Designing informal mobility: Chandigarh’s rehriwallas in motion

Strategic Analysis Relocating Street Vendor through 3D Negotiation Case Study: Street Vendor Surakarta, Indonesia

The existing literature on the relationship between regulators and street vendors remain fragmented and limited to specific countries and contexts. This article presents a narrative review of the existing literature on the relationship between regulators and street vendors, and through that creates a unified picture of an otherwise fragmented literature and knowledge base. The concepts of negotiation, power, social network, and perception are used to analyze the various strategies street vendors have used in gaining access to urban public spaces in different parts of the developing world. It is revealed that even though city regulators have access to formal power, street vendors possess a variety of negotiating strategies that gives them access to both formal and informal power.

COVID-19 pandemic affects human health and the global economy. Its evolution is unpredictable, making it hard for governments to provide response actions suited for all populations. Meanwhile, informal street workers carry on with their labor despite contingency measures to sustain their lives. The objective was to conduct a case-control study to become aware of how street vendors' economy is affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. During phase 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Mexican suburban city. We interviewed informal street vendors (cases) and formal employees (controls). Before mobility restrictions were in place, population income came 1.5% from formal employment and 23.5% from informal employment (street vendors). Informal employees lived on less than the equivalent of 1.5 Big Macs per day (p <0.001). After the contingency measures, formal employment kept the same, while the informal employment ratio increased to 57.4% (p < 0.001). The street vendors were almost 100-times less likely to be concerned about the coronavirus outbreak (p < 0.001) and were 38-times less likely to stop working compared with the formal workers (p < 0.001). We have proven that street vendors are a sector of the population that is highly vulnerable to significant economic loss due to contingency measures. Informal workers cannot stop working despite the "Stay at Home" initiative because the government has not implemented strategies that guarantee their survival and their families. Therefore, street vendors continue to be a source of the virus's spread throughout cities.

Women organising, advocacy and Indian cities in between informal dwelling and informal economies

This study examines how gender is negotiated within the informal labour market of street vending and how such participation contributes to the economic and social empowerment of Indigenous women street vendors in Guwahati City, Northeastern India. Methodology: The research adopts a qualitative case study design complemented by descriptive survey methods. Empirical data were collected through a structured survey of 60 Indigenous women street vendors and 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Guwahati over an eight-month period in 2022. Open-ended research questions and an interview schedule were used to elicit detailed life histories, work trajectories, and experiences of negotiation in public space. The analysis focuses on the feminisation of informal work and the intersection of gender, indigeneity, and informality in the urban economy. Main Findings: The findings indicate that street vending constitutes a crucial source of income, financial autonomy, and socio-economic mobility for Indigenous women, enabling them to contribute to household decision-making and improve their social standing. At the same time, these women continue to face pervasive structural barriers, including insecure work conditions, limited access to basic amenities and social protection, harassment and discrimination in public spaces, and ambiguous or exclusionary regulatory frameworks. The study shows that women rely on informal social networks, collective strategies, and everyday negotiations with authorities and male actors in the market to sustain their livelihoods. Applications: The results provide evidence to inform gender-sensitive urban planning and labour policies that formally recognise street vendors as workers and integrate them into inclusive regulatory and social protection regimes. The study can guide local governments, NGOs, and community-based organisations in designing interventions that improve working conditions, enhance access to infrastructure and services, and strengthen Indigenous women’s bargaining power in informal markets. It also offers insights for scholars and policymakers concerned with gender, informality, and urban development in other developing-country contexts. Novelty/Originality: This study offers an empirically grounded analysis of Indigenous women street vendors in Northeastern India an under-researched region in the literature on gender and the informal economy. By foregrounding Indigenous women’s own narratives and negotiation strategies, the article advances understanding of how feminist and intersectional dynamics operate within informal labour markets and urban public spaces. It contributes original evidence on the dual processes of feminisation and marginalisation in informal work, while demonstrating how informal street vending can simultaneously reproduce vulnerability and serve as a pathway to economic and social empowerment. Keywords: women street vendors; Indigenous women; urban informal economy; women’s economic empowerment; gender and labour; Guwahati City; Northeast India.

