Street Vendors in Kathmandu Durbar Square: Use and Management of space for Informal Activity

[Urban Informal Sector, Final Seminar Presentation 2014, No. 2] 1

Street Vendors in Kathmandu Durbar Square: Use and Management of space for Informal Activity

Apil KC a, Gaurav Shrestha b, Rashmi Dahal c, Shreena Shrestha d

069 Batch, Masters in Urban Planning

Department of Architecture & Urban Planning

Pulchowk Campus

Institute of Engineering

Tribhuvan University

a [email protected]; b [email protected]; d [email protected]; c [email protected]

Abstract

With increasing urban migration and increasing urban poverty, vending has emerged as one of the

critical means of earning a livelihood for the urban poor in Kathmandu valley. Today, vending is an

important source of employment for a large number of populations as it requires low skills and small

financial inputs. Kathmandu Durbar Square; listed as one of the 7 Cultural World Heritage site by

UNESCO, is one of the important historic and tourist destinations in Nepal. This massive complex is

home to palaces, temples and courtyards. Historical and religious places where tourists make

frequent visits are crowded by vendors. Vendors are serving by providing different kinds of goods and

services - from bottled water to drink to handicrafts to the locals, pedestrians and mainly tourists in

this area. Tourists are the source of livelihood for these vendors. There is a strong relationship

between the number of tourists visiting these places and the livelihood of the venders under

consideration. To integrate street vendors meaningfully into urban planning, it is essential to see

urban spaces as multifunctional and multi-layered. Spaces are seen in different ways by different

people who use the space. This paper seeks to examine how the different users (vendors) of

Kathmandu Durbar Square negotiate and emerge with creative solutions to the usage including their

strategy to sustain and adopt in the competitive environment as well as the formal and informal

management of spaces in presence of Municipal intervention, which is a major challenge that has to

be taken up in order to accommodate vendors in urban development. This paper also reveals that the

decision of street vendors regarding locations in which they operate is mainly influenced by the

attraction of Tourist/customers, and so regardless of the number of times the vendors are evicted from

their location by the city authorities, they would still remain on the streets and open spaces.

Keywords: Informal sector, vendors, space management, strategy, policy, Kathmandu Durbar Square.

1. Introduction

The informal sector1 includes a significant

number of vendors, employing a majority

of poor people. In cities towns and even in

villages throughout the country, thousands

of people earn their living by selling

varieties of goods in the street. As jobs are

1 The informal sector or informal economy is that part of an economy that is not taxed, monitored by any form of

government or included in any gross national product (GNP),

unlike the formal economy

limited in the rural areas and agriculture

sector is not able to consume all of the

additional manpower, most of the poor

people with no or limited skill have been

migrated from the rural areas to

Kathmandu valley in search of better

livelihood. In such a backdrop, most of

them got self employed as vendors.

Vendors operate in officially sanctioned

off-street markets, which may be public or


private unlike Street vendors. Once they

move off the streets, these vendors are

typically referred to as market vendors or

micro entrepreneurs, although their

businesses otherwise remain much the

same. Street vendors may be stationary in

the sense that they occupy space on the

pavements or other public/private spaces

or, they may be mobile in the sense that

move from place to place by carrying their

wares on push carts or in baskets on their

heads. In this paper, the term street vendor

includes stationary as well as mobile

vendors and it incorporates all other

specific terms used to describe them.

Vendors represent a significant mass with

remarkable contribution to the economy,

which has not yet been counted in the

national economy. Street vendors are

mostly men, some women and some mere

children selling a variety of products such

as watches, jewelry, newspapers, fruits,

tobacco, cigars, food, chocolates, cakes,

ice-cream, and garments of all kinds,

shsoes, kitchen utensils, electrical goods,

torch and batteries, vegetables.

Figure: Map of Kathmandu Durbar Square


Furthermore, some provide services like

hairdressers, shoe repairs, tailors, metal

workers, garbage pickers, and so on. In a

nutshell, vendors are important players in

commerce. They not only provide low

priced goods but more importantly

generate employment for a large number

of people.

With its ancient monuments scattered

around, Kathmandu is an emerging city

and is the capital of Nepal forming the

core of the nation’s most populous urban

region. Kathmandu has been important

economically, administratively, and

politically for hundreds of years.

