and is therefore harder able to the dangers of flooding (Kiwawulo (and in many cases illegal) for any author- 2010) . As shoe vendor Isaac said, “You can ity or individual to contest or infringe upon spend a night standing because you will have that right . Mere access to socioeconomic nowhere to sleep because the water floods benefits, however, is under constant threat inside the house where I live ”. According to of contestation from authorities (e .g ., the Jeffrey, a wheelbarrow pusher who transports state with regard to untaxed economic ac- goods in Owino Market “whenever it rains, tivity or landlords with regard to squatting) people tend to [drain] the sewer system and and can be legally revoked . While scholars it runs in the running water and it causes a have shown that informality and formality lot of sickness, like cholera, in the location ”. are not two separate entities but rather a se- Without adequate infrastructure providing ries of intersecting transactions (Roy 2005; proper housing, potable water, or garbage Moser 2009; Ward 2004), there is a stark disposal, residents in informal settlements difference between them regarding rights . are even more vulnerable to the spread of Those participating in the informal sector bacteria and disease . do so void of legal entitlements while those Although informal work can accommodate participating in the formal sector can claim the economically marginalized by providing rights to shelter and the economy . Without jobs (Nyakaana et al . 2007, 4), some of the this same claim to rights in the informal work in the informal economy comes with sector, the state can (and does) contest the inherent health risks . While many can partic- access to space and the economy by citizens ipate in safer informal occupations like petty in the informal sector, enforcing the creation trading, urban agriculture, construction, and of enclaves of poor working conditions and food production (World Bank 2005, 3), some health hazards . resort to more dangerous activities like theft and prostitution (Rwabukwali 1991, 26-40) . RIGHTS & THE DENIAL OF THE Primarily for women, prostitution brings RIGHT TO THE CITY with it extremely real and dangerous threats (although as customers men run the risks of While understanding the context of infor- contracting STDs as well) because economic mality in Kampala is useful, it remains dif- pressures make it difficult for “young girls ficult to comprehend the notion of the right to resist sexual advances especially from to the city without first exploring different well-to-do but promiscuous adults” (Otiso definitions of rights generally . Drawing on 2006, 36) . In a country experiencing the the conceptualization of legal rights (Hohfeld tenth-highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection 2000 [1919]), generational rights (Waldron in the world (1 .2 million or one out of fifteen 1993), and the moral right to break the law Ugandans), prostitution is a dangerous oc- (Dworkin 1977), Attoh (2011) provides a cupation (CIA 2009) . useful theoretical understanding of rights and With this in mind, the informal sector how they help define the right to the city . plays two roles . On the one hand, it permits Summarizing Hohfeld (2000 [1919]), Attoh access to space and the economy to the nor- (2011) states: mally alienated urban poor . At the same time however, it cannot protect this access because …all legal entitlements can be under- citizens living and working in the informal stood as either one or a combination of sector do so without claim to formal rights . four basic rights: claim rights, liberty

16 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda?

