COVID-19 and informal workers in Asian cities

Impact, response, and implications for urban recovery

Redento B. Recio, Kazi Nazrul Fattah, Nausheen H. Anwar, Noman Ahmed, Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, Michele Acuto, Ian Jayson Hecita, Shiva Nouri, Redento B. Recio, Kazi Nazrul Fattah, Nausheen H. Anwar, Noman Ahmed, Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, Michele Acuto, Ian Jayson Hecita, Shiva Nouri

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781003804109
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Comparative Economics
• Index: Business

As COVID-19 took hold across local and international borders in 2020 and 2021, over 1.6 billion informal workers were estimated to have been adversely impacted by mobility restrictions and other 'lockdown' measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. In the Global South, the pandemic has severely affected the sprawling megacities in Southeast and South Asia that have been driving urbanisation, and where there is a very high concentration of informal workers. This volume examines how informal workers were affected by the responses to the pandemic in five Asian megacities: Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hyderabad (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines).

Gathering voices and experiences from across these subregions, this book engages with issues surrounding state measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters present the gaps and lessons learned in addressing the needs of informal workers. They also shed light on grassroots solidarity initiatives, civic practices, and social networks that have cushioned the devastating effects of the crisis. The book ends with a discussion on the implications of identified state measures and citizen-led responses for (post) pandemic planning and urban governance in Asian cities in an age of recovery.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• About the editors
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Executive Summary And Key Recommendations
• 1 Navigating the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in Asia: state measures, grassroots responses and implications for recovery
• 2 COVID-19, micro-smart lockdowns and gendered impacts in Karachi
• 3 Social security for urban informal workers: the case of Hyderabad, India
• 4 Urban community response supported by government: the case of COVID-19 management in Dhaka
• 5 Securitisation of the pandemic in the Philippines
• 6 Impacts of pandemic policies on street vendors in Jakarta
• 7 Just and inclusive urban recovery in post-pandemic Asia: prioritising policy considerations for informal workers
• Glossary