From Bangkok to Rio de Janeiro, urban areas in the global South have experienced steady expansion in recent decades. Informal settlements on the peripheries of Johannesburg or Jakarta have swelled to accommodate rural migrants or foreigners searching for work or better services. Almost overnight, satellite cities and peri-urban developments in Beijing and Luanda have materialised to house an emerging middle class. In urban areas as diverse as Addis Ababa and Dubai, city building projects showcasing a country’s world class aspirations or its resource wealth have multiplied (Schindler, 2015).