Kathmandu Durbar Square or

Hanumandhoka Durbar Square is the open

space in front of the old royal palace of the

Kathmandu. The square is known to be the

social, religious and urban focal point of

the Capital City. Like the royal squares of

the other city kingdoms of Kathmandu

Valley Patan, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur,

Kathmandu's Durbar Square is made up of

various historical royal and governmental

institutions mixed with temples of

different styles and ages. It is roughly L-

shaped seen from a pedestrian's view. The

preference for the construction of royal

palaces at this site dates back to as early as

the Lichhavi period in the third century.

Time and again the temples and the

palaces in the square have gone through

reconstruction after being damaged by

natural causes or neglect. Presently there

are less than ten quadrangles in the

square.2 The temples are being preserved

as national heritage sites and the palace is

being used as a museum. Only a few parts

of the palace are open for visitors and the

Taleju temples are only open for people of

2 Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathmandu durbar square

Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Kathmandu

Durbar square is the iconic landmark of

Kathmandu and definitely one of the most

visited tourist destinations. It is actually a

complex of Hindu temples, government

offices and a palace where Nepal was once

ruled. This is the historical heart of

Kathmandu where not only the

palace/buildings exists and local people

reside, but also is a commercial space for

vendors who have occupied most of the

open spaces, in the form of street vending.

Though it is illegal to operate street shops

near heritage sites, the premises of

Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square remain

occupied by illegal vendors, As a result,

the heritage site, which has been enlisted

among UNESCO´s World Heritage sites3

gives an impression of inadequately

managed vicinity as well as has obstructed

the movement of both local people and

tourists visiting the square to some extent

and at the same time, have elevated the

problems such as traffic jam, crowded

pedestrian way, messy, and untidy urban

spaces. However, if we look from the

economic dimension, it has been accepted

that Vendors/Street vendors are an integral

component of urban economies around the

world. They provide consumers with

convenient and accessible retail options

and form a vital part of the social and

economic life of a city. Street vending as

an occupation has existed for hundreds of

years and is considered a cornerstone of

many cities’ historical and cultural

heritage.

3 UNESCO (United Nations educational, scientific and cultural

organization) has declared 7 World Heritage Sites, all inside

Kathmandu Valley. The seven include the Durbar Squares of

Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the

Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath and the Hindu

temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.


The principal idea behind selecting the

Kathmandu durbar square vicinity for the

study is mainly because of the fact that the

heritage sites are more sensitive compared

to other public areas as they are visited by

tourist in great numbers. Their impression

and attraction towards tourist might

dwindle the informal economy as we know

that the Nepalese economy highly depends

on the tourism industry. Besides this, the

square is located in the urban core where

the value of land is at its peak. In such a

scenario, the question might arise on how

the vendors mange to afford or occupy

these spaces. Similarly compared to other

heritage sites of Kathmandu valley,

Kathmandu Durbar Square is under the

responsibility of multiple authorities,

which creates duplication of

responsibilities which in turn has

implication on the space management. Not

only this, the existence of the complex

relationship between the various formal

agencies associated to the palace square

might raise some interesting issues.

Kathmandu Durbar Square has been in the

core of the city and is occupied with large

number of vendors mainly oriented

towards tourism activities rather than

serving the locals. Though KMC has

directed the police authority to remove

street vendors4 from the heritage site,

vendors are still functioning as they used

to in the past years. Despite of being

contained by these legal boundaries and

facing regular government restrictions,

vendors yet seem to manage their place of

4 In a bid to reduce overcrowding and congestion in and

around the historically significant Hanuman Dhoka Durbar

Square, the authorities in collaboration with locals have started

removing street vendors from the site.

(http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_de

tails&news)

work and have been sustaining by

adopting various strategy. Our purpose in

writing this paper is to draw attention on

this recent ongoing issue regarding the

street vendors and the continuous

municipal interventions which have been

failed to address vending activities fully,

since last several years of time period. In

this paper, we try to analyze and answer

particularly; how do vendors use and

manage space in the presence and absence

of municipal intervention and what are the

strategies involved? This study is focused

on both the formal and the informal means

of space management.

