Description

The Street Food research project aims at investigating some challenges posed by street food vending, drawing upon 4 case studies: Bangkok, Hanoi, Chicago and Montpellier. This paper will present the cases of Hanoi and Bangkok. In Bangkok, street food is an affordable and easily accessible source of food throughout the city: thus, it contributes to securing the access to food (in terms of availability and affordability), while often providing income to underprivileged households, in particular migrants. Yet, street vendors are currently facing a vehement eviction process, in order to facilitate the traffic. Hanoi follows the same pattern, although moderately, and shut down several informal markets, for food safety reasons. But what are the consequences of this eviction for vendors and for the food system? How do vendors and consumers adapt to this changing urban environment? Moreover, how do planners consider the food issue within urban planning?

Dr. Gwenn Pulliat is a researcher in geography at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). She has worked on Southeast Asia for a decade, with a focus on urban development issues. Her research deals with urban food security and the urban environment. In 2017, she has held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, working on the Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia partnership.