In a time when the Covid virus has put so many cities in Asia are under lockdown, or at least in very bad straights economically, informal street vending has continued to be a lifeline for the urban poor who have lost jobs and earning opportunities and can't feed their families.  Yet perversely, the authorities in many cities have used the crisis as an excuse to evict informal street vendors.  Karachi is a case in point.  Here is a link to an article by Arif Hasan, about the difficult situation street vendors in his city are facing:  

http://achr.net/upload/downloads/file_13012021143107.pdf
 
Arif writes that the article is the product of four years of research, in which many people were involved. This research - and the advocacy that has come out of it - has been crucial in arresting the demolition of small businesses and hawkers in Karachi and in laying the groundwork for the development of an appropriate and easily-implementable process of regularization.  Arif and his team are now working to turn the research into a book-length report and to develop easily readable advocacy material.  For more information, please contact Arif: 
arifhasan37@gmail.com