Galdini R. (2023). Informality and evolution of urban space

Urban informality is at the centre of intense activity of reflection and research aimed at analyzing the causes and effects produced at global and local levels and at defining the perspectives of a phenomenon, which is now rooted in contemporary urban reality. Informal practices are considered potential factors of urban development. The possibility of generating new solutions brings attention to the value of informal practices, which arise from the community’s local needs and can, however, guide urban policies. Based on these considerations, this article proposes in the first part, an interpretation of urban informality by focusing on some emerging theoretical approaches and the complex relationship between formal and informal. The second part focuses on some possible perspectives of the informal that consider informality as a source of learning. The idea of establishing a dialogic relationship, in which the formal integrates the informal by promoting processes of interaction and reciprocal hybridization seems to indicate the right direction to orient the project of the contemporary city. I