THE IMPACT OF STREET VENDORS TO THE SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN THE WORLD

Street vendors are further categorized as either mobile those who travel to different locations during working hours or immobile those who remain at one location (Bhowmik, 2002). The mobile street vendor is further divided into fully mobile street vendors, who continuously move, and partially mobile street vendors, who make multiple stops. An illustration of the latter is some people who sell in front of schools early in the morning and return there twice later in the morning and in the afternoon are examples of the latter. Between certain times, the sellers travel to or settle in other locations where there are many clients, such as marketplaces, neighborhoods, office buildings, etc. Static street vendors typically expand into some sort of semipermanent building to support their business, although they do at the very least have a piece of fabric or plastic mat spread on the ground to show their items. The plastic blue tent over

ACADEMIC WRITING ASSIGNMENT

THE IMPACT OF STREET VENDORS TO THE SOCIETY AND ECONOMY

IN THE WORLD

Supervisor: Le Thi Thu Huong Student: Đinh Thi Thuy Hien – class ESOM 64

There is no denying that one of the difficulties faced by city managers is the street vendors problem In most developing countries, they are a persistent issue for street and sidewalk users Since traffic congestion on the roads is caused by their business as well as their casual setting and commercial waste create an unattractive urban landscape However there is a gradual shift of perspectives that focus on their economic potentials, offering a smart city manager a variety of development opportunities Therefore, the majority of towns' current strategy of removing street sellers is counter productive at best and inhumane at worst This essay discusses the origins of the street vendor phenomena, and some suggestions for managing them using international best practices

OUTLINE

Abstract

Outline

I Introduction

I.1 The definition of street vendors

II Body

II.1 The urban management challenge of street vendor

II.2 The cause behind street vending

II.3 New perspective on street vendor

II.4 Suggestion to manage street vending

III Conclusion

References

Street vendors are further categorized as either mobile those who travel to different locations during working hours or immobile those who remain at one location (Bhowmik, 2002) The mobile street vendor is further divided into fully mobile street vendors, who continuously move, and partially mobile street vendors, who make multiple stops An illustration of the latter is some people who sell in front

of schools early in the morning and return there twice later in the morning and in the afternoon are examples of the latter Between certain times, the sellers travel to or settle in other locations where there are many clients, such as marketplaces, neighborhoods, office buildings, etc

Static street vendors typically expand into some sort of semi-permanent building

to support their business, although they do at the very least have a piece of fabric or plastic mat spread on the ground to show their items The "plastic blue tent" over wood benches and plastic stools is a typical sight (Setianto, 2007) Dynamic Street typically carries their goods on their shoulders or pulls carts According to Bhowmik (2002), women street vendors in India prefer to be fully dynamic, never stop or rest too long at any one place, to avoid thugs or harassments In Indonesia's current economic crisis, some street vendors are discovered to be extensions of normal establishments, despite the fact that the majority of them are independent traders The merchants are making an effort to complete the standard street vendor with this In a minority of the cases some “successful” SV may branch out into possession of several other SV outlets (Susanti, 2007)

THE URBAN MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE OF STREET VENDOR

THE CAUSE BEHIND STREET VENDING

Street vending is a last choice if vendors would rather be legitimate traders They exist as a result of the desperation of supply and demand On the demand side, street vendors meet their customers' needs, mostly the poor (Bodhikong & Moongjongklang, 2004) No one is forced to buy by street vendors People make a decision to purchase

on the sidewalk because low-cost goods are offered by street vendors with extremely thin profit margins In some sense they subsidize their customers, by working long hours supported by unpaid labor, usually family members Nirathron, 2006) Therefore, street sweepings will only temporarily get rid of them Similar to how there will always be a market for alcohol, there will always be street vendors They will return, sooner rather than later Repressive actions are therefore seen as ineffective due to numerous losses on both sides and no apparent advantage

On the supply side, the economics of the informal sector must be considered when discussing the origins of street sellers The informal sector is a portion of the economy that operates outside of the laws and regulations that control the formal sector, as is included in most economics textbooks (ILO, 1972, Todaro, 2005) In the majority of developing nations, its magnitude is surprisingly considerable, yet it rarely receives the attention it merits It serves as a means of containing labor that is unemployed in the formal sector for a variety of reasons Most of the time, employment in the formal sector is found in metropolitan, high-tech settings Compared to regular rural jobs, it pays more Cities thereafter operate as labor magnets for rural areas.Unfortunately, the majority of the rural migrant workers lack the skills necessary for employment in modern industries They cannot get employment in the formal economy as a result They are left with little choice but to use their one and only asset, themselves, to find work in order to survive They mostly serve the requirements of those in the urban socioeconomic rung directly above them These clients are themselves struggling to

make ends meet at the very bottom of the economic ladder, on the periphery of the metropolitan formal sector They in turn provide for the requirements of "real" urbanites—those lucky enough to have the skills needed by the modern economy This last group of people, amazingly, may have a living standard comparable to their counterparts in developed countries When the words “global economy” are bandied about, this is the image that world leaders try to project