2. Literature review

There is substantial increase in the number

of street vendors in the major cities around

the world, especially in the developing

countries of Asia, Latin America and

Africa. It has been found that the lack of

gainful employment coupled with poverty

in rural areas has pushed people out of

their villages in search of a better existence

in the cities. These migrants do not possess

the skills or the education to enable them

to find better paid, secure employment in

the formal sector and they have to settle

for work in the informal sector. Secondly,

there is another section of the population

in these countries who are forced to join

the informal sector. These are workers

who were employed in the formal sector.

They lost their jobs and had to seek low

paid work in the informal sector in order to

survive. Both causes are directly related to

globalization.

Among the large cities Mumbai is having

largest concentration of roughly 2,50,000

street vendors which is followed by

Kolkata which is having about 2,00,000.

In Ahmedabad the municipal law in


Gujarat prohibits the hawking of goods

without a license (Research paper;

Vendors and Informal Sector, A Case-

Study of Street Vendors of Surat City, C.

N. Ray, and Assem Mishra 2011). The

Municipal Corporation is also empowered

to remove any encroachments and

obstruction made on the streets. Vendors

tend to concentrate at places with high

traffic and high residential densities. The

spatial dimensions at the macro level are

guided by forces of factors, which create

demand at particular locations, extent of

demand, and the reasons for choices of

location.

Harvey (1973) argued that, to understand

cities, it is important to understand how

human practices create distinctive

conceptualizations of space, and that only

by exploring the concept of social justice

and its relationship to urban spatial

systems, the role of land as a commodity

and the spatial implications of economic

production, can people achieve an

urbanization that is not built on the

exploitation of the poor. He states that, in

the city context, the question is not, “what

is space?”, but rather “how is it that

different human practices create and make

use of distinctive conceptualization of

space?” It is also apparent from the

literature that studies have been carried out

which have expounded on the rights to the

use of public space. For example,

according to Mitchell (2003), unlike other

spaces of the city, which are increasingly

being created for people rather than by

people, public spaces are important in that

they are sites for the articulation and

demand of rights and citizenship.

(Solomon Ayeh, Bettie Emefa, King,

Rudith Sylvana and Decardi Nelson, Isaac,

2011)5 Lynch (1981) states that, even

though much of the literature assumes that

urban public space is a common property

resource to which everyone has equal and

free rights of access, in many instances,

this is not the case, because it has

competing uses. Urban researchers like

Roy (2005) have specifically focused on

the way street vendors in New York,

although a public nuisance in the eyes of

city authorities, in fact, produce safe

public spaces and enhance the quality of

life in the neighborhoods in which they

work. One of the research paper “Public

Management for Street Vendor Problems

in Dhaka City, Bangladesh” have drawn a

conclusion after survey on street vendors,

as per which the Street venders are

operating their informal business as a

temporary process without a sustainable

management system for the lack of

authority involvement in Dhaka City. Due

to that lack of responsibility, street vendors

are creating problems, street garbage and

crowed the footpaths in urban areas.

2.1 Locational attributes of Street vending

Street vendors choose their locations for a

variety of reasons and, from the point of

view of urban planning, it is important to

understand why they choose the sites or

locations where they operate their

enterprises. The failure of urban planning

and management systems to address this

has resulted in a haphazard and scattered

locational pattern of informal economic

units within the urban built environment.

In Ghana, the location and site selection of

the street vendors is at the core of the

5 This paper seeks to examine how street vendors use public

space for their livelihood and the response by the Kumasi

Metropolitan Assembly to control street vending. This paper

also proposes that the spatial dynamics of the activity in the

urban informal sector should be understood and the space needs

of street traders must be considered in urban planning.


accommodation issue. According to

Yankson (2000), it is customary to

understand this through the application of

normative models of industrial location. In

the light of this, Yankson’s study of Accra

(2000), found that a number of factors

were identified as influencing the choice

of sites by the operators. The attraction of

customers was considered the factor that

most influenced site selection. This was

followed by the availability of access road

and the lack of suitable alternative sites.

