Revealing the Street Vendor Phenomena for Better Urban Life

Street vendor is one of the phenomena that has been discussed frequently by many scholars in the urban informal sector studies. Due to the limitation of jobs opportunity in the formal sector in the city, street vendors are becoming an option for urban communities to sustain their income. Informal street vendors’ activity grows spontaneously because it is a simple operation as compared to formal businesses, and sometimes, there is no standard procedure to regulate them. Many scholars supported that the existence of informal street vendors in urban spaces contributed to a positive impact on the sustainability of urban life. In Medan City, for example, street vendors grew tremendously, especially at night, and dominated the public spaces along the street corridors. This study attempts to reveal the causal factors and the utilization of the street corridor dominated by street vendors and its positive impact on the livability and sustainability of the city. Mixed-method research approach is applied in this study to analyze the descriptive and qualitative data obtained through observation, mapping, photo-trekking, and interviews at three (3) selected street corridors in Medan City. The results of the study reveal that this phenomenon contributes to the sustainability of urban life at night and becomes a popular place for people to gather. It helps to pull the crowd that may contribute to the livelihood of the city economy. On the other hand, it is the place that indicates the high level of place dependency for street vendors to sustain their income. Keywords: street vendor, street corridor, urban life, urban sustainabilit