WHY FORMALITY TENDS TO FAIL?

WHY FORMALITY TENDS TO FAIL?

Ola Damilola Dominic

4061271

Prof. Ivan Kucina

Formality as we know it over the past recent years over various sectors has come under a lot of debate as to what it entails and the conditions around it. What does Formality really mean? Is Formality an inclusive term or a rather controlled term? Why do we have Formality? Does its advantages outweigh its disadvantages or vice-versa?

Formality can be defined as the rigid observance of rules or conventions or etiquettes, stiffness of behaviour or style, something that is done simply to comply with requirements of etiquette, regulations, or custom or finally  something that is done as a matter of course and without question; an inevitability. From the definition alone, a lot of questions arise. So it’s safe to say some things are done with reason but should not be questioned. Why can’t it be questioned?

But from the beginning people have always been drawn to freedom or rather opposed to formality for so many reasons; freedom to move, freedom of expression and freedom to think because of the because of the human factor, limitless opportunities and lack of boundary. The quest of a few to map out the activities of man and create a form of control as done nothing more but placed a divide between one another. Although it could have been created with the best of intentions to streamline efforts and increase efficiency. This divide which is present within Formality as in turn made it that we are but limited in our actions. A political quote goes saying “Freedom of speech is guaranteed under Formality but Freedom after speech isn’t”. So then are we really free?

Formality as a means was devised to take or develop control over resources and then share or redistribute them equally. This didn’t end up working out according to plan. Most of the Formal methods being used presently are frameworks written down dozens of years ago which don’t take into consideration that people, society and culture do differ across regions and over time. This same framework can’t be applied every time to get the same results it once gave. It has to be modified and updated to conform to recent conditions.

Formality as a system is meant to be arranged or organized such that the focus is on the interests of people and not on furtherance of national goals. As even after nations crumble the people still go on living. Because it is almost impossible to provide the public goals for everyone and at every time when needed, Formality is being called into question.

Of recent the world has been turning to learn from the Informal or apply experiences gotten from the Informal. We wouldn’t be learning from it if Formality was as perfect as it is proclaimed to be. This is not to romanticize Informality or propose that we should return to informality as a system because Informality also isn’t perfect but together or hand in hand the informal and formal could work for the furtherance of all.

1.      Urbanization: Most cities from the start have been planned for a specific number and with an expected population growth which would be constant and kept under check. But the rate at which the world has urbanized over the past years has been at an unprecedented rate. Cities population have more than doubled or in some cases tripled and grown way past projections. Slums have transformed into Urban Sprawls and into megacities. By 2030, our 7.3 Billion will have increased to 8.4 Billion and 9.7 Billion by 2050 and 11.2 Billion by 2100. Virtually all population growth would take place between now and then in cities. But the problem would be our failure to plan for this expected influx. Formality has made it such that our cities are stiff and rigid and can’t exactly be modified to accept changes. The formal systems have made our cities a bottleneck of bureaucracies. One advantage of the Informal in this aspect is its flexibility and resilience. People keep coming into them but never at a point was there a threat to their structure or originality in terms of social and economic value. It could be said that Informal systems have no identity but what are we to expect from a hurriedly put together system which knows it has to operate against all odds which definitely are not in its favour. Against all this odds, the informal still seems to stay afloat and accommodate change as it comes always able to make or squeeze out enough square meters for the next influx. We need to be able to learn from this process and apply to our formal cities to enable us cope with the expected new wave of urbanization. Already in some cities the urbanization has almost made it impossible for formality to function. Unplanned urban sprawl, environmental pollution, deterioration, deficiencies in modern basic facilities, and general urban decay has almost grounded formality to a halt. Basic services and amenities have to be sourced for informally. Urbanization has helped in pointing out the defects in formality and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible as the world prepares for another wave of Urbanization.