The least important was plot allocated by

municipal authority. The results of

Suharto’s study (2004) in Bandung

Metropolitan Region in Indonesia revealed

that, although street vendors were

widespread in many different places, their

locations always reflected their reliance on

economic activities either located on, or

affected by the street. Dewar and Watson

(1990) highlighted the sensitivity of

market locations to concentrations of

pedestrian traffic and they promote a

policy of intervention which recognizes

that markets operate best around

commercial centers, public transport

termini, or other areas with high pedestrian

flows.

“Study of Street Vendors in Greater

Kathmandu, Final report, 2011” by CIUD

(Center For Integrated Urban

Development)6 mentions that there are 110

numbers of vending centre with 10713

vendors out of which 4142 are involved in

vending perishable goods; 195 are in

6 This study is intended to find out the role of street vendors in

Greater Kathmandu, particularly within the peripheral of the

ring road. The study is limited to the street vendors who occupy

public or private land without gaining authority from concerned

agency. From total 110 vending centers identified in the general

survey, 11 centers or locations were selected and 110 vendors

from these selected locations were selected for detail surveys.

durable food items; 1518 in fast food

stalls; 2717; 1739 are in durable items and

402 numbers provide petty services. It also

reveals that the daily transaction that

occurs through such informal vending

centers comes around NRs. 26.4 million.

Similarly the other findings of this survey

report include; the worksite problem

includes the problems like eviction, lack of

basic facilities – (water supply, public

toilet, children playing places), weather,

harassment by local hooligans, etc.

Eviction is major problem apart from the

difficulties due to weather. Income and

sustenance level is another constraint

which affect in their living condition.

Comparing the population density of city

sectors with vendors' density of respective

sector, it was found that higher the

population density, higher is the vendor's

density.

Research and survey reports on vendors all

over the world have raised a common

questions like “what could be the possible

strategy to fit in the competitive market?

What is the role of vendors on the urban

space? What are the possible means for

appropriate organization and management

of the space occupied by vendors? How do

vendors in turn select and manage their

place of work (formal, informal)? What

are the spatial dimensions of their

workplace? There are several such

questions raised and logically answered in

various literature cited. However there are

no any precise records or findings which

have been universally accepted. In this

paper, our research question is mainly

focused on the spatial dimension and the

strategy adopted by the vendors in order to

sustain themselves in that particular

setting. The spatial dimension in this study

is limited to space characteristic,


organization and management of spaces

which might be formal or informal.

3. Methods

This paper encompasses both primary and

secondary data gathered through general

observation, group discussions, key

informant interviews and a field survey.

The secondary sources include books,

journals, articles and relevant research

reports. There have been no any survey

efforts regarding vendors of Kathmandu

Durbar square vicinity and neither the

availability of official data records. We

have gathered information through

interviews and direct conversation with the

vendors. The findings of the study are

highly dependent on the reliability of the

data gathered. Therefore we have verified

the data by comparing and interviewing

similar group of vendors in the areas

outside the durbar square and also via

interview with staffs of Conservation

office at Hanuman Dhoka square. Our

study area covers the Kathmandu Durbar

Square boundary which has been already

delineated. The findings resulted though

this research can be useful to municipality

offices and concerned authorities as well

as it can serve as a base for the

surveys/research in forthcoming days.

There are 3 main sections in this paper

under which the first section is an

introductory part where introduction/

overview and the literature review have

been included and based on which

essential knowledge is gathered for further

study. Review is followed by the main

body part where existing scenario of

vendors in Kathmandu durbar square have

been presented along with interviews and

photographs/maps. This part is mainly

analytical where situations and scenarios

have been analyzed and findings have

been derived. Here, we also try to identify

problems/issues, policy gaps and

challenges. Conclusion of this paper is

included in the third section along with

some recommendations.

4. Vendors of Kathmandu Durbar

Square

Kathmandu Durbar Square is one of the

prime areas in the city due to its proximity

with both urban core and Central Business

District (CBD), New Road. As a result, it

is a space of high land value and can

attract the business sector. Thus, the

location has played an important role in

attracting informal sectors or vendors in

the palace square who occupy Dabali7,

Plaza, Pati8, temple steps and

surroundings, etc. These informal vendors

are scattered at different parts or corners of

the durbar square selling curio items,

flowers, food stalls, items used for rituals.

Similarly, the square has been the parking

area for public as well as private vehicles.

