Informality as a Way of Living in the City. The Point of View of Urban Practices to Rethink the Categories of Urban Governance

The theme of urban informality has received increasing attention over the years, particularly as a result of some research by urban planners and sociologists. Urban informality calls into question some categories and some approaches traditionally used with reference to urban governance. It is useful to take the point of view of urban practices. Seen from this point of view, cities are inherently informal. It is necessary to apply a capacity for discernment in the characterization of informal experiences, a discernment that must be oriented, first, to evaluate the public interest and, therefore, calls into play a central role of politics that has largely been lost in urban governance.