Informal economy workers suffer from a lack of social protection. However, most of independent street vendors in Thailand work informally with little social protection. Number of franchise enterprise businesses on the street is increasing and may indicate good opportunities for independent street vendor to convert themselves into the franchise street vendors due to similar nature of their work. This research attempts to answer the following questions: Why does independent street work as an independent street vendor? Which is the better choice between being an independent street vendor or franchise street vendor in the aspects of economic and social security? In order to investigate these issues further, this research conducts comparative study between franchise street vendors and independent street vendors. In this case study, two franchise enterprises were selected: 5 Dao (Ha Dao, Five Star Grilled Chicken) and Chay 4 (Chay See, Chaysee Bamee Kieaw Thai Noodle). The researcher also analyzed independent street vendors with the same category of the food and the size of the food stall with franchise vendors. It was discovered independent street vendors are confident in owning their own businesses while franchise street vendors believe they will earn higher income than independent street vendors. In regards to the economic security aspect, franchise street vendors work less but earn more. For the social security aspect, both independent street vendors and franchise street vendors experienced the same conditions even though independent street vendors were more aware of it.

The meaning of interior space has expanded beyond the architectural borders. Once existing within the domestic boundaries, interior space can now be experienced in the urban context through temporary space as it repurposes unused land. A common phenomenon of temporary space within the urban context is a street vendor selling foods. In this era, some street vendors’ presence correlates with the internet and social media to elevate their products. This action makes human’s activity more effective and efficient. However, how about the realization in the urban context? In this case, we will focus on one kind of street vendors in Indonesia. Angkringan Mbah Ino in Depok, West Java, is an example of a temporary space that exists and operates in the city. The presence of the angkringan creates a new interior space that is adaptable and changeable, adjusting to its site, activities, and time. This paper will explore spatial negotiation between inside and outside that occurs in food vendors. An adjustment will be negotiated with the environment and the people around it. The analysis started with field observation and an in-depth interview with the seller and then was continued to map the ever-changing spatial programming of angkringan to the sidewalk. By observing and comparing government’s regulations on street vendors, this paper investigates how affordances work to support the socio-economic needs and transform the intended use of public space. This paper serves as a trigger for a new law beneficial to street vendors and pedestrians in the future, especially for Depok City.

Efforts to advance a strong legal framework to protect informal worker rights in India have tread a convoluted path, fraught with numerous challenges. The long struggle for the legal recognition of street vendors has involved many landmark court rulings, but the implementation of these rulings has been problematic. The problems of implementation include the issues of regulatory design of the Street Vendors Act 2014 and the institutional resistance to enabling informal livelihoods. Government measures to support the most vulnerable street vendors have been inconsistent, particularly at the local level, where confusion and resistance persist. While the pandemic further complicated these issues, it also prompted the Central Government to introduce the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (‘SVANidhi’) scheme which provided microcredit to street vendors and accelerated their identification and enumeration in some cities. This paper examines how the SVANidhi scheme adds a new dimension to the legal battle for street vendors by reimagining them as entrepreneurs eligible for credit. The paper highlights the conflicting perspectives of policymakers and law enforcers—while national policies view street vendors as creditworthy, local authorities often see them as nuisances. The paper argues for a more cohesive multi-level governance model that aligns central and local policies. It also advocates for reframing credit for street vendors through the lens of the Social Solidarity Economy (‘SSE’), which the United Nations defines as “a broad set of organisations and enterprises that are specifically geared to producing goods, services and knowledge, while pursuing economic and social aims and fostering solidarity.” By adopting the SSE approach, street vendors can be re-envisioned as entrepreneurs, better addressing their credit needs and social security. Accordingly, the paper ultimately calls for a policy shift in how credit for street vendors is perceived and implemented, promoting worker cooperatives to design their credit solutions within the SSE framework.

