features but are adapted to incorporate more advanced elements and techniques, such
as the structured multiplied or even mass production of (stylized) traditional arts and
crafts, or the production of modern household goods produced from locally obtained
materials. While the largest market for this kind of product lies in the central business
areas of cities, their production processes occur in industrial areas and even at home.
The upper semi-formal layer consists of the selling of goods and services that are
obtained from the formal sector, or that are privately produced from materials that are
obtained from the formal sector. The products and services that are offered in this
layer could range greatly in terms of their level of technical sophistication, from
locally manufactured goods produced for local consumption only, to products that are
marketed globally. Although upstream and downstream linkages are sometimes
found between the formal sector and each of the three informal strata, the linkages
between the formal and the semi-formal sectors are often the most promising for
immediate exploitation and expansion.
Figure 2: Model on the integration of formal and informal
commerce and industry in the urban South
Informal Urban
Sector
ORGANISED | ||
COMMERCE | ||
& INDUSTRY | ||
NATIONAL | ||
⅜ | ||
REGIONAL | ||
⅜ | ||
LOCAL | ||
Formal Urban
Sector
AFFILIATION
ORGANISED | ||
COMMERCE | ||
& INDUSTRY | ||
NATIONAL | ||
REGIONAL | ||
LOCAL | ||
U ½rmal ≡ SSEt
≡ onmformal ≡ mict¾f
The model also allows for international links with the local formal and informal
sectors. Deteriorating conditions in the South often result in an increase in emigration
to the North, legally or clandestine (Morris, 1997). Although this phenomenon holds
14