NEXT SALON #1 – INFORMAL BUT INVALUABLE
the added value of the informal economy

In many cities in the world the informal economy plays a crucial and locally often very valuable role. What can we learn from the resilience and creativity of local entrepreneurs who are not visible in the statistics and who, to economically survive, operate outside the space of regulations and administrative control? What are smart ways to link the informal to the formal economy? And what spatial conditions and planning strategies encourage these necessary economic activities?

In the first part of the Salon the host, Maarten Hajer, talks with the main guest Fernando de Mello Franco (architect, Secretary of Urban Development of São Paulo and member of the Curator Team of the 5th IABR: Making City), Kees Christiaanse (architect, professor at ETH Zürich and curator of the 4th IABR: Open City) and Roger Sherman (architect and professor at UCLA). Main topic is the added value of the informal economy in different cities all over the world, including South East Asia and South America.

After the entr'acte, the conversation continues and zooms in on the spatial and administrative conditions necessary to allow for a clever link between the formal and informal economies, and on what Western-European cities could learn in this aspect from the Global South. Hajer and De Mello Franco will be joined by Arbi Mazniku, deputy-mayor of Tirana, Albania, and other guests.

Sunday 24 April 2016
Time: 14:30 - 16 pm
Location: Fenixloods II, Paul Nijghkade 19, Rotterdam
Language English

Reservation for the opening weekend is not possible, tickets are available at the box office.
Tickets for the Next Salon are available at the box office an hour before the start of the program. Please note that there is a limited number of seats available.

On Sunday 24 April, Next Salon #1 will take place, the first in a series of four Sunday afternoon meetings that zoom in on current events that impact the debate about the Next Economy.