rights, power, and immunities . Claim 2011, 671) . Finally, third-generation rights rights…are rights that correlate with are communal rights that serve to protect the duties… .To have a liberty right is to economic well-being and customs of groups be free of any duty… to. have a power such as nations, communities, and peoples is to have the ability to change a legal (Attoh 2011, 672) . However, the priority relation; and immunity is to be free of claiming these three generational rights of another’s legal power (Attoh 2011, changes in the context of informality . Attoh 670-71) . (2011) refers to Isaiah Berlin’s (1969) work Four Essays on Liberty: This understanding begins with the prem- ise of “legal entitlements” as rights—values or It is true that to offer political rights, benefits which one can claim as their right to or safeguards against intervention by by law . However, the informal sector refers to the State, to men who are half-naked, that which operates outside of the law . Roy illiterate, underfed and diseased is to (2005) argues that informality is a ‘state of mock their condition; they need medi- exception’ in so far as it only exists outside cal help or education before they can of legal obligations because planners, govern- understand, or make use of, an increase ment agencies, and policy makers (i .e . the in their freedom . What is freedom to state) label this place as informal; as out of those who cannot make use of it? (Ber- “their realm of control” (Roy 2005, 155) . lin 1969, 124) He states that “[Informality] is not, to [use] Agamben’s (1998) terminology, the “chaos It is this concept, Attoh argues, which leads that precedes order, but rather the situation many scholars (Waldron 1993; Berlin 1969) that results from its suspension” (Agamben to advocate first for socioeconomic rights and 18) (Roy 2005, 149) . Thus, informality is, as then for others . Indeed, of what importance Roy argues, “not the object of state regulation is the right to free speech when one cannot but rather produced by the state itself” (Roy feed themselves or their family? 2005, 149) . This logic helps to dismantle the Finally, Attoh analyzes Roland Dworkin’s dichotomy of two distinct sectors—informal (1977) essay Taking Rights Seriously and the and formal (Roy 2005)—but in turn gives concept that “when laws infringe upon our rise to two questions . First, what implication dignity or our equality, Dworkin argues, does that have on rights of those who live the language of rights not only allows us to in informality? Second, with Hohfeld’s un- challenge such laws, it allows us to break derstanding of “legal entitlements” as rights, such laws and make our case to a jury of our how does this definition of rights function in peers” (Attoh 2011, 673) . This is an interest- a place—the informal sector—that is outside ing assertion in the context of informality the law? because in order to access the informal sector, Second, Attoh (2011) explores Jeremy one must break laws . Be it by squatting on Waldron’s (1993) conceptualization of rights property one does not own or hawking goods as generational and the relationship between without a permit, those participating in the these different generations . First-generation informal sector break the law in order to have rights are those which pertain to the “tradi- shelter or access to a source of livelihood . The tional liberties and privileges of citizenship: question then arises, if living in informality free speech, religious liberty, the right not inherently means operating outside of the to be tortured, the right to a fair trial, the law, is this justified? right to vote, and many others” (Attoh, 2011, Framing this conceptualization of the right 671) . Second-generation rights pertain to so- to the city around these questions posits the cioeconomic rights which “encompass rights first of two main themes at the heart of this to housing and a right to a fair wage” (Attoh essay: can citizens claim a right to the city

17 Matthew F. Pietrus through the informal sector? In brief, they this land, the titleholder must reimburse and cannot . Without legal protection, authorities relocate tenants should they want to move are able to revoke access to informal hous- them and the bona fide tenant must consult ing and to the informal economy for citizens the land owner with each sale, development participating in the informal sector . or lease of the land (Giddings 2009) . Au- The inaccessibility of space is the result of gustus Nuwagaba of Makerere University ex- two phenomena . First, most citizens in the plained that “the problem with Mailo land is informal sector simply do not have enough that it creates legal ownership of land which capital to purchase land . Working as car- the owner does not occupy and occupation penters, Charles and Thomas informed me of land which the occupant does not own” that “70,000 [shillings] (about $28) cannot (quoted in Businge 2007) . It is this ambigu- sustain people to live for a month . [It’s] not ity which Businge contends: enough money ”. As a mechanic, Kenneth explained that “I am a poor man and there [Results] in a situation where the mai- is no way I can get out of this poverty because lo land title holder cannot sell the land whenever I try to work, I am just working for or utilise it because he/she has to ad- food . I don’t expect that I will be better off equately compensate the tenants, while for the future . Whatever I get is for today ”. the tenants are not comfortable enough A report by the International Housing Coali- to develop or sell land for which they tion argues that most people resort to living don’t have a title, even though they may in informal settlements because own it under customary law (Businge 2007) . rents for a standard house in a ser- viced neighborhood are typically in the Ultimately, this complication has created $185 - $250 per month range, well informal settlements which landowners can- beyond the means of the poor . Even not develop and which citizens living there though most people are either renters or cannot own . While squatters can claim legal squatters, land remains a huge problem ownership of the land should they occupy a because the vast majority does not have place for twelve years, they remain indistinct the means to purchase a plot (Giddings co-owners who do not possess a title and are 2009, 11 emphasis added) . therefore subjected to challenges from au- thorities like the KCCA or the police . Thus, most remain permanent squatters Out of this complexity, many citizens liv- or informal renters and are unable to break ing in informality resort to informal housing from this cycle . Yet, even if these citizens were where they squat on land because rents are able to accumulate enough capital to begin generally unaffordable (Giddings 2009, 8) . to save, Uganda’s land tenure system makes But this type of living and working environ- it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to ment has no protection and the KCCA can own or buy land . forcibly reallocate and move them . Charles Dating to British colonization in the early and Thomas voice this concern stating that twentieth century, most land in Kampala “wherever you try to settle, you’ve been moved remains under mailo—or private—tenure away from there so you are never settled at (Fig . 5) and much of that land has two legal all . That is the biggest challenge [we] have owners: 1) the landowner who has the title; in our work ”. A bicycle repairman named and 2) the bona fide tenant who can claim Ssalongo and his two coworkers named Isaiah ownership of the land under customary law and Akiki shared a similar sentiment when if they have stayed there unchallenged for asked about the challenges they face regard- over 12 years (Owaraga 2012; Giddings ing housing, “Now, the KCCA comes [and] 2009) . When making decisions concerning wants to chase us away, they don’t relocate

