Language of Street Vending

I do not know if it has escaped the attention of people but street vendors have a particular language in which they use. Their language is unique to them as they shout out to potential customers for example ", five dollahs ah pound for de tomatoes! Five dollars ah pound allyuh!"

There is also the way in which they display the prices of their produce. Sometimes the spelling is completely wrong and then there are other time where there are only prices. In that case they expect that customers know what they are purchasing and sometimes there are no prices and you have to inquire from the owner. All vendors have this attitude. Some may not be as loud as to shout out their prices for people but wait quietly with their signs or none at all. 

The question comes to mind, is this something that is developed over a period of time from pedaling in the area or did the vendors already have that particular way about them?

I would like to think that it has been adopted over a period of time because they believe it is the best way to advertise their produce or items. This way if a person is passing near their little stall or their car and not paying mind to stop and look at the various stalls but, hear a vendor shouting out the particular price per pound and the item, the consumer would be more inclined to stop and take a look. It might very well be an item that the person wanted.

This was a topic I was not able to find any form of references for. I do not know if I inputted the phrases or words in a wrong order or wrong sentence structure so that I was not able to get any supporting literature. Otherwise than that even if it did not have any supporting literature, I think that this topic is one that should be studied and researched. 

Is street vending gender biased?

These two women as seen in the picture above are seated at their stalls amongst the many street vendors in Port of Spain. Upon various visits to Port of Spain, it has come to my attention that the majority of vendors during the working week are women. There is a more equal mix of genders on the weekends unlike during the week. Unlike seen above where the two women are selling clothing, they are not only subjected to this. They were also running their own fruit and vegetable stalls and selling jewellery just to name a few.

Women of all races and ethnic backgrounds tend to be drawn more towards street vending. One begs to question is this out of necessity or choice?

Those who also engage or partake in street vending are sometimes those who have been marginalized from the labour force. Also there is no form of rent being allocated to persons who decide to sell on the streets.

Sometime women turn to street vending not because of a lack of formal jobs but because of the types of formal jobs available. In some instances according to the Praeger Handbook of Urban Education ", in many instances women prefer the autonomous conditions (having the freedom to govern their self or control their own affairs) of street vending to the low wages and restricted supervision of formal sector jobs available to them.

According to Wiego,

 
"Street vending is one of the most significant categories of informal work for women. The low costs of entry and flexible hours make street vending an attractive option for poor women; for many, it is the only option.

In many countries, women represent the majority of street vendors. In Africa: women constitute more than two thirds of street traders in the main cities of Benin, Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo, and more than half in Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal, and South Africa (Herrera 2012; Budlender 2011; ILO 2002). Women also form a majority of street traders in some cities in Asia and Latin America, including Hanoi (79%), Ho Chi Minh City (67%), and Lima (65%). In only a few countries where cultural norms restrict women’s economic activities do women account for 10 per cent or less of street vendors."

They also choose to leave the formal sector because the wages given are much less than what they are making from selling on the streets.

There are many reason for women to partake in street vending.

The list goes:

• Gender inequality
• Lack of jobs in the formal sector
• Incomplete education
• Preference (the freedom and ability to be their own boss)
• Only means to support their family

the list goes on and on but these seem to be the most major of them.

Reference

 Anderson, Philip M.,Kecia Hayes, Joe L. Kincheloe, Karel Rose, eds. The Praeger Handbook of Urban Education.Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc, 2006. Accessed March 25, 2014. http://books.google.tt/books?id=-nMhuTypMuQC&pg=PA32&dq=port+of+spain+vending&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ByxCU8WgFYK82gW51YGACw&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=port%20of%20spain%20vending&f=false.

Women in Informal Employment:Globalizing and Organizing. "Street Vendors." Accessed April 9,2014. http://wiego.org/informal-economy/occupational-groups/street-vendors.

Thugs and Street Vendors

Two pedestrians in the image above walk by a street vendor's stall laden with produce. Do these people ever worry about being robbed? If not for money but for their produce? 

Most vendors still in their stalls all day from the wee hours of the morning till dusk comes. Then they pack up their stalls and go on home. There is always the worry of being robbed as this transition takes place or even during the day. It is so easy these days for people to get robbed, especially people who are trying to make an honest living.

Sometimes one must wonder... is all this worth it? Why not turn to a life of crime?

Yet these vendors struggle on to try and make ends meet. The struggle is all too real.

Why isn't anyone doing anything to help them you might ask.

Well sometimes vendors are victimised by criminals and it may be easy pickings for them. Some of the vendors do not report the robberies to the police or the press because they are selling illegally on the streets and would be found out and removed if they do so. There are also the times when a case is reported and people have been told that they should not be selling on the streets.

