Part 1

• Hot Work, Urban Waste: The Condition of Waste Pickers in Southeast Asia Puangchon Unchanam Vienna University of Economics and Business

  In the Global South, waste management relies heavily on the intensive labor of informal waste pickers as they play a crucial role in recycling valuable materials, reducing the large amount of waste ending up in landfills, and supporting the circular economy. Despite their contribution to urban well-being and a shift toward sustainable economies in mega cities, waste pickers have long been undervalued, stigmatized, and marginalized. This article examines the condition of waste pickers in contemporary Southeast Asia through the concept of ‘hot work,’ the condition and experience of labor marked by heat. Drawing on ethnographic studies and news reports on waste pickers in the region, this paper argues that the ‘hot work’ of waste picking represents a complex and little understood social phenomenon associated with urban well-being, informal institutions, and labor conditions. Geographically, waste picking is found predominantly in the tropical regions of the world. Physically, waste pickers face hot and harsh working conditions as they frequently labor outdoors during the day in landfills and burning dumpsites. Socially, waste pickers frequently experience social stigma, marginalization, and harassment. With the rise in global waste trade and global inequality, massive waste from the cooler, wealthier, and cleaner regions continues to be shifted to mega cities in the Global South. Consequently, this paper contends, the Global South will remain a hotspot for waste dumping and burning, and the battlefront for the waste workers and their alliances to fight for environmental justice.

• Why are trees important for urban well-being? – a multispecies approach to urban green spaces in Hanoi Sandra Kurfürst University of Cologne

  Cities in Southeast Asia are symbols of progress, modernity and in Vietnam also of civilisation (đô thị văn minh, hiện đại) - a state of society, and accordingly a status that a human settlement can achieve. Although the importance of urban green spaces for the liveability of the city is acknowledged by urban planners in Vietnam, urban development everywhere remains a highly human-centred undertaking. In a similar vein, urban well-being has been discussed so far with regards to human actors’ well-being, while urban green spaces feature as ecosystem services that contribute to the well-being of urbanites.
  Room for public participation in urban development is limited in Vietnam, and urban planning for the most part is carried out in a top-down approach. Although Vietnam is a socialist country, the Communist Party embraces the idea of a market economy, in which urban development is driven by neoliberal principles. In the case presented here, ancient trees are required to make way for infrastructural development, in pursuance of the ideal of a civilized and modern city.
  Shortly after the cutting of more than 6,000 trees was announced in March 2015, urban citizens gathered to form what came to be known the tree hug movement. The paper discusses how creative protest activities contributed to an understanding of cities as multispecies entanglements, in which human actors claim representation for non-human actors through performance, seeking a more holistic understanding of urban well-being comprising the well-being of urbanites, and more than human actors.

• Negotiating well-being in urban peripheralization: Socio-spatial inequalities and urban poor agency in Cebu’s risk mitigation Weena Gera University of the Philippines, Cebu

  In metro Cebu, the Philippines’ second-largest metropolitan area, increasing flood disasters compel local governments to revamp risk mitigation and land use especially in disaster-prone areas occupied by the urban poor. Yet, a key dynamic often not appreciated in city disaster planning initiatives is the growing peripheralization – the production of peripheries and socio-spatial disparities as a consequence of risk mitigation strategies. And an important dimension of peripheralization which is yet to be fully understood in cities in developing countries is the agency of people living in peripheral communities in the way they perceive, cope or change structural conditions in peripheries, including in negotiating their well-being. This paper examines how urban poor communities displaced by disaster risk mitigation infrastructures and land use in Cebu City, the core of metro Cebu, cope and negotiate their well-being vis-à-vis power structures and institutional constraints. Anchored in a paradigm that goes beyond the binary between the powerful and powerless in urban governance, it integrates contemporary social networks and political relations in the process of promoting urban well-being in the context of building disaster resilience. This involves 1) basic access to livelihoods and secure housing; 2) access to critical infrastructures such as water, sanitation, electricity, schools, health centers, and flood control; 3) access to community identity/solidarity and social integration. Through an in-depth examination of Barangay Inayawan, an urban ward that hosts displaced urban poor communities, the study demonstrates the agency of urban poor networks, albeit uneven across sectors, as they engage civil society and local officials to challenge socio-spatial inequalities, and promote their well-being. However, an ongoing socio-ecological reordering and (re)positioning of political, economic, and communal elites amid unmanaged urban informality and heightened risk uncertainties, trigger new forms of social segregation, communal fragmentation and alienation that overwhelm such agency of urban poor communities.