Besides, the extension of some handicraft

shops shows both the formal and informal

business in the area.

Types of vendors

From our site visits, we have found

various types of street vendors in the

Durbar Square. In general, we have

categorized them in following categories:

a. Permanent Vendors

b. Temporary Vendors

c. Vehicle Stands and Parking

d. Others

7 Dabali: the platform used for performing various dance rituals

but now its use has changed in recent times. They are occupied

by vendors and are only used for rituals and dance performance

in special festivals.

8 Pati: The traditional built up structure used as resting space


a. Permanent Vendors

These vendors are generally occupying the

spaces of Dabali and Pati. At Dabali, they

vend mainly the handicrafts and curio

items. According to a vendor, they have

been doing business in that particular spot

since last 2 -3 generations. Similarly is the

case at the Lakshmi Narayan Sattal, where

they vend the religious ritual items. As a

rent they don’t pay to any government

organizations, instead the latter pay

nominal amount to a Local Guthi.

b. Temporary Vendors

They occupy spaces in the Square for a

certain period of time in a day, either

morning, afternoon or evening. The

vegetable vendors, flower vendors, etc.

They are mobile in nature.

c. Vehicle Stands and Parking

The spaces of the Squares, especially in

front of Maju Deva, Bhimeleswara,

Kotilingeshwor and Taleju Bhawani are

used for public and private vehicle

parking. The space in front of Maju Deva

is occupied by the Rickshaws. Similarly,

the taxis are parked in front of the

Bhimeleswara Temple. The private

motorbikes are parked in front of the

Kotilingeshwor as the police station also

lies besides the temple. Similarly the space

in the north part of Taleju temple is mainly

occupied by the private cars and motorbike

parking.

d. Others

In this category, we have categorized the

vendors who are formally occupying a

rented space but also extending their

occupancy in the public space too such as

the footpaths, temple plinths, etc. These

types of shop owners were mainly seen at:

- Plinth of Shiva Parvati temple and

Layaku Bahal

- Footpath alongside Sattal of Kamal

Chowk

- Footpath alongside Sattal of Taleju

temple

Space management and Strategies

In spite of occupying very high valued

land for decades, these vendors do not pay

any rent or any other charges for the

occupancy of the space. In fact, they did

not occupy any space through negotiation

with any agencies though it was stated that

Figure: Informal Vendors in Kathmandu Durbar Square


they have support of various clubs. The

vendors have occupied their respective

space in accordance with each other. Mr.

Hari Kumar Shrestha, Programme

Manager of Hanuman Dhoka Square

Conservation Programme stated that the

agency tried to collect Rs. 100 either

monthly or fortnight. The vendors of the

Dabali also rejected the agencies offer of

improving their sitting arrangements. They

also rejected any awareness and training

campaign proposed by the organization.

Mr. Shrestha also believes that any activity

on the temple steps have to be removed.

One of the most relevant informal sectors

is the handicraft vendors at the Dabali

which are at the south of Durbar Square.

This is probably the biggest and the oldest

Durbar Square. The first handicraft

business on Durbar Square was started

around 40 years back. Most of the vendors

here have been running their business from

20-40 years back and has been continuing

from second and third generation. Mr.

Suresh Shahi is one of the street vendors

of the Dabali. His father started the

business some 40 years back. Mr. Shahi

who is a BBS graduates believes that this

business is more productive than the

service holder’s job even though the

vendors can only make profits in three

months a year.

Mr. Shahi who calls his handicraft

business “a living museum” and boasts

that the first handicraft business and tourist

business was started in this Dabali and not

in the shop. Further supporting his

business, he added that informal business

is more productive than a registered shop.

Mr. Shahi is one of the many vendors who

are in support of informal economy and do

not want to get formal. Since, they do not

pay any tax or rent, they do not get any

facilities from government or agencies but

they do have support of a local club named

Sinha Swan Khala and most vendors

voluntarily pay money to the club as

donations. These street vendors who have

running their business for decades has

good relationship with each other which

they refer as “a family”. The space has

been arranged in three rows based on

seniority. i.e., the oldest handicraft vendor

occupy the front row. Some street vendors

say that the space is now saturated and

they will not allow any new vendors on

their space. The positions in the rows are

arranged by accordance among

themselves.