In recent times the amount of police presence has been increased in the capital area thus, making it more safe for street vendors and pedestrians alike.

Reference

Cliggett, Lisa, Christopher A. Pool, eds. Economies and The Transformation of Landscape. Alta Mira Press, 2008. Accessed April 10,2014. http://books.google.tt/books?id=C2_TWYAKH9cC&pg=PA279&dq=street+vendors+and+robberies&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eGdHU-GtLIXa2QWcioGYDA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=street%20vendors%20and%20robberies&f=false.

Vending as a way to ease joblessness?

The picture above depicts George Street, Port of Spain as can be seen from it's caption. A young man is choosing out his pick of the produce on display as the man in the striped jersey, with the hat on his head strikes up his cigarette. It might be possible that, that's the young mans father or he could just be a regular customer. The roast coffee skinned man in blue- the owner, looks on while casually devouring his orange this bright day.The streets have a clean coat of asphalt which strikes a strange contrast to the bleak, drab, run down exteriors of buildings.

This man could have been laid off from work or unable to find another form of employment due to the fields being saturated or some kind of injury that prevents him from doing so.

Using their own produce from their home grown vehicles, these people pack their items onto their vehicles and make their way to the urban centre (Port of Spain) where they proceed to sell their goods. Some really don't have a choice and they may not even want to be street vending. Due to several circumstances they have no choice but to

Street vending is a plausible productive way to ease joblessness in several ways. Some are people have lost their jobs, women whose husbands have lost their jobs and in the anticipation of being laid off from work.There are no other ways or means for persons to get a form of income so they turn to the streets. It is a much better outcome than turning to a life of crime. Street vending could also make some friendly competition for the store owners who surround them, forcing them to drop their prices in order to entice  customers to move away from the vendors and back to them.

So while people are street vending they may very well be looking for another form of employment but for the mean time until they can move on from this. They may even keep street vending if it proves to provide a substantial income form them or only street vend on weekends if they do happen to get back into the formal sector. 

 Street vending should not be hindered but promoted!

References

The Society Pages. "Street vending as a way to ease joblessness." Accessed April 10,2014. http://thesocietypages.org/citings/2009/04/30/street-vending-as-a-way-to-ease-joblessness/

Have street vendors been given a space? (part 2 of 2)

Street vendors cover both sides of the street and stretch as as the eye could see along Charlotte Street, Port of Spain. Many people go about their business, stopping here and there to look at goods or make some purchases. Vendors sit in their stalls tending to their goods, promote their stock to customers in a boisterous manner or are busy conducting transactions with customers.

Even though the city has been planned in a way there is no room or available space for street vendors, the city of Port of Spain has made a compromise. Street vendors have been given provisions to vend on certain streets such as Charlotte Street and George Street. The city of Port of Spain is made up of planned and unplanned areas. The central business district is also located in this area. The urban structure of Port of Spain is in a way similar to Ullman and Harris multiple nuclei model of urban land use. These are the lower class residents supporting their selves by making use of the the informal sector.

References

Scribd. "Port of Spain Case Study." Accessed March 10, 2014. http://www.scribd.com/doc/19552480/Port-of-Spain-Case-Study.

Do street vendors deserve urban space? (part 1 of 2)

The photo above was taken a early Saturday morning at approximately nine thirty. My parents and I had just left the Port of Spain market and were going to continue to purchase other vegetables which they did not find in the market or they thought was too expensive. I decided to accompany them on their little walk about to obtain pictures for my blog, for the Introduction to Urban Geography course. We drove through the back streets of Port of Spain until we came to George Street, my father found a suitable parking spot in a vacant lot and we disembarked the vehicle. With my camera in hand I quickly scanned the entire street as far as I could see for potential pictures. 

What I liked most about this picture is that it generally showed the first things that saluted my eyes as i surveyed the area. That is how lonely the street was but, that was understandable because Port of Spain starts working at nine o'clock. The second thing was that all the stalls or vehicles which were used to sell produce were parked in the drain area of the street. Lastly only the left hand side of the road was occupied by vendors.

Now raises the question after seeing these vendors whose stalls were in the drain, the question arises: Do street vendors deserve urban space?

The answer to this question may be a yes or a no depending on the persons who are asked. They take advantage of the busy city center and the people who work there. This is also unique to developing nations of the world. This informal sector brings the availability of market goods to the urban center so that the occupants of the area would not have to venture far in order to do their market or other forms of shopping. 

