Category Archives: Street Vendors

Taming street-people: India’s grand civilizational project

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

A status message by a friend on Facebook has had me thinking for many weeks now. He wrote: Ranchi is an amazing city. In my first 30 minutes there, two schoolchildren, one bike rider and a goat tried to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in Car-free streets, Equity in Planning, Indian National Movement, Mumbai, Planning History, Ranchi, Safety, Skywalk, social spaces, Street Vendors, Suburban Rail | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

BOOK REVIEW: Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City

Posted on November 9, 2010 by

This review was originally written for a class I am taking with Prof. John Pucher here at Rutgers University. I am putting up this review here even though the book reviewed talks mainly about the United States, because I feel … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Gasoline Taxes, Highways, History, New York City, Safety, Street Vendors, Transportation Planning, Uncategorized, United States | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The benefits of being Obama

Posted on November 1, 2010 by

The latest news from Mumbai is that President Obama is about to visit, and all the routes he might possibly take are being beautified. Some of them are even being adorned with date palm trees, despite these trees being completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Informality, Local Government, Mumbai, Street Vendors | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Vendors are the security, can’t you see?

Posted on August 30, 2010 by

Street vendors and homeless persons should be welcome on streets – between the two groups, they occupy the streets at all times of the day and night, providing stray walkers at night the security of not having to worry about being the only person on the street. And yet, we find that governments respond to their presence in exactly the opposite manner – Mumbai wants to get security to keep people from “encroaching” the elevated walkways when they could have gotten these “encroachers” to themselves serve as security – at so much less expense and freeing up so much time of the already overworked Mumbai Police. Continue reading →

Posted in Bangalore, homeless persons, Mumbai, Needs of the poor, Pedestrian Needs, security, Skywalk, Street Vendors | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Creating Streets for Hawkers and Walkers

Posted on July 19, 2010 by

Mumbai’s planners do not necessarily view skywalks as a solution for improved safety, but rather, increased pedestrian flow. The idea is to move pedestrians up and away, making room for everyone else down below, including motorists and illegal street vendors who encroach on footpaths. But to pit walkers against hawkers is to ignore the real problem. A real solution would preserve the vibrancy of Mumbai’s street-level marketplaces. Most importantly, it would be about getting pedestrians to their destinations, not about getting pedestrians off the roads so that motorists have a free pass. Continue reading →

Posted in Car-free streets, Mumbai, Needs Assessment, Pedestrian Needs, Safety, Skywalk, Street Vendors, Transportation Planning | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments