Accommodating the Street Hawkers into Modern Urban Management in Kuala Lumpur

It is encouraging to note that in recent years major cities in Southeast Asia have become more conscious of the presence of the informal sector which has become part of the underlying image of most Asian cities. The sheer size of the sector alone showed how important it is to the countries involved in this region with respect to issues such as unemployment and urban poverty. While the theory based on survival strategy remains to be widely prevalent in explaining the development of the sector, recent studies have started to associate the growing presence of the sector with the logic of productive decentralization (Portes, Castells and Benton, 1989). At present in Malaysia, hawking constitutes the bulk of informal sector activities in major urban areas. Hawkers are seen as effective and efficient agents in the distribution of goods and services through their linkage with the formal sector. They help to keep the cost of living in the city low by providing food and other consumer items at affordable prices and widen consumer choice. Hawking in another sense is part of the Malaysian culture to be promoted. The challenges however, remain in its management and control which involves considerations such as health, cleanliness, aesthetics and safety issues. This paper will trace the changing characteristics of the street hawkers in Kuala Lumpur since the 1970s. While the paper makes no unmistakable account of the roles and contributions of hawking activities to urban living there it also highlights the main issues relating to their sustainable existence. The paper will also evaluate the current strategies of managing the street hawkers in Kuala Lumpur which were mostly by relocation and upgrading exercises. Norhaslina Hassan, Accomodating the Street Hawkers in Kuala Lumpur, 39 ISoCaRP Congress 2003