Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh
This study examines the street vendors’ resilience in Dhaka during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the informal economy comprises almost two-thirds of the labor force, and street vendors are among its most vibrant components. Despite their crucial role in the urban economy, street vendors often lac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Urban, Planning and Transport Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21650020.2025.2502001 |
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| author | Oliver Tirtho Sarkar Md Abid Hasan Shantanu Kumar Saha |
| author_facet | Oliver Tirtho Sarkar Md Abid Hasan Shantanu Kumar Saha |
| author_sort | Oliver Tirtho Sarkar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examines the street vendors’ resilience in Dhaka during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the informal economy comprises almost two-thirds of the labor force, and street vendors are among its most vibrant components. Despite their crucial role in the urban economy, street vendors often lack the protections and benefits available to the formal workforce, making them more vulnerable during crises like COVID-19. The research explores the challenges experienced by street vendors, their resilience strategies, and coping mechanisms during COVID-19 period. This study interviews 45 street vendors and five industry experts. This study uses a purposive sampling method to identify the appropriate respondents and a narrative analysis method to analyze the data. The analytical framework of this study identifies resilience as a combination of four attributes, i.e. prevent, protect, respond, and recover. Findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their internal and external vulnerabilities, including financial and non-financial livelihood challenges. While they were partially resilient at the beginning, they experienced long-term vulnerability. This study recommends skills development training, systematic formalization, and simplified access to finance that can contribute to inclusive policy formation and enhance street vendors’ resilience amid uncertain socioeconomic crises like COVID-19 or natural disasters with similar consequences. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b8687fdf188446d6acacbb7579688027 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2165-0020 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Urban, Planning and Transport Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-b8687fdf188446d6acacbb75796880272025-08-20T02:57:20ZengTaylor & Francis GroupUrban, Planning and Transport Research2165-00202025-12-0113110.1080/21650020.2025.2502001Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, BangladeshOliver Tirtho Sarkar0Md Abid Hasan1Shantanu Kumar Saha2Department of Environment and Development Studies, United International University, Dhaka, BangladeshInternational Governing Committee, Vision Green Organization, Pécs, HungaryDepartment of Environment and Development Studies, United International University, Dhaka, BangladeshThis study examines the street vendors’ resilience in Dhaka during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the informal economy comprises almost two-thirds of the labor force, and street vendors are among its most vibrant components. Despite their crucial role in the urban economy, street vendors often lack the protections and benefits available to the formal workforce, making them more vulnerable during crises like COVID-19. The research explores the challenges experienced by street vendors, their resilience strategies, and coping mechanisms during COVID-19 period. This study interviews 45 street vendors and five industry experts. This study uses a purposive sampling method to identify the appropriate respondents and a narrative analysis method to analyze the data. The analytical framework of this study identifies resilience as a combination of four attributes, i.e. prevent, protect, respond, and recover. Findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies their internal and external vulnerabilities, including financial and non-financial livelihood challenges. While they were partially resilient at the beginning, they experienced long-term vulnerability. This study recommends skills development training, systematic formalization, and simplified access to finance that can contribute to inclusive policy formation and enhance street vendors’ resilience amid uncertain socioeconomic crises like COVID-19 or natural disasters with similar consequences.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21650020.2025.2502001Informal economyinformal laborstreet vendorsresilienceurban economyvulnerability |
| spellingShingle | Oliver Tirtho Sarkar Md Abid Hasan Shantanu Kumar Saha Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh Urban, Planning and Transport Research Informal economy informal labor street vendors resilience urban economy vulnerability |
| title | Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| title_full | Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| title_short | Resilience in the informal economy amidst the COVID-19 crisis: the experience of street vendors in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| title_sort | resilience in the informal economy amidst the covid 19 crisis the experience of street vendors in dhaka bangladesh |
| topic | Informal economy informal labor street vendors resilience urban economy vulnerability |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21650020.2025.2502001 |
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