Importance of Informal Markets in Indian Context: A Study

Abstract

As a practice, the informal sector corresponds to “actions carried out by economic agents unable to enter established institutions” or in other words, the proportion of population finding sources of income through casual or self-employed work. Street-hawkers are the major contributor of self-employed section. Street acts as the life of the city, connecting public with the space. The active the street, the better the city life. Street vendors unlike their popular image, provide essence and identity to the streets. They are also responsible for low crime rates, and like Jane Jacob stated, they act of having their ‘eyes on the street’. Street hawkers can hence be considered as paramount assets to the urban ecosystem only if they are provided with the potential opportunity for contributing the development. They are treated as quite the trouble-makers of course being a part of urban-poor sector whose absolute purpose is to give rise and create chaotic situations on the streets. This paper talks about how street vendors/informal markets affect any public space and its importance on streets. The ponderous arrangements for street-vendors can absolutely be full of interest, attraction as well as life and additionally, the fact that bargains are tremendous impulses of cross-use, they look delightful. So, the chaos-looking street when seen just as natural setting instead of some consumerist goal, they can be seen as diverse and colorful, full of activities. The areas observed as case-studies portray analysis related to socio and spatial domain’s appropriation with respect to the street vendors as well as the diverse activitiestaking place in any vendor street. This paper tries to bring up reasons for their preferences and how they affect their spatial arrangement in any street.