ARTICLE | International learnings
Street vendors find encouragement across the globe
The urban economy is a mix of numerous elements. In a crisis, governments push for sustaining the organised sector with policy and technological interventions, but at times, the unorganised sector is ignored. Street vending, which constitutes a large part of any urban centre’s unorganised sector, has to be given due importance in the post-pandemic world as both city administrations and citizens have realised how important its role is in delivering services and products at citizens’ door steps
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rban local bodies and governments worldwide have tried to include street vendors in their formal economic sphere. This not only helps the street vendors become better off economically but also makes it easier for the governments to plan policies further to develop the city’s economic and social ecosystem. Team Urban Update tries to analyse the street vending trend globally and list the initiatives taken by governments and ULBs to make the lives of street vendors better.
China takes them online
As China is recovering from the economic fallout post-COVID-19, the nation has shifted its focus towards the vending economy. According to experts, with a bit of push from government policies, this sector will employ more than nine million people in China. The government has collaborated with the technology and e-commerce giants, including Alibaba, JD.com, and Tencent and announced support measures such as easy cash transactions. Shanghai had also launched street festivals in June-July last year to boost the vending economy as the pandemic faded away.
Spain’s way to manage urban spaces
Barcelona, last year in July, allocated a dedicated place as a handicrafts market for their street vendors, or rather mantero (a term for street vendors). It helped the city manage urban spaces as well as organise them. Street vendors are particularly vital in the strategic spatial planning of the urban regions as they are the major stakeholders of public spaces. Moreover, Manuela Carmena, Mayor, Madrid City, introduced a residency permit last year for manteros which would offer them health care facilities and essential public services, as per a story by New York Times. The vendors in the city took their small businesses to people’s doors during the pandemic when they were unable to shop outdoor. Barcelona’s Union of African street vendors provided necessities such as food and medical supplies to the people during the lockdown.
A different side of street vendors in Colombia
A study conducted by John Rennie Short, Professor, University of Maryland, and Scholar Lina Martinez, found a sophisticated operation of street vendors in Cali, Colombia and multiple levels. The vending economy in the city was found to be a wellestablished sector in the busy spaces with better working conditions and relatively higher income. The study found significant flows of money, and
36 April 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