2.      Industrialization: The greatest accomplishment of Formality seems to be industrialization. The struggle for efficiency, streamlined production, division of labour and so on. But this has brought on a segment or part of the citizens untold hardship. With most of the world citizens now being exclusive consumers, resources are running out faster than they can be regenerated. The Industrial Revolution changed material production, wealth, labour patterns and population distribution. Although many rural areas remained farming communities during this time, the lives of people in cities changed drastically. The new industrial labour opportunities caused a population shift from the countryside to the cities. The new factory work led to a need for a strict system of factory discipline. Population movement was caused by people living in small farming communities who moved to cities. There was population increase and this was thought to be due to a dramatic decline in the death rate. A drop in famines, warfare and illnesses, and an increase in food sources, all mixed to cause a population spike. Cities became centres of industrial growth. But the growth of cities led to horrible living conditions. The wealthy fared far better than the industrial workers because they could afford to live in the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. However, for most of the factory workers, cities were dirty, crowded places where epidemics frequently broke out. The division became even more prominent.

Industrialization transferred a portions of a workforce from agriculture (Rural), which spreads cultivators across the land, to manufacturing which was established in cities. This process reduced drastically the balance and relationship between Rural and Urban and left the rural populace hanging on. The effects of Industrialization can briefly be summarised as Friedrich Engels put it “The first great division of labour, the separation of Rural and Urban, condemned the rural population to thousands of years of mental torpidity, and the people of the urban each to subjection to his own individual trade. It destroyed the basis of the intellectual development of the former and the physical development of the latter. When the peasant appropriates his land, and the townsman his trade, the land appropriates the peasant and the trade the townsman to the very same extent. In the division of labour, man is also divided. The way out would be the creation of a Rural-Urban in which all the advantages of the most energetic and active town life, with all the beauty and delight of the country, may be secured in perfect combination ; and the certainty of being able to live this life will be the magnet which will produce the effect for which we are all striving — the spontaneous movement of the people from our crowded cities to the bosom of our kindly mother earth, at once the source of life, of happiness, of wealth, and of power.

3.      Inflexibility: From the definition of formality alone which is defined as the rigid observance of rules or conventions. It leaves room for a lot of loops. People have and would always react to rules and only go with it when it favours their sustenance. When a system offers no economic or personal benefit, ways around it would be found giving room to Informality. Formality is concerned with the process and in some instances, there are more than two or three processes to achieve a result but Formality allows for just one process to be mapped and replicated by all without taking into context the various existing conditions. Informality as a system is very flexible as the end result is what matters and not the process. For example, in Formality to build a house requires set down principles, guidelines, materials and a lot more before the process of building can begin and is so for almost every situation under it whereas with Informality the context is always first considered before any design is applied with various means such that each work is different from the other. This flexibility of the informal gives rise to creativity and allows for a discovery of new means. Of recent the flexibility of the Informal has given rise to the so called expandable house whereby houses can be built over a period of time in stages and improved upon as against the formal process of it being fully constructed before being inhabited. It’s known that the cost of construction due to formality has been increased by as much as 45% in some cities and as such most people are not able to finish construction at a go.

4.      Regulations and Laws: Because many formal cities are still being governed by laws which do not necessarily match the prevailing urban reality, people tend to avoid getting trapped in the regulations and laws as they are only but rigid. In some cases the regulations and laws do exist but the failure for it to be enforced leads to a breakdown. Also with the multiplicity of these laws, the costs associated are always high which includes the cost of compliance and enforcement. The multiplicity and rigidity of laws and regulations compel people to pursue informal routes to conduct transactions, to do business and to get access to basic services. Excessive regulations such as strict zoning, organization of urban space in exclusive residential, commercial or industrial areas also seem to always give rise to sprawl and an horizontal low density expansion of urban spaces.

The myriad of paper works and legal processes which need to be followed meticulously and authorized by various offices knowing it might as well be rejected at the end of the day is a turn off already for most who think of the formal process. Then comes the informal which asks for almost nothing but allows for almost anything. To take for example the processes and formalities required to get a loan from a bank which is more often than not denied and the assurance of getting a loan from a friend or through informal means which is often guaranteed. We then can call into question formality itself.

