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One of the more familiar tropes in development-related literature is that impoverished people are neither passive recipients of development nor passive victims of process that have caused their marginalization. This progress report examines two ways in which research has elaborated on this idea, namely the collective responses to the causes of deprivation on one hand and the collective effects of uncoordinated responses on the other. The first theme has been reanimated by remarkable mobilizations across the world, including revolutions, widespread expressions of frustration, demands for more substantive inclusion into society and distributional systems, and mobilizations to enhance autonomy through self-organization. The second theme considers how those regarded as being in need of development transform society beyond the frame of social movements, through the often uncoordinated appropriation of space for living and working at a scale which invalidates, to varying degrees, efforts by elites to control and exclude. While these two themes seem at times to be placed in normative competition with each other, many researchers recognize the exchanges and overlaps between different forms of development by the poor.

Urban water systems in Asia and Africa mostly provide intermittent rather than continuous water supplies; such systems compromise water quality and inconvenience the user. Starting in 2008, an upgrade to continuous (24/7) water services was provided for 10% of the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad, India, through a process of privatisation and formalisation. The goals were to improve water quality, free consumers from collecting and storing water, and reduce non-revenue (i.e. unpaid for) water. Drawing on household surveys (n = 1986) conducted in 2010-2011 in the 24/7 zones, as well as on a range of interviews, we find that, even with 'formal' 24/7 water service, most consumers continue the supposedly 'informal' practices of in-home storage and water use without payment of bills. We argue that multiple unaccounted-for factors - including a history of distrust between the consumer and the utility, seemingly small infrastructural details, resistance to higher tariffs, and valuing convenience above water quality - have kept these informal practices embedded within the formalised delivery system. Our research contributes to understanding why formalisation may only partially supplant informal practices even when the formal system is functional and reliable.

En Alejandría, Egipto, se ha producido un intenso proceso de “destrucción creativa” en un entorno que sufre los problemas consecuentes de la ultraconcentración en ascenso, agravado por la inexistencia de una planificación estatal coherente. El crecimiento sin planificación es evidente tanto en la “invasión pausada” que los ciudadanos adoptan en las calles de la ciudad, como en el decadente estado del espacio público. Según nuestro estudio, el desarrollo urbanístico de la ciudad se configura acorde a una división social simbólica que opone la ciudad cultural a la ciudad consumista elitista, siendo las franquicias de comida rápida símbolos del neoliberalismo urbano.