1. The Economic and Political Development Department invites you to a presentation and discussion on:
On the Frontier of
Urbanization:
Informal Settlements in
Yangon, Myanmar
Speaker: Eben Forbes, Rajawali Fellow at the Ash Center for
Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
and Program Officer at UN-Habitat, Myanmar (on leave)
Myanmar (Burma) is often considered a “rural” country. Yet at the current rate of urbanization, the urban population will
exceed the rural by the year 2040. In Yangon, the provision of infrastructure and services is already unable to keep pace
with population growth. While informal settlements have always been part of the city’s landscape, recent years have
seen big changes in the geographical spread of these settlements. Development in the city’s core has led to the eviction
of most inner-city squatters and the “pricing out” of many low income renters, while new industry in the city’s periphery
has attracted many more squatters to peri-urban areas. During field research from December through February, Mr.
Forbes interviewed scores of families representing the poorest of Yangon’s poor: the residents of informal settlements
in both central and peripheral areas of Yangon. This presentation will elucidate the trends observed amongst these
settlement areas and will highlight the many challenges faced by this population during this critical time of transition in
Myanmar.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2015 l 1:00-2:00pm l Room 402B IAB