TITLE:
Street Vending Power Relationships and Governance of Public Spaces in Bafoussam, West Cameroon
AUTHORS:
Aristide Yemmafouo
KEYWORDS:
Street Vending Diversity, Street Vendors Networks, Power Relationship, Power Sharing, Governance of Public Spaces, Cameroon
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.6 No.4,
December
29,
2018
ABSTRACT: Street vending has a strong and latent structuring power, supported by distribution
networks which exploit informal economies. It is regarded as a terminal
of a massive supply of goods and their commercialisation in Southern
Cities. Intermediate cities such as Bafoussam, animating dynamic peripheries
have an economic fabric which is strongly supported by informal economies.
These cities seek to regulate informal trade in order to mitigate unemployment
impact while generating income. The target of this article is to show
how power relationship building by street vending impacts the governance of
public spaces. It is hypothesised that at the grassroots level of the network of
urban economic fabric in medium-sized cities, the tolerance of street vending
as a governance model has become a power sharing with Vendors. 35
in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted with
vendors along Market A and Market B road that spans over 10 kilometres.
This was to understand the strategies that govern the occupation and functioning
of street vending, the network relationships it displays and the implications
on governance of public spaces. The importance of street vending and
the networks it shapes in Bafoussam gives it a power that ensures its
long-term presence on public spaces, urban economic and socio-political stability.