Neave O'Clery | Informal workers, firms and Covid in Colombian cities

The world is becoming more urban every day. According to the UN, 55% of the world’s population is concentrated in urban areas, a figure that is likely to increase to 68% in the next thirty years. This process presents enormous social, economic and environmental challenges, particularly in developing countries where most of the growth in urban population will take place. Addressing these challenges is made more difficult due to the fact that there is a significant gap in our understanding of the drivers and processes underlying informal work which represents up to 90% of workers in many Latin American cities.

Here we will look at a trilogy of work on informal work and mobility in Colombian cities including:

• A model that explains the potential of a city to grow its formal employment rate by building on its current skill based to move into new complex industries;

• An analysis of the impact of COVID lockdown policy severity and local economic factors on urban mobility patterns using mobile phone data

• A machine learning approach to uncovering the spatial distribution of visible commercial firms in Medellin.

This is an Online Event. Please sign up via Eventbrite by clicking Book Now above. CASA staff and students can join directly via the link we'll share beforehand.