Part 2

• Food Security and Urban Well-being in Bangkok: Socioeconomic Inequalities in a Southeast Asian Mega City Malee Sunpuwan Mahidol University

  Rapid urbanization in Southeast Asia has intensified concerns about inequality and vulnerability in mega cities. Among these challenges, food security is a critical component of urban well-being, particularly for households facing economic instability and external shocks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while many Southeast Asian mega cities experienced both high infection risks and rising food insecurity, Bangkok appears to have fared comparatively better in containing severe food insecurity despite significant disruptions, partly reflecting Thailand’s relatively strong and institutionalized public health system, long-term investments in primary healthcare, and preparedness in managing infectious disease outbreaks. These dynamics highlight how urban well-being is shaped not only by economic conditions but also by institutional responses and everyday practices of urban households. This study examines the determinants of household food security in Bangkok, contributing to broader discussions on urban well-being in Southeast Asian mega cities.
  The analysis draws on a survey conducted in Bangkok in 2020 during the early outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included 6,220 household representatives. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and online surveys. Descriptive results show that 39.1% of households reported no food insecurity, 47.0% experienced moderate food insecurity, and 14.0% faced substantial food insecurity, highlighting the widespread nature of food-related vulnerability during the early stage of the pandemic.
  An ordinal logistic regression model was used to examine the determinants of food security. The results indicate that household economic conditions are the strongest predictors of food security. Households reporting sufficient income are significantly more likely to experience higher levels of food security, while households negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic show significantly higher risks of food insecurity. Lower educational attainment and younger age are associated with lower levels of food security, suggesting that social stratification, life-course positioning, and forms of social embeddedness shape resilience in urban environments. Marital status and social participation also show statistically significant associations with food security outcomes, pointing to the importance of social networks and relational ties, whereas the gender of the respondent does not show a significant effect.
  These findings highlight how economic vulnerability, social relations, and crisis-related shocks shape urban well-being, underscoring how well-being is continuously negotiated at the household level within broader institutional and urban contexts. By focusing on household food security in Bangkok, this study contributes to understanding how socioeconomic inequalities and social embeddedness influence urban well-being and resilience in Southeast Asian mega cities.

• Urban informality and well-being in the era of uncertainty: From perspective of urban lower class in Bangkok and other Asian cities Tamaki Endo Waseda University

  Rapid and compressed development leads megacities in emerging countries to a complex multi-layered structure, where the phenomena of both developing and developed countries co-occur. For example, despite of stunning economic growth, unban informality－both in terms of occupations and residential arrangements―persists and in some cases expands, playing important role for individual and society.
  Focusing on the case of Bangkok, and comparing it with other Asian cities, this paper analyzes how recent complex dynamics of exclusion and inclusion of urban informality affect urban well-being. Well-being consists of multiple
  dimensions, including both material aspects—such as health, economic conditions, and social relationships—and subjective well-being.
  On the one hand, there has been a policy shift toward incorporating informal economy workers into social security systems and formal institutional frameworks (‘inclusion’). On the other hand, current urban governance and redevelopment projects are rapidly eroding spaces for informality, often forcibly displacing street vendors, fresh markets, and slum communities (‘exclusion’). From the perspective of people’s well-being, these contradictory dynamics reflect not only urban realities but also biases in theoretical and policy discussions. In the process of economic development in Asia, labour issues (the sphere of production) and livelihoods (the sphere of social reproduction) have often been treated separately, with priority given to the former. Moreover, labour issues themselves tend to be biased toward highly productive groups.
  Thus, despite the revival of interest in urban informality across various disciplines, new tensions and conflicts are placing increasing burdens on vulnerable populations. Informality is no longer widely expected to disappear with development; however, it continues to be selectively recognized—sometimes incorporated into policy frameworks and at other times targeted for exclusion. It is important to bridge and reassess the discussion for better urban well- being.

• Linking the Public Park Culture and Social Equity in Urban Green Spaces for Citizens’ Wellbeing in Jakarta Haruming Sekar Saraswati Corvinus University of Budapest

  In Jakarta, green spaces and public park culture have evolved into critical pillars of urban wellbeing, serving as “social lungs” that mitigate the pressures of a high-density megacity and a “therapy tool” to combat rising depression rates, which increased in Indonesia from 6.2% in 2018 to 13.6% in 2023. This qualitative study attempts to investigate the role of urban green spaces, public park culture and social equity in improving human wellbeing in Jakarta.
  Public park culture in Jakarta has evolved into a vital “third place” for community interaction, shifting from passive green buffers to active hubs for social, cultural, and recreational life. While the city historically struggled with a lack of green space, recent government initiatives like Taman Maju Bersama (TMB) and RPTRA (Child-Friendly Integrated Public Spaces) have successfully introduced multifunctional parks that serve as “melting pots” for diverse social classes.
  Unfortunately, urban green spaces’ benefits are often unevenly distributed across socioeconomic and racial lines. The issues of “Green Space Paradox” and Green Gentrification are major challenge to social equity. In this matter, strategic greening can increase property values and displace the very low-income residents intended to benefit from the improvements.
  Despite progress, this study also investigates the significant barriers that remain in achieving equitable access to wellbeing through urban green spaces. First is the Spatial Inequity. Access to high-quality green spaces is often skewed toward high-land-value areas. Residents in lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods (such as certain urban kampungs) often face structural barriers, including longer travel times to reach quality parks. Second barrier is the Limited Land. Jakarta’s designated green open space remains around 5.36% to 7.56% of its total area. The third barrier is the Privatization Risks. Rapid urbanization and privatization continue to threaten the inclusivity of public spaces, potentially leading to social segregation if not managed on “publicness”.

Show Paper Abstracts

Abstract

Keywords

• Bangkok
• COVID-19 pandemic
• Global South
• Jakarta
• Southeast Asia
• Vietnam
• food security
• hot work
• mega-city
• risk mitigation
• social equity
• socioeconomic inequality
• urban green
• urban green space
• urban peripheralization
• urban planning
• urban poor agency
• urban well-being
• waste
• waste pickers
• well-being