#designfieldwork

After weeks of immersion in Ahmedabad, we continued our study in Shillong. Shillong was a diiferent experience as there was a shift—not just geographically, but culturally and institutionally. The way things worked here was different from what we experienced in Ahmedabad. Due to this we were also able to see whether the patterns we were seeing were city-specific or systemic. One of the most significant differences in Shillong was the presence of a rigorous vendor identification and verification process. The municipality had previously conducted detailed street vendor surveys to formally identify vendors operating in the city. Through this process, vendors were issued Certificates of Vending, allowing them to officially recognise themselves as street vendors within the system. Another structural shift was the relocation of vendors from open streets into organised vending clusters such as the Muda Complex. While this relocation might seem as a step to being organised, ot came with its own set of challenges. The findings from our research in both the places made it clear that the scheme although beneficial to some, needs a lot of rework to be worth it for the vendors.