ABSTRACT

For the majority, urban survival in the ‘global South’ demands a vigilance that combines looking out for danger, maximising connections, and keeping up appearances, simply in order to get by. 1 This disposition is also a mapping tool for navigating ambiguities of interpretation in cities that juxtapose formal and informal orders. In the unauthorised settlements and self-built shelters, the favelas, ashwa’iyyat, shantytowns, and musseques that spearhead the architectural manifestation of urbanisation in the developing world – in Africa, Latin America, and South East Asia – the stability conventionally associated with places is regularly undermined by unanticipated change, and by a wariness about putting down roots. Alongside this pervasive sense of being on the brink of displacement is a miraculous urban imaginary linked to good fortune, spiritual salvation, and the trappings of consumption.