Ordering the Disorderly: Public Perception on Re-Settlement of Street Vendors in Colombo

Abstract

Informal sector plays a key role in shaping the urban economy in many developing countries. It absorbs almost all the excess and sometimes unskilled labor in the events where governments are not in a position to provide adequate employment for them. It is also the main livelihood for urban poor. Besides these many positive factors, the existence of the informal sector activities in the cities makes the way for generating several issues in terms of urban environment and urban planning. The most visible outcome of the urban informal sector is the street vending which spreads haphazardly if not regularized or establish them in planned locations. The city administrators therefore are compelled to find ways and means to regularize and recognize them in urban planning and urban development programs. Unless otherwise objectives of those development projects cannot be fully realized. The development program for Colombo which is the commercial capital of Sri Lanka similarly made provisions to regularize the informal street vending in the city by providing space tem in planned locations as a solution to the issues outlined above. This research was focused to evaluate such regularization project implemented in the core area of Colombo –Pettah. The evaluation was carried out to ascertain the public perception on the street vendors and re-location program. The overall finding of the research indicated that public have a positive image towards the street vendors and they are in favor of the re-location program.