18 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda? us . If they happen to arrest you, they leave three auto mechanics (service), one bed sheet you jobless here ”. Even just outside of the city vendor (trade), two carpenters (wood prod- center in Kibuli, Godfrey expresses the same ucts), one scrap collector (metal fabrication), issue: “Because the KCCA might come and three motorcycle mechanics (service), one find your small business and say it is not sup- boda driver (transport), three wheelbarrow posed to be there . They will want to destroy pushers (transport), one shoe vendor (trade), you ”. While the informal sector allows these three bicycle mechanics (service), and one citizens a place to stay and a place to work, matoke vendor (food processing) . The only they are temporary establishments that do interviewee that did not participate in one not guarantee any type of security . of these sectors was a young man and his Next, there is an exclusion from the even younger colleagues who were musical economy . In Kampala, most economic ac- performers . With the exception of some tivity requires a trading license, and of the handcraft vendors who make and sell their jobs in the informal sector, the vast majority goods on their own property, in accordance requires this documentation in order to func- with the Trade (Licensing) Act 1969, all of tion . According to a World Bank report, the these require a license in order to operate, but most popular activities in Kampala’s informal many citizens in the informal economy do sector include: making food, clothes, wood not obtain this license because, frankly, it is products, and handcrafts as well as metal fab- too costly . Ranging from 7,500 to 2,250,000 rication, service, and transport (World Bank shillings ($3-900) (Radoli 2013), even the 2005, 3), and all but one of the interviewees cheapest license is unaffordable considering fell into one of these categories . There were the vast majority live on less than $2/day . If

Figure 5 . Land Ownership in Kampala, 2009 . Source: Giddings 2009, 13 .

19 Matthew F. Pietrus

(and usually when) caught without a license, [We] used to make money when the businesspeople can face fines up to 20 mil- street vendors were there because people lion shillings ($8000) and jail time up to 12 would come [and] want to buy things months (Senkabirwa 2013; Trade (Licensing) from the vendors cheaply . Now, the Act 1969) . Yet many of these citizens operat- KCCA has sent them away . They no ing without a license are more likely to pay longer operate in the city which means less expensive, albeit illegal bribes to lowly few people come into the city . [We] authority figures in lieu of jail time . have few passengers to carry . With each interview, a motif emerged . Ssalongo reported that “Where I operate, As a result of oppressive monitoring by au- the KCCA does not want me to operate my thorities, the loss of vendors has drastically business . Sometimes when I am working slowed the transient population that would [with] a client [repairing] his bicycle, the normally commute to the city center in KCCA comes and confiscates my tools ”. Jo- search of these goods . Now, supply of drivers seph explained that “Interacting with the city far outweighs demand for their services and council is not [easy] because sometimes… they have no choice but to take meager fares [we] meet when you’ve moved your pad, because if they do not, someone else will: you’ve not made money, you’re exhausted, they take what you’re selling and go away Since there are so many young men with it ”. Finally, when asked whether or boda boda cycling, [I] find [I] don’t not the KCCA has ever helped them, Isaac have time to negotiate [fares] with stated that “[The KCCA] have never helped the customer . As I negotiate with a me apart from letting me down . They have customer another person comes and always been confiscating my things and I do takes him at any fare . The only option not go and get them [because] it is very hard is—whoever comes with little money or for me to get them back ”. Without a license enough money—to take him . and therefore vulnerable to paying bribes, fines, or facing jail time, vendors operating Because poverty and underdevelopment in the informal economy find it even more force more people to rely on boda driving difficult to prosper . as a source of income, the supply of drivers These vendors’ vulnerability not only af- increases . At the same time however, the fects their personal well-being, but also cre- demand for their services drastically falls ates micro-capital flight . Rather than face because of repressive authorities and as a persecution, many leave the city center which result prices deflate, wages decrease, and subsequently takes business away from enter- poverty ensues . Indeed, corruption has in- prises that rely on that population . According directly crippled one of the most popular to prominent Ugandan periodical New Vi- forms of transportation which provides the sion, “In September 2011, Kampala Capital livelihood for many in the city . With access City Authority (KCCA) ordered all vendors to the economy limited, ever-vulnerable, and hawkers to leave the city streets . Since and under constant threat, as Isaac put it, then, they have engaged in running battles “At work it is not a safe place; at home, it is with enforcement officers” (Anguyo 2013) . not safe . We just live by the mercy of god ”. One boda cyclist (or motorcycle taxi driver) Unable to confer rights to housing or to named Gusta explained that his income from the economy under current circumstances, fares has decreased as a direct result of this the informal sector cannot grant citizens a repression: right to the city . So then, what should the right to city look like living in informality? It is the city council which has para- In need of rights to space and the economy, lyzed the boda boda work in the city . claiming a right to the city in the infor-

