Theme 2 – Enhancing commercial efficiency

The theme suggests to look at the 'spatial product' generated by the commercial system as a consequence of political empowerment and control of space. In fact, markets require certain properties of space to function as nodes attracting clients from distant locations and connect to a diversity of distribution networks. A marketplace is not a fixed structure, it evolves over time and depending on the abilities of vendors it might tend to configure the area to increase its commercial efficiency.

Through the specific analyses I look at the spatial organisation of the market at three different scales, this kind of decentralised and multi-scalar arrangement is part of the strength and resilience of the market as a socio-spatial system. This structured organisation of space can explain the street trading ability to produce space, i.e.

transform the neighbourhood into a commercial asset. To look at this organisation is also relevant to understand space as a value for different groups of vendors.

Three specific analyses are conducted to explore the market as a spatial and social organisation. Figure 30 shows the analyses regarding the general argument.

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Figure 30 Analyses corresponding to Theme 2

Multi-scale spatial analysis is used as a method to explore the market organisation, as explained in the first part of the Chapter. Analysis 5.1 looks at the commercial organisation of the North Sector scale as if it were a metaphor for a ‘supermarket’, formed by specialised street markets, commercial poles, a multiplicity of smaller plazas and facilities such as bus terminals. At the street scale, Analysis 5.2 explores the social and spatial organisation of a group of vendors on Aztecas Street, the way they formed a specialised market to attract more clients, the profile of the vendors, their relations to space and the goods they sell. The final analysis, 5.3, considers the organisation of a stall and tracks the origin of commodities and their final destinations to understand the capacity of street traders to establish commercial connections throughout multiple locations.

Method analysis 5.1: The North Sector market area

The analysis explores the market organisation at the North Sector scale. The hypothesis is that different components of space like closed markets, plazas, specialised streets, etc.

work together as a coherent ‘body’. The street market is not only formed by the commercial streets, but by other structures that are also part of the commercial system as a whole. The territorial approach to street vending may give insights into how larger configurations are formed in space.

152 The analysis at this scale focuses solely on the spatial dimension of the phenomenon.

Different elements of space were identified, using a method similar to that of Kevin Lynch’s image of the city (1960) in order to look at the role they play in the general organisation of a coherent ‘syntax’. To do the mapping, I visited the market area with key informants several times. The drawings were produced in Autocad using the city cadastre version 2005.

Method analysis 5.2: The socio-spatial organisation of Aztecas Street

The analysis focuses on the area occupied by the ASVA on Aztecas Street, a major commercial corridor in the area. Associations are political and social organisations and are comprised of spatial ‘units’; the study of how these units work might give insights into the organisation of the market as a decentralised system. The unions have developed the capacity to negotiate the areas that they are to occupy on the streets with the authorities, and to organise the distribution of the vending. The way the unions work independently as autonomous entities, but at the same time collectively, is considered a key feature of the informal organisation of the market.

The profile of the street vendors was studied as well as their spatial distribution. A survey with 17 questions was conducted at each stall situated in the ASVA’s area, see Annex 1. This occurred on 28/12/2010. Each survey completed at the stalls had an individual ID that was used to map them in Arcview, a geographical information system.

This allowed me to do mappings for the different variables of the database. The survey was completed by a total of 71 stalls and then mapped.

I tested the survey and discussed the questions with Tomas, one of the key informants or the research. Some of the variables, however, were answered by direct observation (variables 2, 15 and 17).

No personal data was asked of the vendors. The unit for the survey was the ‘stall’, which in general is divided into several ‘vending places’. The size of the stalls can vary; the smallest have 3 vending spaces, while others can have 9 or more. The vendors and authorities had created this system for two reasons. The vending places are registered to the name of individuals; this means that a small stall can have three persons registered at a time. This increases the number of vendors registered in comparison to the actual number of vendors in the market, which gives more negotiation power to the unions and a legitimate reason for the authorities to let the vendors use the streets. The other

153 reason is that in most cases, these stalls are owned by families, not individuals, so in some cases the division of the stalls is used to ensure that the members of the family appear in the registry.

The traders did not hesitate to answer as to whether the stall was rented or not (variable 3). The presence of the leader’s daughter persuaded the vendors to answer in a straightforward manner; results can be considered reliable.

The question regarding the place where the vendor's live (variable 6) may not reflect the reality. In many cases traders answered that they lived in the city centre or in Tepito;

they may have properties in these areas that they use as storage places or rent out to market workers, but they are not their principal residence.

Traders tended to respond that they had worked at the market for a longer time; in general this argument is used to legitimate their activities. The answers were taken into account only when they were coherent with the information provided by the leaders and when the vendors were able to offer details of the different periods of the market.

Four categories of vendors were created using the database and Addati, a statistical analysis software, see results in Annex 2. I carried out some tests while defining the active variables, those that were considered more influential for defining the profiles.

After the tests, I defined two main active variables and had the programme create four groups. The influential variables used to define the profiles of the vendors were: the time that vendors had been in the market, and the time they had been working in the same business line. The objective of the clustering was to identify the street vendors that had evolved with the market over time from those who have a more business-like profile,

Method Analysis 5.3: Stall 141 and its global connections

Street stalls can become successful micro-businesses. They can establish a wide variety of connections to distribution networks in the metropolitan area, to other regions of the national territory or even to the Asian producers/importers. Depending on the abilities of the vendors, some of them are able to carry out transactions using new technologies

154 like smart phones. The hypothesis is that as the market becomes more attractive and the profile of the street vendors becomes more entrepreneurial, the street stalls become more productive. The productivity of the stalls and its role in the global economy may alter the value of the streets as an exchange value.

I chose Tomas’s stall on Aztecas street as a case study. I observed the stall for two weeks to understand the activity. I talked to neighbouring vendors, clients, people offering their services, etc. Together with Tomas, I also went to the place where a family was producing wrestling masks and interviewed them. They agreed to show me their production shop and tell me the story of the family.

These analyses support the argument that street vending can become a dominant pattern of organisation within a territory. This pattern follows the social and economic logic of the market at several scales. The tendency of this organisation is to become more efficient and entrepreneurial-oriented, which reflects in the increasing utilisation of the streets as a ‘business asset’.