In order to answer this question the concept of urban informality needs to be understood. According to Indonesia's Urban Studies Blog,
 

"The concept of urban informality started from the dichotomy between the formal sector and the informal sector discussed in the early 1970s. The informal sector is a very common phenomenon that occurs in developing countries. The percentage of the informal sector in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia ranges between 30-70 percent of the total workforce. In Indonesia, according to data from the Statistics Central Bureau (BPS) in February 2008, 73.53 million out of 102.05 million (72%) workers worked in the informal sectors.

The dichotomy of the formal and informal sectors often ignores the importance of the informal sectors with respect to urban spaces. The informal sectors are often marginalized in the urban spaces, even though the informal sectors account for 70% of the urban employment."

Trinidad is still a developing nation despite what the newspapers and the prime minister says. We might be the most 'developed' in the Caribbean but that does not mean we are fully developed. Street vending has been an occupation that people have done since the dawn of time.

The problems that arise for street vendors and why they vend on the street is due to the lack of available space for them in the urban center. 

Space according to Doreen Massey can be posed in three forms. Space is the product of interrelations. Where people must recognize that space is 'as constituted through interactions, it is the sphere of the possibility of the existence of multiplicity and is always under construction. 

Urban spatial planning was not based on the understanding of the urban informality concept and governments will tend to ignore the demand for spaces to accommodate the informal sector, including street vendors.The spaces in urban areas are dominated by urban sectors that carry high economic value thus marginalizing the street vendors.

It needs to be realized that when the concept of urban informality is implement street vendors who are considered the rejects of society who failed to enter the economic system in urban areas, would be the ones who are the main modes in the urban transformation of the urban economy. They are one component of the urban economy that will benefit urban development.

So in answer to the questions: do street vendors deserve urban space?

In my honest opinion... yes, they do.

References

Massey, Doreen. For Space. SAGE Publications Ltd, 2005,9. 

"Do street vendors deserve an urban space?," Indonesia's Urban Studies, October 21, 2008, http://indonesiaurbanstudies.blogspot.com/2008/10/do-street-vendors-deserve-urban-space.html.

Reflections

The area St. Clair, is nestled carefully into the city of Port of Spain. It is flanked to the north by St. Anns, the east by Newtown, south by Woodbrook and finally to the west by St. James. It is a small residential area which also has a combination of business areas. These business areas being the different consulate embassies of several countries; England, Japan and Germany just to name a few, including a doctors office, a members facility club and a club.

The people who live in the vicinity make use of the public recreational grounds which are placed in the area. There are two sides to St. Clair, one being the residential area and the mixed area consisting of commercial and residential buildings.

what do we like?

St. Clair is a small quiet area consisting of two sides: the residential and the residential commercial mix.

residential and residential/commercial:

the sense of community, where people were present on the weekend making full use of the parks, play areas and savannahs provided by the government. The housing was planned as could be seen from the map above with how the area is laid out. The streets were short and connective also wide catering for large vehicles. Within the residential area there was a constant patrol of police officers whose station was also not too far away. At the bus stop bench there was modifications on the seat to prevent vagrants from sleeping on them.

what needs protecting?

residential and residential/ commercial:

Historical architecture is becoming dilapidated and needs to be refurbished.

what would we like more of?

A residential presence outside on the streets because the streets were very lonely. The only area in which people were congregated was in the recreational grounds or parks. Fire hydrants.  

What don't we like?

Lack of public benches. There were no pavements for pedestrians. Restrictions to parking, available areas were closed off or blocked.  

What needs changing now?

More parking for people and benches.

What is getting worse?

 

What needs to be improved?

Facilities for young people, more benches in public areas, pavements, parking facilities.


BELMONT

What do we like?

The togetherness of the community, it's rich history.

What needs protecting?

The youth and reputation of the area from the spill over of violence from Laventille. The different ethnic groups (Rada etc.)

What would we like more of?

Public space. The only area of entertainment is in the savannah.

What don't we like?

The small roads and pavements, stigma that has latched onto the community.

What needs changing now?

The stigma attached to the area.

What is getting worse?

Traffic congestion caused from traffic in the Port of Spain vacinity.

What needs to be improved?

There needs to be more public space and facilities for young people.


Assessing good "neighbourhoods"


What makes a successful residential neighbourhood?

That is a questionable question. Well from what was seen from the research and the area that I live in the answer could be from my perspective a neighbourhood who values community. Where there is lots of public space available and recreational areas available for the residents to use and mingle with each other. There are enough commercial buildings littered in between which is walking distances from their houses. Not so much that it becomes overbearing but just enough that it satisfies peoples needs. Then begs a next question, when is enough, enough? For now that is beside the point. Other pointers could be good schools close to the community and there is a sense of security and safety.