Social Sustainability
Street Vendor
Definition
A street vendor is a person offering goods or services for sale in public spaces — streets, pavements, markets and transport hubs — typically in the informal economy without fixed premises. Street vending employs tens of millions in cities of the global South, providing affordable goods, food and livelihoods, especially to women and migrants, while vendors face insecure legal status, evictions, confiscation of goods, harassment and exclusion from social protection.
References
This reference provides supporting context for how “Street Vendor” is defined and used.
This reference provides supporting context for how “Street Vendor” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures informal economy policy, urban vending acts and licensing schemes, social protection extension, and public space management.
Why it matters
How a city treats its street vendors is a precise measure of whether its sustainability includes the poor.