20 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda? mal sector would first resemble Waldron’s cheaper fines through paying bribes rather (1993) concept of gaining socioeconomic than face the costly penalties and jail time rights to housing and a source of livelihood . associated with operating without a permit, To achieve the former, a comprehensive this is problematic . First, any type of fine land reform needs to take place . This is is detrimental to an income which already by no means a new proposal, as scholars, provides barely enough to purchase food policy makers, and the government of for the day . Second, corruption perpetu- Uganda have continued to try and tackle ates citizens’ pervasive distrust for the state the confusion and conflict that arises from which in turn hinders development plans land disputes (Republic of Uganda 1998, and drives away foreign investment . How- 2010; Giddings 2009; Nkurunziza 2006) . ever, this essay does not advocate that these Roy (2005) points out that while squatters already economically strained citizens face were able to purchase public land through higher, albeit legal fines . Instead, policies a policy in Manila, it resulted in catering to should exist that protect these citizens from the upper and middle class squatters while fines, both formal and informal so that they marginalizing the lower class (page 153) . can use the little money they earn to try Moreover, this type of program could not and improve their socioeconomic situation . be implemented in Kampala because most In this way, the informal economy should land is owned privately . While the resolu- become more regulated (not policed) in tion of this problem is beyond the scope order to protect the majority of the city’s of this paper, a recommendation would be citizens who are ever vulnerable to poverty . to consider informal settlements and those Second, achieving the right to the city who live there when drafting these plans in the informal sector would also resemble and new legislature . In particular, looking Dworkin’s (1977) concept of a moral right at how policies will affect the informal to challenge or break the law . In Kampala land market and whether or not this will as well as in many cases for that matter, subsequently take a home away from the living in informality is in itself illegal but majority of the city who relies on informal results because economic and political housing is paramount to discussions about conditions create widespread underdevel- policy change . All too often, this group opment . As this essay demonstrated, this remains forgotten in these discussions and underdevelopment does not accommodate perpetually alienated from housing after the growing urban population, resulting in new policies are drafted . Indeed, despite citizens’ participation in the informal sec- his in-depth analysis of the land market in tor in order to gain access to shelter and a Kampala, Giddings (2009) admits that “this source of livelihood . In doing so, they are study focuses primarily on formal sector constantly vulnerable to either legal perse- land issues . Further analysis is required on cution or authorities abusing their power . the number and type of informal sector Yet, they are unable to challenge this perse- land transactions” (Giddings 2009, 16) . cution even though the underdevelopment Regarding the right to a source of liveli- out of which they resort to informality is hood, citizens in the informal sector cannot the result of a weak state and economy . If enjoy the right to the city without state sup- these conditions infringe upon their right port . This does not, as Roy argues, necessar- to improve their well-being, they should, as ily have to come through formalization but Dworkin and this essay argue, be able to le- until regulations shift from marginalizing gally challenge that infringement . However, these citizens to supporting them, they will outside some ability to legally contest land not achieve the right to the city . While it disputes (which is in itself time-consuming would appear that most citizens in the infor- and confusing given the current land tenure mal economy are more likely to encounter system), they cannot “challenge such laws,

