Street vending on Addis Ababa’s sidewalks: A sign of vibrancy and identity or a nuisance for pedestrians?

ABSTRACT

Street vendors contribute to the unique identity and vibrancy of cities influencing the social, economic, and cultural landscape. Often, street vendors conduct their informal businesses on the sidewalks, which are meant to be used by pedestrians. This leads to a conflict in public space use and a question of whether street vendors are contributing to the vibrancy of a city or creating a nuisance to pedestrians. This research, based on a survey of 819 pedestrians in Addis Ababa city, discusses walking experience of pedestrians in the presence of intensive street vending activities on the sidewalk. The survey includes questions about the comfort and safety of pedestrians while walking on the sidewalk with the presence of street vendors. 49.3% of surveyed pedestrians thought that mobile street vendors impeded their ability to walk without difficulty on the sidewalk. 77.8% of those surveyed felt great discomfort as street vendors took up too much space on the sidewalk. 66.3% of respondents felt unsafe around street vendors during the day while 67.3% felt safe at night when the volume of street vending is reduced. This highlights that while street vendors have significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits, if their presence on the street is beyond the critical mass, they draw a feeling of discomfort for pedestrians more than creating liveliness for the city.

KEYWORDS:

• Street vending
• Addis Ababa
• safety
• comfort
• pedestrians
• sidewalk
• public space use
• city identity
• vibrancy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mintesnot Woldeamanuel

Mintesnot Woldeamanuel ([email protected]) is a professor of Urban Studies and Planning at California State University, Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His research focuses on urban transportation planning and policy.

Nardos Abebe

Nardos Abebe holds a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Addis Ababa University, Department of Urban and Regional Planning. She worked at Compass Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Design Consultant PLC, and her professional works focus on architecture and city planning.

Faith Supangkat

Faith Supangkat is a student at California State University, Northridge with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Urban Studies and Planning. Her research interests are transportation and zoning laws.