Understanding the realisation of state's worlding visions from the urban informality perspective: street vending in Bangalore

Emerging nation states aspire to project “world class” cities like Bangalore through large scale urban transformations based on urban standards inter-referenced from Western and Asian cities. In order to establish global recognition, states impose these visions on their subjects, including street vendors who characterise Indian cities. When viewed from a Marxist lens, urban informality like street vending is a form of the subaltern that rises in opposition to state imposed visions. The subaltern is conceptualised to be at odds constantly with the authoritarian state. In reality, cities like Bangalore, characterised by post-colonial institutional and decentralised land arrangements, implement visions through local-level authorities. Urban informality as a site of critical analysis, can reveal how complex socio-political relationships across domains alter worlding visions. The objective was to determine how visions manifest when the state is more than a singular entity, investigating whether it is solely influenced by subaltern resistance or by more intricate dynamics at play, therefore challenging the oversimplified state versus subaltern perspective. First, the research investigates where street vending fits within the state’s wording visions for Bangalore. Second, it analyses the state actions towards street vending in worlding projects, by assessing its inclusivity or intolerance. Third, it explores how the logic of informality influences street vendors’ responses to worlding projects. To achieve this, discourse was analysed to uncover the worlding visions for Bangalore and street vending. Eviction reports, the case study of Gandhi Bazaar redevelopment using interviews and legal documents analysed the state’s actions towards street vending. Finally, the case study of Church Street redevelopment using observations analysed the response of street vendors. The analysis revealed that the state's worlding visions of sanitised street vending in a globalised modern Bangalore are not fully realized due to discrepancies between higher-level intentions and local-level implementation. Legal frameworks lack specificity and local authorities exhibit varying approaches towards street vendors. While some perpetuate informality through eviction and harassment, others respond to vendor needs, resulting in different outcomes such as in Gandhi Bazaar. Worlding pedestrianization projects aiming to exclude vendors inadvertently promote vending activities, as seen in Church Street. The realisation of state visions involve complex stakeholder conflicts beyond subaltern political agency. Further research is needed to understand power dynamics, negotiation processes, and governance structures influencing the realization of state visions and their impact on marginalized street vendors.