This study was conducted to determine the negotiation strategy of the Madiun City government in the process of relocating street vendors. The government also uses good methods in this relocation process so that the relocation process can run well. This type of qualitative descriptive research uses data analysis techniques by conducting interviews, observations, and documentation by identifying, assessing, and understanding how the form of negotiations carried out by the Madiun city government in the process of relocating street vendors on Jl Dr Soetomo to Jl Rimba Dharma. The results of this study show that the negotiation strategy used by the Madiun City Government is a Win-win Strategy. In this case, the street vendors get benefits, namely: in preparing a place before the relocation process, the government has facilitated a place for street vendors by not charging a penny and making Rimba Dharma one of the culinary centres in Madiun. The benefits obtained by the Government, namely: traffic becomes smooth, flattens the city crowd, the city, and the economy in the city of Madiun.

BackgroundGlobally, two billion workers are employed informally but there is limited research on the relationship between informal work and health. Existing studies have focused on informality as an employment condition, with little emphasis on the diversity of physical and social contexts in which informal work takes place. The study considers the diversity of informal workplaces and explores the ways in which this diversity might influence health and well-being of two informal occupational groups in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.MethodsWe conducted 21 field observations and 47 semi-structured interviews with street vendors and home-based garment workers based in Yangon, Myanmar. A constant comparative method was used to identify and compare how the physical characteristics of their informal workplaces affect their health for these two informal subgroups.ResultsAlthough both street vendors and home-based garment workers work informally, their exposure to occupational health and income risks are specific to the physical features of their informal workplaces. Street vendors, who work in public spaces with minimal coverage, are more likely to experience the direct effects of outdoor pollution, inclement weather and ergonomic risks from lifting, carrying and transporting heavy merchandise while home-based garment workers, many of whom live and work in unsanitary housing and deprived neighborhoods, are more likely to experience pollution in or near their homes, and ergonomic risks from poor posture. Similarly, although both groups face safety challenges, street vendors face urban violence and abuse during their commute and at vending points whereas home-based garment workers felt unsafe in their home-based workplaces due to the presence of crime and violence in their neighborhoods.ConclusionWhile informal employment is universally characterized by lack of social protection, exposure to occupational health and income risks for subpopulations of informal workers is determined by the specific physical and social environments of their workplaces. Efforts to improve the health of informal workers should consider the contexts in which informal work takes place to develop tailored interventions for subpopulations of informal workers.

In South Africa, 15 percent of informal economy workers are street vendors. The organization of occupational health services in the country is fragmented and does not cover informal workers. Conditions of work make informal workers extremely vulnerable to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) exposure. In this study, a qualitative risk assessment was conducted among street vendors, followed by focus group discussions. Interpretation of data was according to major themes extracted from discussions. Workers are exposed to several occupational health hazards identified during the risk assessment. There is a lack of workplace HIV and TB services and overall poor access to healthcare. Street vendors, especially females, are at higher risk of HIV, due to gender inequalities. Comprehensive gender-sensitive training on occupational health and safety, HIV, and TB should be prioritized. To reach Universal Health Coverage and achieve the Sustainable Developmental Goals' targets, the health system should improve services for informal economy workers.

