The spatial logic of informal street vending in Manila: an assemblage approach

Abstract

While informal street vending is defined by its location in urban public space, the spatialities of street vending are often reduced to generic context. Applying an assemblage approach, we analyse the spatial logic of street vending in metropolitan Manila at multiple scales. Findings show how intensities of trading are unevenly distributed, and geared to urban morphologies, pedestrian flows, redundant spatial niches, codes of control and competing appropriations of public space. This empirical work expands our understanding of informal urbanism and provides a framework for more effective urban design and planning practices that protect livelihoods of the urban poor.