Citizenship and urban belonging in Mumbai: understanding the impact of informal institutions on street vending

Street vendors are often targeted for removal from city streets and sidewalks in the name of beautification, sanitation or (re)development. These removals are commonly described as conflicts over the use of urban public space. However, focusing on conflicts over the use of public space provides an incomplete picture. In addition to contention over the use of space, street vending also involves debates over the users of public space. Through the lens of street vending in Mumbai, this research shows that conflicts over vending are often tied to who is vending, reflecting a local political atmosphere concerned with preventing ‘outsiders’ from working (and living) in the city. However, vendors are not helpless, and try to capitalise on informal institutions, specifically hafta, and intermediaries, to make claims regarding their urban belonging status. While informal institutions may mediate questions of urban citizenship and belonging, they provide only limited opportunities, leaving vendors often with a de facto rather than de jure vending, and urban belonging, status.