Street vending is woven into the history of urban areas across the globe. Despite this lengthy history, academic inquiry on street vending is recent. Research on street vending arose largely in lock step with research on the informal economy. A definition of the informal economy is not settled, but a commonly used definition by the International Labor Organization describes the informal economy as economic activities that are not covered or poorly covered by formal arrangements—be it in law or in practice. This lack of protections makes informal workers vulnerable. Some vulnerabilities vendors face include lack of licensing, no social security, and harassment and eviction by public authorities. Street vendors are one of the largest, and certainly most visible, parts of the informal economy. Most research on street vending comes from sociology, urban studies, and anthropology, while scholars in the fields of business, economics, and political science also study the topic. Found in cities worldwide, street vendors sell hot and prepared food and drinks, fruits and vegetables, clothing, electronics, media, souvenirs, and virtually everything else. Street vendors also provide services like shoe shining and shoe repair. Many vendors are stationary, returning daily to their same spot to regularize a connection with their clientele. Stationary vending set-ups vary, with some vendors simply selling goods from a basket or a blanket on the ground, while others have a semi-permanent stall that can be shuttered in the evening. Itinerant vending is also very common with displays ranging from pushcarts to mobile or hand-held displays. Some vendors are on the move to cater to a mobile population, with vending on trains or train platforms as a popular location. Other vendors may be mobile to avoid police tickets or harassment. While the term “street vendor” is commonly used in the literature, other common terms include “trader,” “hawker,” and “peddler.” Street vendors are largely an entrepreneurial group, though some are wage workers. Vendors tend to be poor, though this is not ubiquitous. In many contexts, vending provides a decent income, especially for those without formal education. It is not uncommon for vendors to operate through family, kinship, or other social networks. For example, a market may be dominated by a particular ethnic group. Given that many vendors operate in public spaces, street vending is often a contentious issue, with tensions between vendors and municipal authorities, residents and residents’ associations, and businesses routinely occurring. Governments often mark vendors and vending as disorderly and chaotic to justify removals and crackdowns. In reaction, vending or trading unions are common as are alliances with NGOs, politicians, and political parties. Additionally, vendors and markets are often self-organized, running along an internally created order that defies governmental assertions of chaos and disorder. Despite these strains, some cities and countries have legalized street vending, with some promoting street vendors as tourist attractions. The following themes will largely discuss the specific literature on street vending, but more general literature on the informal economy will also be invoked when helpful.

The efforts of Indonesian people who are on the poverty line, especially in urban areas, are to create their own jobs. One of the many informal workers is street vendors, generally these street vendors sell in public facilities and infrastructure without complying with the rules which were converted by street vendors to sell and with the construction of the Telkom Ketintang SDK it looks neater and cleaner in terms of urban planning. This research adopts a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. Data collection techniques involve interviews, observation, and documentation. The research focus centered on the Collaborative Governance process by Ricardo S. Morse and John B. Stephens in 2012. The existence of Collaborative Governance was due to the work program of the Surabaya City Government to overcome flooding. Each party has a task, namely PT. Telkom in the form of human resources and funds to build the Telkom Ketintang SDK while the Surabaya City Government focuses on repairing culverts so they don't flood, and developing street vendors. Collaboration with PT. Telkom and the Surabaya City Government have a letter of agreement or MOU. This Collaborative Governance provides significant changes to the problems that occur. The assessment concluded that the presence of street vendors selling on the side of the highway and above water culverts caused problems, so the street vendors were relocated to culinary tourism centers; Initiation went well with the response given by the Surabaya City Government and PT. Telkom Witel South Surabaya in responding to the initiation that will be carried out; Deliberation went smoothly by discussing the basic rules of cooperation carried out by stakeholders; Implementation stakeholders are mutually committed to the results of the agreement and a cooperation agreement is implemented by the stakeholders. Upaya masyarakat Indonesia yang berada pada garis kemiskinan khususnya di perkotaan adalah dengan menciptakan lapangan kerja sendiri. Pekerja informal yang banyak salah satunya adalah PKL, umumnya PKL ini berjualan di sarana dan prasarana umum tanpa mematuhi aturan yang dialihfungsikan oleh PKL untuk berjualan dan dengan dibangunnya SDK Telkom Ketintang terlihat lebih rapi dan bersih dari segi perencanaan Kota. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan deskriptif. Teknik pengumpulan data meliputi wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Fokus penelitian berpusat pada proses Collaborative Governance yang dilakukan oleh Ricardo S. Morse dan John B. Stephens pada tahun 2012. Adanya Collaborative Governance karena adanya program kerja Pemerintah Kota Surabaya dalam mengatasi banjir. Masing-masing pihak mempunyai tugas yaitu PT. Telkom berupa SDM dan dana untuk membangun SDK Telkom Ketintang sedangkan Pemkot Surabaya fokus memperbaiki gorong-gorong agar tidak banjir, dan mengembangkan PKL. Kerjasama dengan PT. Telkom dan Pemerintah Kota Surabaya mempunyai surat perjanjian atau MOU. Collaborative Governance ini memberikan perubahan yang signifikan terhadap permasalahan yang terjadi. Hasil pengkajian menyimpulkan bahwa keberadaan PKL yang berjualan di pinggir jalan raya dan di atas gorong-gorong menimbulkan permasalahan, sehingga PKL tersebut direlokasi ke sentra wisata kuliner; Inisiasi berjalan baik dengan respon yang diberikan oleh Pemerintah Kota Surabaya dan PT. Telkom Witel Surabaya Selatan dalam menyikapi inisiasi yang akan dilakukan; Musyawarah berjalan lancar dengan pembahasan aturan dasar kerjasama yang dilakukan oleh pemangku kepentingan; Pemangku kepentingan implementasi saling berkomitmen terhadap hasil kesepakatan dan perjanjian kerja sama dilaksanakan oleh para pemangku kepentingan