21 Matthew F. Pietrus

…break such laws, and make [their] case NOTES to a jury of [their] peers” (Attoh 2011, 673) . Thus, in trying to find shelter and a 1 .Vulnerable to poverty is defined as source of livelihood, these citizens live in a spending below twice the national pov- constant state of persecution . erty line ($2 40/day). .

CONCLUSION 2 . The most recent census from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2014) showed that Participating in informality is necessary the average household size in Kampala for many who cannot gain access to formal was 3 5. (UBOS 2014, 36) . shelter or a source of livelihood . In this sense, it is certainly a positive . However, because informality cannot confer any types of legal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS rights, that access is often challenged, which leaves citizens ever-vulnerable to poverty . Fre- I would like to express my deepest grati- quently denied access to both space and the tude to my draft readers Sarah & Tina for economy, citizens participating in informal- their unconditional support and for not be- ity cannot claim a right to the city without ing afraid to dissect previous drafts of this facing contestation . Yet this is the paradox paper; to the reviewers and editors of The of the informal sector: it allows citizens a Geographical Bulletin for their remarks that place to stay, but without security of tenure . have strengthened this essay’s central argu- It allows them a place to work, but not an ment; to the department of geography at occupation protected by labor laws . It al- DePaul University for their support, both lows them partial access to the city, but not financial and academic; to the members of complete inclusivity . It allows them access to PED, especially Abdul, Milton, and Drew for socioeconomic benefits but in no way confers introducing me to the pearl of Africa; to my them as rights . mentor Dr . Winifred Curran for her selfless In sum, informality does not confer the guidance, endless advice, and for giving me right to the city . Rather, it provides necessary, the necessary mental stability to continue this but constantly vulnerable access to space and research; and finally, to all of the interviewees to the economy . However, as this paper con- who gave me the honor of representing their tends there is a marked difference between voices which all to often go unheard . gaining access to and claiming a right to shelter and a source of livelihood . Second, REFERENCES in order to achieve the right to the city in informality, policies and regulations must Ablode Attoh, K . 2012 . The Transportation be made in order to protect these citizens’ Disadvantaged and the Right to the City rights to the socioeconomic benefits of ur- in Syracuse, New York . The Geographical ban life . Finally, it must also permit channels Bulletin, May: pp . 1-19 . through which they can fairly challenge and Anguyo, I . 2013 . 67% of Ugandans break laws that infringe upon their pursuit Vulnerable to Poverty . New Vision, 19 of self-improvement . Without these condi- March . [http://www .newvision .co .ug/ tions, citizens in the informal sector will not news/640813-67-of-ugandans-vulnerable- achieve the right to the city . As Isaac told me, to-poverty .html] . Last Accessed 2 Septem- “in [the informal sector] people don’t have ber 2014 . their full rights”; and without conferring Anguyo, I . 2013 . Vendors, Hawkers Reap these rights in the informal sector, the right Big Amid Traders’ Strike . New Vision, to the city does not exist . 29 June . [http://www newvision. co. ug/. news/644499-vendors-hawkers-reap-big-

22 The Right to the City in the Informal Sector: Claiming Rights or Gaining Access in Kampala, Uganda?

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INTERVIEWS

Akiki, bicycle mechanic in discussion with author July 15, 2012 . Amos, wheelbarrow pusher in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Andrew, motorcycle mechanic in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Charles, carpenter in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Gusta, boda driver in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Godfrey, matoke vendor in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Isaac, shoe vendor in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Isaiah, bicycle mechanic in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . James, auto mechanic in discussion with author . July 15, 2012 . John, musician in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Jeffrey, wheelbarrow pusher in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 . Joseph, bed sheet vendor in discussion with author, July 15, 2012 .

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