TWO Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam
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Sarah Turner
Abstract
Vietnam’s first COVID- 19 case was confirmed on 22 January 2020, with a second wave taking hold from July 2020. The Vietnamese government’s initial mitigation strategies included a mandatory quarantine for travelers from COVID- 19- affected countries and a strong public health campaign (Ivic, 2020). On 19 March, after a rise in cases, Hanoi People’s Committee advised all residents to self- isolate at home until the month’s end (Reuters, 2020). This preceded a national lockdown from 1 to 23 April 2020 following Directive 16, which temporarily closed all but essential services, resulting in rapid unemployment increases in both formal and informal sectors (Trần Oanh, 2020).
One of the informal sector groups hit hard by the pandemic and Directive 16 was Hanoi’s migrant street vendors (VOA News, 2020). Street vending supports thousands of households in Hanoi and the surrounding hinterland, with those involved – predominantly women – often being rural- to- urban migrants who lack the formal education skills to secure ‘modern’ urban employment. They are drawn to the city due to opportunities to contribute to their broader household livelihoods, especially to pay for farming inputs and children’s school fees. Yet, prior to COVID- 19, these street vendors were already facing tough conditions, with a 2008 street vending ban covering 62 streets and 48 public spaces in Hanoi’s urban core, curtailing access to favorable trading sites (Turner and Schoenberger, 2012). Directive 16 then halted their work completely, at least in theory.
This chapter draws on semi- structured interviews with 31 street vendors in Hanoi completed between May and July 2020 as COVID- 19 restrictions relating to the first wave were lifting and before the second wave hit.
Abstract
Vietnam’s first COVID- 19 case was confirmed on 22 January 2020, with a second wave taking hold from July 2020. The Vietnamese government’s initial mitigation strategies included a mandatory quarantine for travelers from COVID- 19- affected countries and a strong public health campaign (Ivic, 2020). On 19 March, after a rise in cases, Hanoi People’s Committee advised all residents to self- isolate at home until the month’s end (Reuters, 2020). This preceded a national lockdown from 1 to 23 April 2020 following Directive 16, which temporarily closed all but essential services, resulting in rapid unemployment increases in both formal and informal sectors (Trần Oanh, 2020).
One of the informal sector groups hit hard by the pandemic and Directive 16 was Hanoi’s migrant street vendors (VOA News, 2020). Street vending supports thousands of households in Hanoi and the surrounding hinterland, with those involved – predominantly women – often being rural- to- urban migrants who lack the formal education skills to secure ‘modern’ urban employment. They are drawn to the city due to opportunities to contribute to their broader household livelihoods, especially to pay for farming inputs and children’s school fees. Yet, prior to COVID- 19, these street vendors were already facing tough conditions, with a 2008 street vending ban covering 62 streets and 48 public spaces in Hanoi’s urban core, curtailing access to favorable trading sites (Turner and Schoenberger, 2012). Directive 16 then halted their work completely, at least in theory.
This chapter draws on semi- structured interviews with 31 street vendors in Hanoi completed between May and July 2020 as COVID- 19 restrictions relating to the first wave were lifting and before the second wave hit.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xvii
- Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
- Introduction 1
-
Working Practices
- Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
- The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
- The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
- Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
- Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
-
Life During Lockdown
- Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
- The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
- How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
- Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
- Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
- The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
-
Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
- Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
- Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
- Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
-
Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
- Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
- What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
- Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
- The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
- COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
- Conclusion 245
- Index 251
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Acknowledgments xvii
- Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
- Introduction 1
-
Working Practices
- Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
- The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
- The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
- Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
- Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
-
Life During Lockdown
- Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
- The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
- How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
- Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
- Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
- The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
-
Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
- Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
- Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
- Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
-
Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
- Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
- What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
- Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
- The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
- COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
- Conclusion 245
- Index 251
