Food networks and urban informality in Mumbai, India

Abstract

PurposeTraditionally, urban informality has been discussed in terms of housing and markets, usually along the periphery of urban areas where there is disinvestment and decline. This article looks at urban informality through the lens of informal fresh food retail throughout the city of Mumbai, India. In India, fresh produce has traditionally been sold in informal street markets comprising vendors that operate through carts and make-shift stalls set-up on the streets. This article aims to assess the conditions surrounding fresh produce retail that fuel its informality.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a mixed methods approach by spatially analyzing the location of informal fresh food vendors in ArcGIS, developing a qualitative analysis of the level of proliferation of this network through interviews conducted with vendors and conducting surveys of residents' access patterns and purchasing habits for fresh produce in the city.FindingsResults from this study indicate that the role of density, transportation systems, domestic/household structure, cultural traditions and a bureaucratic system rife with its own challenges have resulted in a distinct infrastructure of food retail networks that has harvested forms of inequalities and injustices that inherently fuel this informal economy.Originality/valueThere is no published study to date that has been done to spatially assess the informal food network in any dense city in India, let alone Mumbai to date. Urban informality, by its nature, is hard to capture, and yet this study takes a holistic view of the food systems in Mumbai, by addressing the location, supply (through vendor interviews) and demand factors (through resident surveys).