Beside the handicraft business the other

most significant business is the floral

business on the steps of the temples near

the Maru 9Ganeshthan as well as in the

surrounding of Mahindreswor 10Mahadev

Temple. Unlike the handicraft vendors of

the Dabali, these floral vendors have

occupied space in a very informal way.

The vendors occupying the space around

the Mahadev temple are much unmanaged

and their encroachments have created

problems to both the visitors as well as the

pedestrians. The floral vendors that occupy

steps have also been running their business

from decades. One of such vendors is Mr.

Puspa Malakar for whom it is a flower

business started by his father some 30-40

years back. Even though being a graduate,

he believes that this business is more

profitable than services. There are no toilet

9 Maru Ganesh: Small but remarkable temple located in the

western side of Basantapur palace square and in ancient times

was mostly visited by traders who used to go to Tibet for trade. 10 Mahindreswor Mahadev: the two tiered temple was

established in Medieval Period during the reign of King Mahindreswor Malla


facilities for the floral vendors here and go

to nearby houses or in their own houses.

They bring water and food themselves.

They use plastics to protect themselves

from rain in monsoon.

The informal business in not only on the

open space below the sky, but is also

running on built-up spaces like Pati. They

pay rent Rs. 1000-1500 to the respective

Guthi11. These informal shops sell the

items of daily rituals and they are

manufactured in Birgunj. There are shops

extensions of some registered shops. These

registered shop pay rent to Hanuman

Dhoka Office but use the space outside the

building as well.

Other most significant informal sector is

the Rickshaw stand at the center of the

square. They serve tourist to Thamel,

Balaju and Naradevi and the rickshaw

drivers interviewed clearly stated that they

are not leaving their station even if the

municipality or police would force them to

do so. There are few other food stall

vendors and vendors selling vegetables at

one time of the day (evening). There are

vendors selling other miscellaneous

products but are not in a very significant

number.

It has been clear that whether it is a

formally or informally managed space,

most these vendors do not pay any rents to

any agencies. This is one of the main

reasons why they are deprived of any

facilities. Most of these vendors have

support of local clubs which may be one of

the reasons why municipality are unable to

take any actions. They have been

providing services to both tourists as well

11 Guthi: A social welfare organization established for welfare of

the community, maintenance of temples and urban spaces etc.

as locals by providing their daily needs.

The vendors gave their own reasons for

not paying any rents as well as not going

for formal sector. Mrs. Parvati Adhikari, a

street vendor selling curio products gave

her explanation saying that the handicraft

business is not profitable as it was before.

There is lots of completion with both the

shops as well as other street vendors to sell

their products. Mrs. Adhikari who is from

Trisuli came to Kathmandu some 25 years

back for better opportunity. She said that

paying NRs. 3000/-as go-down rent and

NRs. 250/- to the labors daily for carrying

their items. The rickshaw drivers also

complaint about their high house rents.

As Mr. Hari Shrestha (Program manager,

Hanuman Dhoka Conservation Programme

Office) addressed that the main problem is

in the attitude of the people and them

trying to run away from their

responsibilities. On the other hand, the

vendors have lack of belief towards the

government. Some handicraft vendors

blame the government for their bad

income. One of the vendor complained

that since the municipality started taking

entrance fee of US$10, the number of

tourists buying their items have decreased.

Others too added their voices saying that

they have very less income and high

expenditures to pay any rents.

5. Policy gaps and issues

Stationary or mobile vendors in

Kathmandu durbar square are the

inevitable pictures of economy remaining

as the informal sector right in front of

different government organizations yet

ignored in many ways. To start with the

challenges in policies, one of the primary

fact is deficient national accounts statistics

which doesn’t cover this sector resulting in

distorted estimates of economic structure.


In many Asian countries such as India,

Indonesia, Philippines for the purpose of

data collection, the un-organized segment

of an economic activity is defined to

comprise those operating units whose

activity is not regulated under any legal

provisions and/or which do not maintain

any regular accounts (Suwal, R, Pant, B.

2009, Sharma and Chitrakar 2006). This

definition helps to demarcate the formal

from the informal. In fact, developing

countries, like Nepal, quite often use the

terms „unorganized‟ and “informal”

interchangeably (Suwal, R, Pant, B. 2009).

