Insurgent Planning in Informal Settlements: A Case Study from Cali, Colombia

This article explores the experiences of urban informal settlements residents in formal and informal planning, and in the light of state planning's frequent exclusion of informal settlement residents, asks whether "insurgent planning" offers a conceptual alternative for understanding activities organized by these residents. Insurgent planning is understood as direct action by residents to transform local resources and capacities into political and social capital to defend and improve their neighborhood. It is found that opportunities for participation in this context are scarce, despite the existence of formal mechanisms, due to the neighborhood's lack of formal status. However, high levels of informal participation or insurgent planning, have contributed to the neighborhood's relatively consolidated physical state. But the present stagnation of community activity is perhaps due to the neighborhood's unrecognized status, and its lack of legal land tenure. The article concludes with some policy recommendations to better support informal neighborhoods.