Street vending and its resilience in the alleys of Hanoi (Vietnam)

Abstract

In Hanoi, informal street vending is a very popular form of trade. Despite its important role in people’s consumption needs, it always faces unfavorable policies from the authorities, who consider this trade as the cause of negative urban problems. Hence, for the authorities, street vendors and informal markets become objects that needed eliminating in order to promote modern image of the city. For its part, street traders must simultaneously respond to the inhabitants’ demand and fight back the authorities’ actions. In spite of pressure from the authorities, street trade and informal markets are still very present, even growing in recent years. In particular, one of the places where informal markets are most present is the alleys in spontaneous neigborhoods, formed by urbanization from below. This raises the question of whether alleys are a favorable place for the resilience of street vending or not. Based on a qualitative methodology, we will analyze the socio-spatial practices of street traders by observing and interviewing 21 street traders in two large and long-standing informal alley markets: Kham Thien market and Van Chuong market in Dong Da district, a central populous district where legal control in street trade is very strict. In addition, data were collected in official documents, scientific studies and media coverage, all which have considerably contributed to the completion of this study. The article shows that thanks to the structural characteristics of alleys, informal commercial activities there have little impact on the modern urban image that the authorities desire and therefore street vendors are less affected by urban renewal operations. Besides, the complex network of narrow and zigzag alleys allows street traders to escape the police easily. Furthermore, the “mutually beneficial cooperation” between street vendors and inhabitants and between street vendors and authorities in a “law-breaking relationship” significantly contributes to the vitality of street trade in the alleys.