Informal urban development in Herat Afghanistan as a product of governance practices and institutional neglect

Abstract

Abstract Informal urban development in Afghanistan has persisted despite extensive state-led and international urban initiatives during the period 2001–2021. This study examines the expansion and persistence of informal urban development in Herat, focusing on the role of governance and institutional dynamics. The research draws on a focus group discussion, 24 semi-structured interviews with urban actors and officials in Herat and Kabul, and a review of government and international policy documents. Data were analyzed using thematic and content analysis. The findings indicate that informal urban development in Herat is associated with delayed planning processes, selective enforcement of regulations, institutional ambiguity, project-based interventions, and reliance on extra-legal actors. Rather than arising primarily from state incapacity, informality is reproduced through governance practices that generate conditions of legal ambiguity. The study also shows that informality is not limited to low-income settlements but encompasses a range of elite-driven residential, commercial, and service developments. Furthermore, Afghanistan represents a distinctive post-conflict case in which long-term neglect across planning, legislation, and implementation, combined with project-based international interventions, has contributed to the institutionalization of informality and fragmented urban governance. The findings suggest that informality functions as an integral component of urban governance rather than an exception to it. The study highlights the need for governance reforms that address the institutional practices reproducing informality, strengthen planning systems, and improve the integration of external interventions with local governance structures.