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Informal Economy in Western cities: the case of Rome Architecture and extreme climates

[Map of the informal markets of Rome, Magnisi '10]

Informal Economy = small scale economic activities and outside of the controls, on the basis of personal relationships and rules are not codified, and characterized by lack of division between capital and labor and low level of organization (eg self-handling of goods el'autoconsumo). Note how, within the broader category of the informal economy (along with all the economic activities that contribute to GDP without being registered and taxed), should be distinguished from the informal undeclared (legal activities that escape control and taxation) and from illegality (in any activity prohibited by criminal law).


That the informal sector is an old, indeed it can be said is that the first form of economy practiced by man, and that for most of history the informal economy has been almost exclusively until the advent, in the modern era, capitalism and the organization and formalization of the market.
capitalist ideology has long spread the illusion of being able to multiply the jobs to ensure employment for all. Today we can say that has not been so and probably never will be, if it is true that the class of workers in the informal sector has started to grow wildly and is the largest in underdeveloped countries.


According to the UN, in fact, in the world about the 2 / 5 of world population working in the informal sector. The estimates increase if you take into account in developing countries: Latin America in the informal economy employs 57% of the workforce. And these numbers are constantly increasing: the underground economy is the fastest growing social class on earth.
addition to growth in the number of employees, the informal sector has also crossed the borders of the third world to get through dense migration flows, including the opulent West and settle in our cities and in areas that have, at times bringing degradation and conflicts, sometimes instead of appropriating and restoring vitality spaces that we considered unnecessary.



should then not only that economists should ask about the consequences of the increasing importance of the informal sector into the global economy, but also architects and city planners rethink the consumerist functional and appropriate processes that affect .


spaces of the informal economy in Rome
In Rome it is estimated the percentage of informal employment to around 2%, or about 50,000 people, divided according to the categories listed in the table provided below . Which sometimes takes on the informal sector in a Western city with a relative wealth like Rome?


A mapping of the main business activities of the immigrant community in Rome helps us to ask ourselves what are the areas which are best suited to accommodate these activities and characteristics that have:


- Spaces 'informal living, which often creates economic cycles as in large areas and occupations of disused buildings, where you create real autonomous villages with bar, laundry and barber shop, or self-built houses in the villages of generating economic cycles related to the procurement of materials and labor for the construction of artifacts, or forms of their dwelling nomadic economy.
- meeting place of immigrant communities in their moments of meeting, during which rebuilding the relationships and situations typical of their country of origin, giving rise to small economic activities (markets, food, entertainment).
- Spaces disposal place where the exchange of goods between immigrants and their families in countries of origin. These are also opportunities to do business by selling food, drinks or whatever.


Whatever activities are taken into account, an opinion that remains valid is that there is a close relationship between informal economy and the city, in the sense that the activities generally take place in urban public spaces and are visible to everyone. This is primarily because, failing to define the informal economy as survival strategies of those who have no access to formal employment, it is clear that this also means is impossible to access the formal economic spaces (homes, offices, factories, shops and shopping centers). The second reason is that urban public space is functional in the informal economy, not only because it provides visibility and then an immediate relationship between the agents, but also because they lend themselves to public spaces, and then uses different activities.
The second consideration is that not only is there a close relationship between informal economy and the city, but also among immigrant communities and the informal economy. Immigrants, in fact, having difficulties in accessing the labor market, it is appropriate to that sector of the economy that provides services to the small indigenous community (window washers, street vendors, gas stations, night clubs etc. ..). Then there are those activities that immigrant communities play in their country: the relationship between informal economy and migrant communities, then, means that they tend to recreate in the city, albeit informal, processes and activities typical of their country of origin resulting in a circuit of informal activities in which immigrants are producers but also consumers.