But still the informal sector is one of the

unresolved issue in term of economy as

well as in national policies. Due to their

very nature, that is, their small size,

invisibility, and high rates of entry and

exits, informal sector enterprises do not

enter the business registers or the list

frames usually maintained by National

Statistical Offices (Bhandari, D. 2011).

This lack of information hinders the

understanding of policy makers about

social and economic issues related to

informal sector activities, such as lack of

social protection, limited access to credit,

training, and markets, and differentials in

wages and working conditions. It is thus

important that the visibility of informal

workers in labour force statistics and other

data used in formulating policies needs to

be enhanced. The government needs to

collect statistics on the informal sector and

informal employment following

international standards (Suwal R., Pant B.

2009).

Problems related to informal sector of

Kathmandu Durbar Square is not a very

different case to the nationwide scenario

on the similar sector. Vendors or

individual entrepreneurs who are rooted at

that specified space are somewhat formally

or informally supported by local clubs.

Entrepreneurs at the Dabali of durbar

square are supported by local Sinha Swan

Khala, Rickshaw rider are parking inside

the core square area are self-legalized by

some unions related to political parties.

One of the major reason for working in the

informal sector was the complicated

vicious circle of registration, taxation and

annually auditing. As the result

government or the local bodies are also not

responsible for making any plans and

policies for hidden economy or hidden

sector. That’s why the absence of basic

infrastructures like sanitation (Toilet) and

drinking water is lacking in the business

site. However, there doesn’t seem any

confrontations between authorities and

vendors over licensing, taxation and

encroachment of public places and

pavements. We can see the situation of

overlooking the existence amongst both

the parties.

6. Policies and Efforts

Saying that government is not fully

ignoring the existence of informal sectors.

Many promotional programs and policies

have been launched in order to promote

the labour standards of informal sectors.

Labour Act 1992 has proposed

comprehensive and integrated system of

social security to be developed and

expanded, with the gradual inclusion of the

informal sector. The Act has also

emphasized the institutional, procedural

and legal frameworks to be developed to

implement the broader concept of social

security after encompassing the informal

sector. Various social welfare programmes

have been formulated and implemented by

targeting the workers and employees

belonging to both formal and informal

sector as well as their families. As

proposed in the Thirteenth year plan

approach paper, training in skill and

entrepreneurial development,

organizational and leadership development

and labour standards shall be provided in

partnership with the 'employers' and

'workers' organizations, local agencies and

other non-governmental agencies by

targeting the personnel working in the

informal sector could be one of the major

steps in intervening in informal sectors. It


is thus important that the visibility of

informal workers in labor force statistics

and other data used in formulating policies

needs to be enhanced.

7. Issues and Problems

Informal managements of Vendors in the

Kathmandu durbar square is creating

major problems in policy management and

program formulation for informal sector.

As already mentioned they are not under

the jurisdiction of laws hence local

governmental bodies are not responsible

for providing infrastructure facilities for

them as well. In most of the spaces,

unmanaged allocation for antique shops,

flower vendors around temple areas and

rickshaw parking area are creating

hindrances in the pedestrian flow and

visual obstacles. We observed the major

informal sectors were doing business on

the culturally and heritage important

Dabali. The whole plaza is converted into

the market square and no one is

responsible for the repair and maintenance

of the Dabali and nearby steps where

business takes place. Many agencies and

local bodies are directly or indirectly

associated with the management and

conservation of the square, but as they say

“Everybody’s responsibility is nobody’s

responsibility”, the management of

informal sector is often neglected as minor

annoyance.

Positive:

On the other hand we can’t take the fact of

Antiques selling vendors, flower selling

vendors and Rickshaw rider from the

darker perspective rather they are the one

to spread life to the square. As sometime

noted in their attitude as well, they are the

breath of the square living culture. Not

only because of them, but they play

important role in making the square as an

open museum. In most of the sense, they

also play important role in promoting

handicrafts and local technologies i.e.

home-based workers as well.

8. Results

From the above literature study and

observation made during the interviews,

we have made some specific findings,

conclusions and recommendations on the

matter. Study specific on the Kathmandu

Durbar square has concluded the vending

condition, vending strategies, informal

spaces managements and trends of spatial

arrangement of the informal sectors.