The article aims to investigate the relations between work and urban space, focusing on the struggles of street vendors for the ‘right to the city centre’ in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We join critical debates on Brazil’s internationally praised urban reform by focusing on informal workers. Beyond lacking the protection of labour laws, the ‘right to the city’ (RttC) of such workers has been consistently denied through restrictive legislations and policies. In the context of the ‘crisis’ of waged labour, we explore the increasing centrality of urban space for working-class political struggles. Looking at Belo Horizonte, the article traces the relation between urban participatory democracy and the development of legal-institutional frameworks that restricted street vendors’ access to urban space in the city. In the context of an urban revitalisation policy implemented in 2017, we then explore the use of legal frameworks to remove street vendors from public areas of the city and the resulting political resistance movement. The discussion focuses on the emergence of the Vicentão Occupation, a building squatted by homeless families and street vendors in conflict with the local state. Through this case, we explore the radical potential of contemporary articulations of Henri Lefebvre’s framework emerging from the confluence of diverse local urban struggles for ‘the right to the city centre’. Ultimately, we argue for an understanding of the RttC as a process and a site of continual struggle whose terrain is shaped, but cannot be replaced by, legal frameworks that need to be constantly contested and evolving to reflect the shifting socio-spatial relations.

Informal work is one of the main forms of subsistence for millions of Brazilians, especially street vendors and street vendors, but the lack of formalization limits access to social and labor rights and makes it difficult to include it in public policies to support entrepreneurship and socioeconomic development. Feirante Amigo project, developed by NAF/UFR, is based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth, by promoting the formalization and appreciation of work as an instrument of social inclusion and sustainable development. The initiative holds meetings and conversation circles to diagnose the demands of the target audience, workshops and practical training, in addition to individualizing face-to-face and online services and strengthening technical and entrepreneurial skills. The project is also aligned with the Fiscal Citizenship Program of the Federal Revenue of Brazil and the University Extension Guidelines (CNE/CES No. 07/2018), which consider the relevance of street markets as spaces for the proximity economy and the circulation of cultural and social knowledge. The proposal is based on socioeconomic vulnerability, which is understood as the restriction of access to resources and rights that directly impact quality of life. The central objective is to transform the reality of street vendors and street vendors, promote the formalization of their activities, ensure access to legal benefits, promote productive inclusion and strengthen entrepreneurship. The project has already partially achieved results, including the formalization of workers as MEIs, expanding social protection and access to credit lines.