Making space for the poor: Law, rights, regulation & street-trade in the 21st century

Brown, Alison (2017). Making space for the poor: Law, rights, regulation & street-trade in the 21st century. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851365

The global economic crisis brought into sharp relief the crucial role of the urban informal economy as a refuge for the working poor and major component of city economies. In many cities of the global south, informal employment now provides 60-80 percent of urban jobs. Street trade is one of the informal economy's largest, most visible and contested domains. Legislation covering street trade is complex, poorly documented and erratically applied, and many traders face constant risk of devastating and unpredictable evictions.

The research explores the fragmented and plural regulatory environment facing street traders, and conflicts between formal and informal regulatory systems that deepen vulnerabilities for the working poor, especially in contexts of economic turmoil. The research draws on three core academic debates: the role of law in urban development; the paradigm of legal empowerment of the poor, and the potential of rights-based approaches in supporting fragile urban livelihoods.

Case studies in four cities with different legal traditions, Dar es Salaam, Ahmedabad, Durban and Dakar, draw on extensive interviews with street traders, local authority officials and others. Researchers worked with street trader organisations to ensure that outputs contribute to improved policy development and support informal economy livelihoods.

Data description (abstract)

Report of quantitative data cross tabulations from 516 interviews with street traders in Dakar, Dar es Salaam and Ahmedabad.

In many cities of the global south, informal employment now provides 60-80% of urban jobs. Street trade is one of the informal economy’s largest, most visible and contested domains. Legislation covering street trade is complex, poorly documented and erratically applied, and many traders face constant risk of devastating and unpredictable evictions.
The research explored the fragmented and plural regulatory environment facing street traders, and conflicts between formal and informal regulatory systems that deepen vulnerabilities for the working poor. The research drew on three core academic debates: the role of law in urban development; the paradigm of legal empowerment of the poor, and the potential of rights-based approaches in supporting fragile urban livelihoods.
The research found widespread politicisation of street trade, harassment, evictions and marginalisation of street traders that suggests an urgent need for legal review and 'rights regimes' that respect the right to work and strengthen access to justice. The research calls for a reconceptualisation of urban public space as a land resource with access rights for the working poor balanced with other space needs.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Brown Alison	BrownAM@cardiff.ac.uk

Sponsors:

ESRC

Grant reference:

RES-167-25-0591

Topic classification:

Law, crime and legal systems
Social welfare policy and systems
Economics

Keywords:

informal economy, informal sector, law reform, poverty, urban development

Project title:

Making Space for the Poor: Law, Rights, Regulation and Street-Trade in the 21st Century

Grant holders:

Alison Brown, Michal Lyons

Project dates:

From	To
1 August 2010	31 October 2013

Date published:

23 Mar 2016 13:52

Last modified:

13 Jul 2017 15:11

Coverage and Methodology

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
1 August 2010	31 October 2013

Geographical area:

Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Ahmedabad

Country:

Senegal, Tanzania, India

Spatial unit:

No Spatial Unit

Data collection method:

Semi-structured questionnaire.

The research was based in cities with different legal traditions, and an uneven history of accommodating the informal economy. The four main case-study cities are major trading cities, each representing different economic and poverty scenarios, and different legal traditions.
(1) Dakar: In francophone Sénégal, neo-liberal reforms have weakened traditional trading power structures. Public opposition to extensive clearances in 2007/8 led to a more permissive policy on street trading.
(2) Dar es Salaam: Extensive support for street traders during the 1990s as part of the Sustainable Cities project was reversed since 2000. 60-70% of jobs in Dar es Salaam are informal (ILD 2005).
(3) Ahmedabad: In India fundamental rights are enshrined in the Constitution, but the 2004/9 National Policy on Urban Street Vendors has been unevenly implemented, and 2014 street vending legislation has not commenced. The Self-Employed Women’s Association of Ahmedabad advocates for street traders.
(4) Durban: Since 1994 national policy has sought to balance neoliberal reforms and grassroots development. In Durban, despite pioneering physical and legal frameworks for formalizing street trade, tensions between the city government and traders continue.

Fieldwork was undertaken in Dakar, Dar es Salaam and Ahmedabad. Research in Durban was covered through academic publications supplemented by key informant interviews rather than large-scale fieldwork to avoid overlap with existing studies and because of an on-going court case in Durban involving street traders.

Four main data collection methods were employed:
1. A Desk Review of the literature on law and urban development, legal pluralism, human rights, and the street trading literature.
2. A Legal Review in each city of acts, bylaws and regulations affecting street trade, national data and newspaper reviews to explore formal regulation of street trade and the character of the informal economy.
3. Semi-structured Trader Interviews with traders in each city, sampled to cover different locations, sectors, levels of vulnerability, and gender differences in trading, with a focus on contested sites. These explored street trade management in practice including personal characteristics, business and employment characteristics, and challenges and responses.
4. Key Informant Interviews (with staff from national and municipal governments, the donor community, INGOs and CBOs, community elders, and trader associations) to establish the context for street trade and its formal and informal regulation.

Observation unit:

Individual

Kind of data:

Numeric

Type of data:

Qualitative and mixed methods data

Resource language:

English

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