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Reframing the informal economy through social innovation

Chakrabarti, Priyanka

This Project examines the complex economic, political, and social factors that drive the informal economy in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The stagnation in welfare rates coupled with the lack of policy interventions has prevented the DTES community from pulling itself out of poverty and social exclusion. Using the theory of social innovation, this paper provides policy recommendations that can support the informal workforce and social enterprises in the DTES—which has the potential to make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation in the city of Vancouver. The socioeconomic characteristics and structure of DTES’s informal economy is explored using three ongoing socially innovative projects in partnership with the Local Economic Development Lab (LEDlab)—The Binners’ Project, DTES Street Market, and Knack. These nonprofit social enterprises are currently providing opportunities for social integration and economic development for DTES residents who have been working within the informal economy. My project presents an opportunity for the City of Vancouver to engage, integrate, and build capacity among those that have limited economic options, who in turn can contribute to an equitable socioeconomic regeneration of the urban environment.

Downtown-Eastside (Vancouver, B.C.)

Text

University of British Columbia. SCARP Graduating Projects

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0300035

Applied Science, Faculty of; Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of

Graduate

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