5.      Resources: Formality thrives on the use and efficiency of resources and with the migration trend worldwide, human resources which are the most important tend to move about. This is due to the strong presence or concentration of businesses and companies and others in a certain geographic area. If this is instead rather spread over an area then the movement can be curbed and by so doing human resources are kept in place and development is furthered.  Furthermore, Formality has been able to find a way to use up the most productive land, dammed the most energetically profitable rivers and tapped into the easiest to reach water. Now resources left are minimum and there’s a problem with trying to share the benefits equally. So the quest for resources which Formality so thrives on would be a reason for formality to break at tipping point.

6.      Housing: The impact of rapid population growth on housing development in almost all economies is usually the consequence of the push of the rural areas and the pull of the town. As the rural areas tend to efficiency thereby spewing people out of barely sustainable jobs left which is in most instances due to the industrialization of Agriculture. This leads to an upsurge in the amount of people who move into the urban formal cities. This growth which is known still tends to be highly unplanned for. There’s absolutely no reason why people would want to stay in an area without jobs or other economic opportunities but the government tends to think so. The newly urban people move into the urban centres and are almost unable to get a befitting accommodation for the price value they can afford. Some are left at the mercy of housing policies and social policies which is more often always an attempt to keep them silent but is never enough. There is always an upsurge and conglomeration of people in city centres with the resultant effects on housing growth arising from acute unemployment. This growth and physical expansion of cities have been accompanied by unplanned urban sprawl, environmental pollution, deterioration, deficiencies in modern basic facilities, and general urban decay. As increased poverty and urbanization exert more pressures on urban facilities, most cities tend to have lost their original dignity, social cohesion and administrative efficiency.

The provision of affordable housing for this newly urban citizens has always been a major problem such that the only way out for them is to seek solace within the informal. The informal system being flexible, expandable and able to readjust with little or no costs and less troubles is almost always.

7.      Administrative and Political Influence: This plays a huge role in determining the success or failure of formality. The presence in the formal goes a long way but more than the presence, the effectiveness is the main deciding factor. But this presence often more than not but plays a negative role. The struggle for power or administrative control is resource intensive and capital expensive. This struggle is done using resources and at the end the resources are almost all used up and the dividends of it cannot be equally divided or shared. This causes a huge gap in the equality of people and only deepens it. More often the results of the struggle for resources and powers ends with a shift power often with a movement of resources and key sectors. With this movement, the old location is left behind and almost left behind. The left over control and formal system is almost impossible to sustain itself. This results in a breakdown of infrastructures and services at some point or an overwhelming of existing ones. The power control happens to be within just a few for example the Politicians and Billionaires. Of recent, there was a report as to what the effect of Billionaires is on any given city or economy and they have little or no impact. The money awarded for contracts only ends up switching accounts between a group of people and only manages to trickle down. So if formality should pride itself on being able to create billionaires and they have little or no effect on the system do we still term is as a success.

8.      Human Control: Lastly, the main struggle for Formality has been Control. From industrialization to migration to resources to the laws and all. The main goal has been a way to control man. But we all know the last thing any human wants to be is to be controlled. With formal in place, boundaries are put up. Freedom is given but not fully. With the informal, people are free to live out their fantasies and dreams and boundaries are blurred so that they almost don’t exist. People can switch domains and back as they please. With the formal as can be seen in urban spaces, there’s a sort of control on people being zoned into exclusive areas and allowing almost for no social mix. In various new age developments, success rate has been deemed low for this reason alone. People complain they become alienated to one another. There’s almost no contact or mix as everyone is indirectly controlled leading to the way he behaves. What is needed is an inclusive development that lets go of the reins of control to help with social mixes and exchanges.

Formality we can say has reached a state of nirvana whereby it is no longer considered natural but now just tedious and boring. It is important to realize that Formality and Informality should be seen as a continuum and part of a socio-economic fabric where actors with various degrees of formality, interact, compete and exchange and not as a dichotomy of one over the other. One should not also be seen as a necessary good or the other as a necessary bad but both should be seen as parts of a whole. The main aim at the end is to make both benefit those who happen to live in both. The choices we make now would have a huge effect on how much sustainable we will be with the human race.