The labor shortage in the rural agriculture sector is a significant factor in the migration of workers from rural to urban areas Population growth continues while land does not As a result, there will eventually be inadequate farmland to house all of the rural workers Additionally, as technology advances, less labor will be needed to manage the land effectively and generate even more Therefore, the agriculture industry is forced to let more and more rural workers go They can only travel to the cities in the hopes of enhancing their lots Thus began the over-urbanization phenomenon in the developing countries, when urban facilities are already at capacity Public areas are taken over by squatters, municipalities can no longer offer

an acceptable amount of clean water, public schools are overcrowded, crime rates rise, the air is polluted, and rivers are contaminated Cities become packed with persistent traffic jams People observe the informal economy expanding quickly as street sellers first encroach on the sidewalks and then go into the highways This invasion becomes intolerable when combined with the increasing number of vehicles on the few roadways that are still available Therefore, the municipal governments just comply with the public's demand for street sweeping in SV

Surprise! The global economy is the newest source of labor in the informal sector Leaders of globalization would rather downplay this unfavorable perception than emphasize it Because of the fierce import rivalry, domestic businesses cut expenses in every manner they can.Outsourcing, which involves transferring some of the job to the unorganized sector, is the simplest (ILO, 2005) Because there is no labor protection, such as a minimum salary, health insurance, unemployment insurance, work safety regulations, or ability to hire children, the informal sector can operate with cheaper labor What occurs to the outsourced "formal sector" worker who is suddenly out of a job? Many of them are left with no alternative but to work in the unorganized sector

In fact, according to various economic studies conducted in Asia and Latin America (Bhowmik, 2003; ILO, 2005 & 2006), a sizable fraction of street sellers used to work

in the formal sector

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Amir Sidharta, 2006, “Katanye Kota Kaki Lima“, Kompas, 8/2/06

Bagdja Muljarijadi, Rahmat, 2007, ” Economic Valuation of Urban Informal

Activities: Case Study of Flea Markets in Bandung Municipality ”, MET FE

UNPAD, Bandung

Bandung.go.id, 2007, “Rakor Penertiban Pedagang Pasar Ciroyom … “, Website PemKot

Bandung, 7/13/07

Benny D Setianto, comments at at City Marketing International Conference, 8/25/07,

Semarang

Boeke dan Burger, 1973, “Ekonomi Dualistis : Dialog antara Boeke dan Burger”, Bhatara, Jakarta

Bhowmik, 2003, “Hawkers and Urban Informal Sector : A Study of Street

Vending in

Seven Cities”, NASVI (National Association of Street Vendors of India)

Bodhikong & Moongjongklang, 2004, “Case Study Report : Problems and

Possible

Solutions for Stall Sellers and Street Vendors”, Bangkok, Thailand

ILO (International Labor Organization), 1972, “ILO Report from Kenya”

ILO, 2004, “Report of ILO-OAS Meeting in Washington, D.C.”

ILO, 2005, “Informal Economy in the Americas : Current Situation, Policy

Priorities and

Good Practices”.

ILO, 2006, ”The Informal Economy, Labor Protection and Street Vending :

Cambodia,

India, Malaysia, Mongolia and Thailand”, ILO Seminar, Bangkok, Thailand

ILO, 2007, ”Spicy Taste of Entrepreneurship : Street Food Sellers and Economic Development”, ILO Report, Bangkok, Thailand

Kompas, 2007, ”PemKot Bagi-bagi Gerobak”, 6/8/07, Jakarta

Kompas, 2007, ”PKL dan HUT DKI Jaya”, Senin, 8/13/07, Jakarta

Rina Indiastuti, dkk., 2007, “Survey PKL di Bandung”, LP3E FE UNPAD

Mubyarto, 2004, “Perekonomian rakyat Sudah Bangkit“, Kompas, 3/8/04

Mubyarto, 2004, “Capres/Wapres dan Ekonomi Rakyat”, Jurnal Ekonomi Rakyat dan

Reformasi Kebijakan, 7/04

Nirathron, 2006, “Fighting Poverty from the Streets : A Survey of Street Vendors

in Bangkok”, ILO, Bangkok, Thailand

Pikiran Rakyat, 2002, “PKL : Sumber Devisa yang Terabaikan”, 11/4/02,

Bandung

Retno Susanti, comments at City Marketing International Conference, 8/25/07, Semarang

Rojiful Mamduh, 2007, “Kunci Sukses Jombang Berhasil Meraih Adipura”,

Kompas

8/6/07

Sutyastie Remi, dkk., 2003, “Analisis Ekonomi Jawa Barat”, Unpad Press,

Bandung

Todaro, 2005, “Development Economics”, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA Yunus, Muhammad, 2006 <http://nobelprize.org>