ABSTRACT

Incremental urbanism is a way of describing the process of room-by-room accretion through which informal settlements agglomerate. Incremental urbanism operates on sites without cranes, where structures span less than five metres, where materials are transported by hand and stored in the interstices of existing structures. At such densities incremental urbanism can result in a version of the tragedy of the commons where accumulations of self-interest lead to a loss of the common interest. Thick description and micro-scale urban analysis become important to reveal the ways an assemblage works. Assemblage theory is emerging as an important form of critical urbanism with key links to urban political economy but without the economic reductionism. The urban population increased about fourfold from 1950 to 2010, the urban slum population increased more than tenfold. In other words, most new urban populations have been accommodated outside the control of the state, without the engagement of built environment professions.