Just and inclusive urban recovery in post-pandemic Asia: Prioritising policy considerations for informal workers

This chapter shows some of the immediate challenges that stand in the way of ensuring a just and inclusive urban growth in the post-pandemic period. It outlines a set of policy recommendations to achieve urban resilience and equitable post-pandemic recovery in the region. Female informal workers were impacted even more: directly by the pandemic but also by increased domestic violence from men, the added burden of work and reduced access to healthcare. Mobile, undocumented migrant workers were mostly excluded from accessing any support packages provided by the governments. The devastating impact that various pandemic response measures have had on urban informal workers brought to light their precarious pre-pandemic living and working conditions. The inadequacy and ineffectiveness of state measures saw these civil society actors responding as an organically formed “care collective” capable of building solidarities and catering to the immediate needs of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in the city.