Mansoor Raza of NED on how they studied Karachi's hawkers. We found a towel seller, who knew the history of Empress Market. He knew when ppl started biz.

@urc_karachi Karachi's Street Economy study explained w authors Arif Hasan, Dr Noman Ahmed, Mansoor Raza #HappeningNow

One khoka where a watch fixer sat 10yrs ago. Now that has morphed to a mobile phone repair shop. This is what the Empress Market street economy study found. Informal vendors adjust with the times.

An elderly fruit seller told them if he lived close to his public spot it was cheaper for him. Karachi census says 10 lakh people are over 60 years. Majority experience a social death earlier. But the fruit seller said he kept himself productive despite age. Earns his own money

A flower seller talked about unfair transactions. A police mobile would take free flower pots from his thella. Then he told the cops, "Yeh colonel sb ka thella he." When they argued, he said, "Me colonel sb se baat kara doonga."
#Hawkers

Who protects your thella, a paan khoka guy was asked. The mohallah looks after it. They have his phone number. Just ask for a few paans reserved for themselves. #EmpressMarket

One paan cabin guy around Empress Market had a way of avoiding police raids. He attached wheels to his cabin.

You won't go far to get small things like a locksmith, cobbler. So one hawker, a painter, had been around for 22 years in the same space. Trust is the cornerstone. A restaurant would feed him monthly. He'd use the mosque's bathroom. #StreetEconomies #Karachi

Cabins meant that vendors could keep their wares safe. If you are a footpath hawker, you have different worries.

Empress Market evictions, demolitions had the devastating effect of demolishing their sense of pride, the researchers found, more than any tangible point.

"Ab hum zakat lene wallay ban gae hain. Pehle hum Zakat dene wallay they."

In 1984 a big operation was held in Saddar against hawkers. My ustaad Ghulam Kibria asked me to study it. So they could be rehabilitated. The Mashood Usmani was the commissioner. I spoke to them all. Made a relocation plan in Saddar.

- Arif Hasan

When I took it, Ghulam Kibria said did you ask hawker tanzeems? I said no. He said no, get their idea for your plan. I worked more. Then I showed them the plan. They shredded it. This chapter closed. I learnt that an arch's view is different.
- Arif Hasan (paraphrased)

Christophe & Asiya Pollack and I then, thru the URC did a study called Hawkers of Saddar. Wholesaling, transportation, middlemen, international trade was all part of it. It wasn't just about hawkers, we found. We spoke to Niamatullah Khan mayor...

- Arif Hasan (paraphrased)

What is a street economy? Karachi's informal economy has 72% workforce. 202 markets in Karachi officially the govt has developed. KDA, MDA, cantt boards, KMC have all done it.

- Arif Hasan (paraphrased) on #streeteconomies post-Empress Market

Some markets developed from a bus stop.
Biggest issues toilets and water.
We looked at the SC orders.

- Arif Hasan on Saddar, Empress Market, earlier studies
#InformalEconomy #Hawkers

Arif Hasan et al mapped markets and hawkers for Karachi

Arif Hasan on #hawkers.
Rs67m in bribes go to state/govt bodies for hawkers to keep their spots and permission to work in public spaces.
The middleman is called the "beater".
He needs to be paid Rs1,000. If the hawker doesn't pay him, the police come and take his kiosk away.

After bribes, hawkers pay and earn this

Arif Hasan: Regulating #Hawkers is the job of local government. It did it before and should do it again. An effective local govt can do this.

You can have your weight taken, your fortune told and your shoes fixed, all on the street in Karachi at the hands of a hawker: Arif Hasan
#StreetEconomies #Informality #Cities #EattheRich

Look at this picture, said Arif Hasan. All thellas in a line because they were told to stay in line. They follow rules. They are not jangli, as people say. It can be done if you give them space.
#StreetEconomy #Hawkers @urc_karachi study post-Empress Market destruction

This was the dumbass plan for Empress Market. For the rich. I say open restaurants here and eat the rich.

Karachi deserves better than this santised ersatz gentrification. It is a city that should be for everyone.