Improving accountability for equitable health and well-being in urban informal spaces: Moving from dominant to transformative approaches

Tolhurst, R. et al. (2024) Improving accountability for equitable health and well-being in urban informal spaces: Moving from dominant to transformative approaches. Progress in Development Studies, (doi: 10.1177/1464993423122553) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

This article critically reviews the literature on urban informality, inequity, health, well-being and accountability to identify key conceptual, methodological and empirical gaps in academic and policy discourses. We argue that critical attention to power dynamics is often a key missing element in these discourses and make the case for explicit attention to the operation of power throughout conceptualization, design and conduct of research in this space. We argue that: (a) urban informality reflects the exercise of power to confer and withhold advantage; (b) the dominant biomedical model of health poorly links embodied experiences and structural contexts; (c) existing models of accountability are inadequate in unequal, pluralistic governance and provision environments. We trace four conceptual and empirical directions for transformative approaches to power relations in urban health equity research.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The GCRF Accountability for Informal Urban Equity Hub (“ARISE”) is a UKRI Collective Fund award with award reference ES/S00811X/1.
• Keywords: Urban informality, power, accountability, equity, intersectionality, health, wellbeing.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gray, Dr Linsay and Leyland, Professor Alastair and Kibuchi, Dr Eliud and Forsyth, Mr Ross
• Authors: Tolhurst, R., Dean, L., Ozano, K., Phillips-Howard, P., Steege, R., Theobald, S., Whittaker, L., Chumo, I., Kabaria, C., Mberu, B., Refell, F., Gandi, I., Mansaray, B., Saidu, S., Sesay, S., Smith, J., Wurie, H., Botlagunta, R., Garimella, S., Lakshmi Josyula, K., Murthy, S., Sai, V., Saligram, P., Edstrom, J., Gupte, J., Khan, S., MacGregor, H., Shankland, A., te Lintelo, D., Waldman, L., Wilkinson, A., Aktar, B., Alam, W., Ali, S., Awal, A., Farnaz, N., Manzoor, F., Mithu, I., Quayyum, Z., Rashid, S., Karuga, R., Muturi, N., Otiso, L., Okoth, L., Hawkins, K., Makau, J., Kimani, J., Wairutu, J., Conteh, A., Sirah Kamara, M., Koroma, B., MacCarthy, J., Jukur, S., Rao, V., Gray, L., Forsyth, R., Kibuchi, E., Leyland, A., Elsey, H., Mazumdar, S., and Siqueira, N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Progress in Development Studies
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 1464-9934
• ISSN (Online): 1477-027X
• Published Online: 23 February 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 SAGE Publications
• First Published: First published in Progress in Development Studies 2024
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
304823002	1	Inequalities in health	Alastair Leyland	Medical Research Council (MRC)	MC_UU_00022/2	HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
304823007	1	Inequalities in health	Alastair Leyland	Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSO)	SPHSU17	HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit