Introduction In many countries, vendors are under attack due to various negative beliefs about them, including that they block footpaths and streets, make the streets dirty and sell unhygienic food. The owners of established businesses often object to their presence because of the perception of “unfair” competition. Despite the objections to them, vendors are popular with the public, suggesting that they provide essential services that, in the words of Sharit Bhowmik (2016), author of various articles on the topic, “neither the municipalities nor the larger retailing outlets can provide.” Vendors play a vital role in urban life and economies. The complaints about vendors are typically related to the lack of sufficient, dedicated space and infrastructure for their use. It is important to understand the role of vendors in urban settings before deciding on a policy approach to their presence. Economic issues A thriving city needs a healthy economy. People need job opportunities. People also need access to goods and services at affordable prices. Vending provides all of these things. Vending provides employment and for many people, vending is the only available job. In the absence of a safety net (government-provided support for those in need), the “informal” sector is an essential service to prevent desperate poverty. In addition, vending provides affordable goods and services. The Informal Economy Monitoring Study (IEMS, 2010) was a study of street vendors in five cities: Accra in Ghana; Ahmedabad in India; Durban in South Africa; Lima in Peru; and Nakuru in Kenya. The study identified several ways in which street vendors strengthen their communities. These include generating employment for themselves and others, maintaining a household on their income, contributing to cleanliness and safety on the streets, providing friendly personalized service to customers, and contributing to city revenue via payment for licenses, permits, fees, fines, and taxes. Many of the goods sold by street vendors are made by small local industries, thereby further benefiting local economies. The informal sector is very large in many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and is vital to their economies. Unfortunately, rather than recognize their importance, governments are at best indifferent, and at worst hostile, to them. Too often, says Bhowmik (2016), rather than recognize their contribution, “governments view street vendors as encroachers or criminals.” Employment Vending is a source of jobs both for the rural poor migrating to the city and for those who have lost their formal sector jobs after financial contraction. Vending is not a hobby or an additional income source; for most street vendors, their occupation is the main source of income for their families. Their work allows them to feed their families and pay their children’s school fees, thereby contributing to the wellbeing of the next generation. Vending creates jobs not only for the street vendors themselves but also for various others such as farmers, artisans, and porters. Censuses in Harare, Zimbabwe (2010) and in Lusaka, Zambia (2012), found that many sellers of street food employ others, thereby generating up to three times as many jobs as there are vendors. Many also earned a considerable wage, at least in comparison to other jobs available. Contribution to the local economy Vendors must obtain their goods at a designated place. What they sell benefits those who produce or create those goods. Since they tend to sell local items, they contribute to the local economy. Vendors are an important link between rural farmers and their urban customers. They buy local products and make them available throughout the city, thereby increasing sales, which benefits the producers of the goods as well as the vendors. Governments that legalize vending benefit from the licensing fees and sometimes taxes; otherwise the fees for use of space simply go to political or other elements that control access to public places. Large stores, on the other hand, tend to access their products outside of the local community – indeed, often out of the country – and move their profits out as well, so that the locale gains little, as opposed to the positive effects of small shops and, by extension, vendors. Vending provides another benefit as well. For low-income people to benefit fully from employment, at least some of the money they earn needs to remain at the bottom of the economic pyramid, among the poor, and circulate there. If the only option for obtaining goods and services is from formal businesses owned by the wealthy, then wages to the poor and middle class will simply rise back up the pyramid again. The presence of vendors means that at least some of the money that reaches the poor will stay there, benefiting other low-income people as well and avoiding the gravitational pull of money upwards. Benefits to the Local Customers The lack of overhead costs means that vendors can make their goods and services available at lower costs than in shops. The availability of low-priced goods is a boon for both the poor and middle class. In many cases, these may be the only goods that others can afford. Vendors provide other benefits to customers as well. The process of negotiating prices may lead to lower prices for the low income. Street vendors also make goods and services available throughout the city, reducing the need for customers to travel to fixed shops. This saves both time and travel expense. People can shop near homes and offices, at train stations and bus halts, and at other convenient spots, as well as on trains and buses and at intersections. This is important as cities work to deal with congestion. Moving vendors, whether carrying goods in baskets or on bicycle carts, make such items as fresh vegetables, live fish and chickens, brooms made of traditional materials, ash to clean pots, and various snacks available to people at their homes. This is an important convenience to those who cannot easily leave their homes, whether due to physical incapacity, the need to care for an infant or others, or simply time constraints. Specific recommendations include the following:
