The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Brac have jointly taken an initiative to bring about discipline to street vending in Dhaka in order to free up footpaths.
Currently, many footpaths in the capital are barely usable as hawkers have turned them into de facto trading hubs. The problem is exacerbated by the street vendors favouring major roads and intersections, creating severe traffic bottlenecks.
Instead of evicting the hawkers, the new initiative looks to redesign footpaths while incorporating their presence. The vendors will also be monitored to ensure that they follow guidelines on the use of the new footpaths.
“The target of the new initiative is to manage the footpaths under the DNCC so that hawkers can trade while keeping adequate space for walking. In this way vehicular traffic will not be interrupted by pedestrians overflowing on to the streets,” said Md Atiqul Islam, mayor of DNCC.
“We want to develop a sustainable (manageable) street vending model to create vibrant public spaces,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Prof Hadiuzzaman, prominent transport expert and director of the Accident Research Institute under BUET, said managing footpaths is crucial to bringing about discipline in the overall traffic system.
"Imposing a new system is always better than no management at all. Occupied footpaths are a big problem for Dhaka city that leads to a significant number of accidents," he added.
“But there is the question—will the authorities concerned be able to execute the plan? As we have seen in the past, many initiatives failed. Among them is the holiday market concept,” said Prof Hadiuzzaman.
The pilot project
According to the DNCC, the pilot project will begin at Road 4 in Mirpur-1 and Shahjalal Avenue in Uttara. The Mirpur-10 intersection may also be included in the trial.
“We have already conducted a survey on existing street vendors and sketched a new model, but we will not apply this model across the city right now as we want to validate the model through a trial,” said Md Wasim Akhter, program coordinator of the Brac urban development program.
He added that the schedule for the trial would be fixed by the DNCC.
Mayor Atiqul Islam said, “We will start the pilot in two areas by mid-March. We have already visited a location at Mirpur. If the piloting becomes successful, we will apply it across the DNCC area.”
Registration of the vendors
According to the plan, the DNCC will register all the vendors in selected areas before starting the trial. Once registered, the vendors’ right to use designated spaces on the footpath will be recognized and they cannot be evicted.
According to the survey on street vending, 91% of vendors are willing to accept the registration. The study was conducted at Mirpur and Uttara.
The authorities will provide security so no one can destroy stalls or steal goods.
Street vending policy
Many cities across the world, like Bangkok, follow a street vending policy to manage footpaths.
However, there is no policy on street vending or open space in Bangladesh.
In the absence of a policy, a multi-stakeholder institutional arrangement like the DNCC, law enforcers, civil society organizations, private sector, and so on will be needed to manage public space. So the study suggested forming a policy in this connection.
Management and Monitoring
The study on street vending suggested formulating an area-wise management and monitoring team to get optimum benefit from the new model.
“We are planning to form a ward-based monitoring team headed by local councillors to easily manage the open spaces. Police, politicians, senior citizens and concerned people also will be part of the team,” said Mayor Atiqul Islam.