9. Findings

Study have majorly focused on formal and

informally spatially managed informal

sectors around the durbar square. Under

the informal sector which are not under the

jurisdiction or legally registered in any of

the government organization, we have

tried to categorize different types of

vendors working around the square area.

One could be termed as formal among the

informal which has certain systematic

arrangement of spaces around the Dabali

and are supported by the local clubs from

behind the curtains. They have mutual co-

ordination among each-others and have

been working as the vendors since

generations. They have even occupied the

built structure like Pati and are paying

certain fee to the Guthi. In the similar

context, we have found another group who

are new to the informal sector as we recall

them as new migrant to the city.

They often set their markets in the evening

and are often ignored by the local system

of management and planning. Hence, they

are mostly moving vendors or unmanaged

markets. Similarly, some unmanaged

permanent vendors (flower selling,

Rickshaw Parking) are one of the most

important sections to be addressed by the

management policies. As explained in Bid

Rent Theory, we have found they stay at

the nearby market centre periphery like

Kilagal but some Rickshaw riders have to

come from Baneshwor, hence they have

dissatisfaction regarding their expenditure

for travel and rent.


10. Conclusions

Almost more than 40 years back, a new

naïve migrant to the capital established an

entrepreneurship of selling antiques on the

Dabali of Kathmandu Durbar square.

Since then, with the flow of time, as

wisely explained in Hotelling’s location

model cluster has begun form one to ten

and at present near hundred. Formally

backed by local clubs and overlooked by

government bodies, informal sectors are

well established informal institutions and

contribute important portion in the local

economy. Space management of the

informal sectors are managed with co-

ordination among themselves and main

reason is that they are rooted to the system

which doesn’t allow them to break the

trend. Lack of co-ordination amongst the

different agencies, parties and stakeholders

in spatial management of informal sectors

are the major hindrances in managing the

spaces around the durbar square. In

addition to this, attitudes of informal sector

is also found to be obnoxious in most of

the management policies where they don’t

feel to be under certain parameters of rules

and guidelines. Overall the spatial

management is one of the challenging

issue especially when it comes to

managing generational old rooted informal

sector which must be dealt with certain

policies, long term vision and in win-win

situation.

11. Recommendations

As already explained about attitudes &

strategies of vendors and further more

challenges among different agencies,

spatial management of informal sectors in

Kathmandu Durbar Square needs to be

tactically handled and managed. When it

comes to management of generationally

rooted institution like these informal

sector, major stakeholders like the

informal vendors need to kept at the center

of policy making and planning along with

the proper spatial management. In the

similar manner, case of Ason can be taken

as the good example where informal

sectors like vegetable vendors, puja shops,

and other vendors are managed by TLO

(Tole/Lane Organization). These

organizations are responsible for spatial

management. As the lacking co-ordination

is major issue that we have reckoned,

coordination between municipality,

Hanuman Dhoka Office, Conservation

program office and other stakeholders is

utmost to take responsibility for current

situation. Informal vendors should be

made aware about the benefits of being

under the legal jurisdiction and they

should be assured of direct incentives or

benefits like basic infrastructures; toilet,

drinking water, roofing for vendors during

rainy seasons. In the similar manner, they

should be asked to pay rent and tax to

municipality in future as well and

collective maintenance of the space should

be done. At the primary concern all the

policies and programs made for informal

sector should be implemented with right

intention and further plans should be made

in the participatory approach of every

stakeholders.

12. Acknowledgement

The preparation of research paper “Vendors in

Kathmandu Durbar Square: The Formal and

Informal Use and Management of Space" have

been an extremely valuable learning

experience. We express our thanks to the

Department of Urban Planning, Pulchowk

Campus, for giving us this opportunity. We

would like to express our gratitude to our

course coordinator, Dr. Kirti K Joshi for his

valuable advice and suggestions throughout

the study period. We would also like to thank

Mr. Hari Shrestha (Program manager,

Hanumandhoka Durbar square conservation

office) for his kind knowledge sharing and

providing essential data regarding the subject

matter. Eventually we would like to

acknowledge everyone who contributed

directly or indirectly to prepare this seminar

paper.


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