On October 28, 2022, the Penn IUR Forum on Urban Informality, in collaboration with Penn Press and the Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted Chandan Deuskar for a discussion of his new book “Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics” published in August 2022 by Penn Press. Deuskar is an urban planning researcher and international development practitioner whose work focuses on urbanization in the Global South. In 2020-2021, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Penn Institute for Urban Research as well as a fellow at the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Cities of Tomorrow. Deuskar currently works at the World Bank as an urban development specialist. He completed a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning in 2020 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design. He also has degrees in Architecture from Columbia University, and City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In his book, Deuskar discusses how informal political dynamics, particularly the provision of benefits to the poor in exchange for political support (‘clientelism’), impacts urban growth and planning in democracies of the Global South. The book examines the relationship between clientelism and urban growth through a detailed case study of Ghana, statistical analysis at the global scale, and the literature on clientelism and urban informality from across disciplines. It also explores how planners can take a more politically adaptive approach when working in context of urban informal politics.
In his talk, Deuskar presented the case of demolitions in the informal settlement of Old Fadama in Accra, as a political response to the dual tragedy of floods and fire in Accra in 2015. The demolitions antagonized the residents and incited protests against the political party in power. The book uses this example among others to discuss how informal politics in Ghana determine its urban growth and the ability to plan for, or respond to, environmental challenges such as floods. He speaks about how clientelism is antithetical to formal urban planning but can be used as an entry point by planners. He also highlights the importance of utilizing existing channels of planning and service delivery to make more coordinated and sustainable planning decisions. This book is especially relevant to urban planners and international development experts working in the Global South, as well as researchers, educators, and students of global urbanization who will find it informative and thought-provoking.
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