As anyone who has ever been to Hanoi can attest, street vending is one of the most common and important forms of urban livelihood, along with junk trading and motorbike taxi driving. Thousands of rural-to-urban migrants ply city streets, mainly selling fruits, vegetables, and prepared foods (like pho, the ubiquitous noodle dish). Not only is vending an important source of livelihoods, it also creates a pro-poor distribution chain for produce grown in Hanoi's peri-urban outskirts. As the economy grows, however, and more and more of Hanoi's agricultural hinterland is plowed under for development schemes, and supermarkets begin to displace traditional markets and street vendors (especially in the consumption patterns of Vietnam's newly rich) informal livelihoods are coming under immense pressure.
On July 1, as part of a continuing campaign to make Hanoi "green, clean, and beautiful" the local government is to implement a partial ban on street vending on main commercial streets and at designated cultural landmarks and tourist sites. It's unclear the effect this ban will have, or how strongly it will be enforced, but it's just the latest of many recent efforts to crack down on street vendors. Street vending is already technically illegal in many areas, and vendors are subject to arbitrary confiscation of their wares and carrying poles by police. The timing of the latest crackdown is especially interesting, however, as it comes at a time when rampant inflation is threatening social and economic stability in the country, and when the importance of livelihoods strategies for the rural poor and low cost distribution channels for agricultural commodities couldn't be greater.
I'll keep monitoring the situation and post an update if people are interested. You can also contact me directly at timgorman(at)gmail.com.
In the meantime, here are some background resources about the situation in Hanoi:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78877 (News report from IRIN, UN Humanitarian Affairs Office)
http://www.markets4poor.org/?name=publication&op=listNews&id=260 (Report on street vending from a DFID/ADB funded research program)
Tim Gorman