As COVID-19 took hold across local and international borders in 2020 and 2021, over 1.6 billion informal workers were estimated to have been adversely impacted by mobility restrictions and other 'lockdown' measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. In the Global South, the pandemic has severely affected the sprawling megacities in Southeast and South Asia that have been driving urbanisation, and where there is a very high concentration of informal workers. This volume examines how informal workers were affected by the responses to the pandemic in five Asian megacities: Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hyderabad (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines). Gathering voices and experiences from across these subregions, this book engages with issues surrounding state measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters present the gaps and lessons learned in addressing the needs of informal workers. They also shed light on grassroots solidarity initiatives, civic practices, and social networks that have cushioned the devastating effects of the crisis. The book ends with a discussion on the implications of identified state measures and citizen-led responses for (post) pandemic planning and urban governance in Asian cities in an age of recovery.

Karachi is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is Pakistan's only port and the major contributor to the country's economy. In addition, it is also a diverse city with its population politically divided along ethnic lines. These three factors make the urban land and that on the citys fringe a highly contested commodity: federal, provincial, and local land-owning agencies, corporate sector interests, formal and informal developers, international capital, and military cantonments compete for control and for extracting maximum value from it. The victims of this battle for turf and profits are the city's social and physical environment and its low and lower middle-income groups. This book deals with the history, evolution, and present day realities around who owns land, its legal and illegal acquisition, land-use conversions and development, the actors involved and their relationship with each other and with the public at large, the often violent conflicts that take place in this process and the measures that can be taken to regulate the land market for the creation of a better urban environment and for providing homes to its less privileged.