An investigation of socio-economic conditions of street hawkers: a case study of Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Street hawkers have been part of urban street life in cities of developed and developing countries. The study focuses on the socio-economic conditions of street vendors in Hyderabad, Sindh province, Pakistan. A review of the existing literature shows an acute shortage of empirical evidence on street hawkers in Pakistan, especially in Hyderabad, Sindh. This study aims to bridge this gap by contributing empirical evidence on the subject. For this study, a survey has been conducted to identify the socio-economic condition of the street vendors, their reasons for joining street vending, and problems faced by the street hawkers during street vending. This survey covered 120 street vendors in Hyderabad. The data has been collected from both primary and secondary sources. The secondary data has been collected from research articles published in journals, and books, newspapers, and research reports published by various organizations. The findings of the study show that the street hawkers significantly contributed to the socio-economic uplift of the masses at a larger level. The street hawkers have very little capital to invest in their businesses.