Volume 52

Informality can be interpreted as a positive quality hinting at individual freedom or even be romanticized as bottom up and empowering force. But informality as safety valve for a system that is not able to adjust to changing conditions smoothly and quickly enough is another matter.
The mass migration of people to cities cannot be met by regular housing schemes, so people have to provide their own. The sea of unemployed provides a labor reserve that comes in handy when the economy is growing and that can easily be ditched once the economy slows down again. In global capitalist market economy, informality is not an errant, a flaw in the system that’ll soon be taken care of; it is part of the system’s ‘design’.
This Volume issue is accompanied by the ‘Are you working on your fringe?’ supplement. Nine European cities investigated strategies for transforming post-war fringe areas of their municipalities.

Editor in Chief: Arjen Oosterman
Designed by Irma Boom Office (I. Boom, J. van der Kleijn)
64 Pages, 33 x 24 cm
Soft cover, stapled

Are you working on your Fringe?
Initiated by Maarten van Tuijl and Isabelle Verhaert
Designed by Ellen van Huffel, Inge Gobert
40 pages, 26,5 x 20 cm
Soft cover, stapled