Informal settlements in a COVID-19 world: moving beyond upgrading and envisioning revitalisation

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a turning point in the way things are done, globally and across sectors. We reflect on approaches to informal settlements and argue for a turn from ‘upgrading’ to ‘revitalisation’. We conceptualise revitalisation as encompassing three core tenets: planetary health, transdisciplinarity, and a people-centred approach. In our vision, revitalisation approaches would take a big-picture view of informal settlements that recognises the inter-connectedness of people and nature within complex urban systems; integrates perspectives from various academic disciplines, non-academic sectors, and communities for knowledge generation; and centres informal settlement residents and communities as experts and partners in urban praxis.