Urban challenges are diverse, and they exist in different forms and with different severity across the world (Schneider 2002). Among other urban challenges, the issue of urban informality and its infrastructure is significant, and has a profound impact on slums dwellers and liveability index. Urban informality is an interdisciplinary concept, and it often refers to issues such as the informal sector, the informal economy, informal settlements and squatter settlements, to name just a few. Urban informality can be broadly defined as the living condition (settlement, economic, commercial, and physical conditions) of urban dwellers and their activities that are non-regularised and non-taxed and are often characterised by different challenges.

The professional development program deals engages with the dissemination of knowledge related to urban informality and its central and peripheral issues, with respect to risk and resilience.