Street vending is a dynamic phenomenon of network of events, socioeconomic and cultural factors while remaining a narration of place. At the metropolitan level, the narrative is negatively skewed towards street vending and its aesthetic reality, contemporaneously exploring hostile environmental interventions within the informal sector. This paper attempted to explore a counter-narrative asking; based on aesthetic experience, can the "desired" urban image be achieved by allowing street vendors proliferate in public spaces? This question was asked within the scope of the political-economy of diversification in Nigeria. Mapping over google satellite images over critical periods leading to demolitions and/or developments, this paper documented the spatial distribution of vendors to determine the urban centres that are hostile to vending activities and those that were not. The paper argued that, around public spaces such as parks and sidewalks, the precarious nature of vending activities lead to their diffidence in upgrades to stalls, tables and kiosks. With pictures from spaces that appear to approve of street vending tacitly, a pattern of upgrades in vending apparatus and kiosks were established. This paper proposes an integrative model of passive, active and tacit support that is required to influence the discourse of vending activities within the context of urban images produced in Nigerian. In conclusion and using sing Gouverneur (2014) concepts of receptors and transformers, this paper revealed that potential existing parks within a dense urban area could serve as transformers, creating an urban image that defies that "out of place" narrative associated with vendors.
This study investigates the symbolic attributes of power relations within the built environment of the walled city of Nicosia and contributes to the interpretation of generated meaning. The fundamental aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive explanation and description of how power as a socially constructed phenomenon aids in defining the language of the city and architecture. Studies of the built environment in relation to power discourse are a continuous process, and due to the subjectivity of interpretations, this study adopted the epistemological stance of constructivism. Based on deductive reasoning, this study hypothesises that power aids in defining the language and imageability of the city, and the results have verified the propositions. The case study of this research was diachronically analysed and focused on the socially-constructed symbolic meaning generation, within the framework of interpretivism. In order to analyse the city, a conceptual approach was developed. Two main approaches that support the research hypothesis were established: the language of the city; and imageability of the city. The imageability of the city was based on the five elements of the city, published in 1960. However, due to the context of this research, three of the elements that fully supported the research aim and objectives were selected, namely, landmark, district and path. The two main conceptual approaches were tied to power relations within the built environment based on the theoretical frameworks of: Markus; Dovey; and Njoh. In conclusion, the walled city of Nicosia exhibits symbols of ‘power over’ such as segregation, seduction, manipulation, and authority. The results have verified the proposition that power aids in defining the language and imageability of a city, thereby transforming the city and its inhabitants.
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