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All sectors have been affected economically due to the COVID-19 epidemic that we have experienced since the beginning of 2020. As a natural reflection of this, we know that unemployment is rising. The street economy is both a shelter for the workforce pushed from other sectors and for the existing workers. However, we do not know much about the current situation and problems of this industry all over the world. Of course, the investment required to determine with full accuracy the components of the street economy (how many people, where they work, and what are the characteristics of these people), which have a very dynamic structure, are usually based on social needs, is very large. However, by photographing the street economy on a regional basis, today the need to regulate this sector, which has more impact on the mental and physical health of both the individual and society than ever before, is strongly manifested. In this study, a systematic layout proposal was tried to be proposed for this arrangement.

The spread of COVID-19 has shaken people’s lives around the globe in an extraordinary way, threatening health, disrupting economic activity, and spreading fear and anxiety. However, the outbreak originated as a public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has also developed into a global economic crisis, with severe and potentially lasting impacts on employment and trade. The chapter investigates the changing dynamics of street economy during the COVID-19 era. In this study, one of the biggest but overlooked stakeholders of the street economy, municipality’s perception through the constables regarding the street vendors will be investigated. It is known that the worldwide epidemic of COVID has caused such problems as layoffs, depreciation of money, the global crisis, foreign trade coming to a halt, and, thus, it reduces individuals’ purchasing power. Therefore, it is considered that the number of individuals who are parties to the street economy has increased. This research aims to understand and discuss how COVID-19 has been affected to the street economy from the point of view of the constables, who are one of the most important stakeholders of the issue. A qualitative depth interviews were conducted to the constables of İzmir Municipality in Turkey. A semi-structured interview questions were applied and the data were analysed with the NVIVO program to understand the changing dynamics of street economy during the COVID-19 era in Turkey. The research aims to support and guide the local authorities with fresh data from the field regarding the changing characteristics of street economy.

This study analyses the management of street businesses by their owners. In this chapter, it is aimed to discuss the street economy from a managerial perspective. Accordingly, the planning, organising, coordinating, leading, and controlling processes of street economy were the focal points of this study. Again, the business functions such as marketing, purchasing, production, finance, public relations, and research and development are the dimensions evaluated in this context. Accordingly, the answer of ‘Do the sole proprietorships have a management?’ is analysed. ‘The management of street economy’ or ‘the management in street economy’ has different elements. The concept includes the management of the street enterprises by their owners or founders. At the same time, the term also can have the meaning which is linked with the governments: the management of a hidden, or a shadow economy.

The issues of development and democracy have ceased to be the internal problems of the countries and have become a dynamic factor in the international relations as regional and global issues. The problems that are difficult to solve such as the production insufficiency overwhelming the countries just like a national nightmare most of which have the roots that actually go out in one way or the other, the lack of economic capacity, the low technology level, the lack of qualified school curriculum, the private sector which is not sufficiently developed in many areas, the state and private sector relations having remained away from the plural capacity and governance and that the injustice revenue distribution and the opportunities to obtain unfair wealth wear down the working and undertaking desires of the productive population are the primary development problems. This study aims to criticise the street economy, micro entrepreneurship and how can it be a macro step for development and democracy and to determine the importance of street economy and street vendors for global economy.

Corona has been used as a mask for the deepening crisis of the capitalist system. It deepened the damage of those who suffered the most from the system. It deepened the harm of precarious street workers even more, making living conditions difficult. Not enough resources were allocated to street workers, only pocket money and food packages. At the same time, the Corona crisis strengthened the streets, making the street more visible. Street workers prevented inflation by providing goods and food at low prices in poor neighbourhoods throughout the stay period. Many products with scarcity supplied by street workers. Millions of unemployed people became entrepreneurs in the form of new simple street jobs. Increasing number of street entrepreneurs attracted local governments. Local governments developed projects to regulate the sales by street vendors. Very small-scale street entrepreneurs also developed a sense of solidarity by establishing cooperatives among themselves. The surveys showed that the poor were in solidarity with street vendors. Even street vendors bought products directly from producers who could not sell their products, distributed for free in poor neighbourhoods or sold at half the price of markets. Street economy is the most important component of the social economy. It was once again understood that the streets are not a problem but, the system created the problem. Street economy is not a problem. It is a spontaneous solution to the problems and crises of capitalism.

The urbanization process that develops in parallel with the increase in population, get volume in vertical level on the ground today just like the underground expansion of urban spaces in antique ages, in parallel with the intensification of spatial expansion, leading to new problems and research questions in urban spaces. Because the increase in the number of people per square meter as a result of vertical concentration on the ground makes the streets or the land we step on become a more rentable market. While this market has been filled with classical artisan businesses so far, street economy actors serve the population (consumer) where artisans are not sufficient for meeting the demand in highly populated streets. This situation confronted law enforcement and street sellers in cities for decades or may be centuries, and urban peace and harmony often deteriorated. In the integrated urban areas, in addition to a series of urban problems, the registration of the informal economy and the adaptation of the street economy actors to the urban identity and esthetics have become the problems that await priority solutions. Street economy is an aesthetic and ergonomic fact of living cities, in accordance with this microeconomic reality, sustainable legal regulations are essential. Such that, these legal regulations should be established on a solid basis not only in certain countries but also in all countries in the world.

Street economy (SE) is defined as the exchange of all kinds of goods and services in public areas, streets, street corners and squares. As in all sectors, SE is composed of two main parts as registered and unregistered. Again, it is divided into two parts as legitimate and illegitimate social and economic activities, in the extent of the limitlessness of human needs and the relatively limited resources. SE consists of all kinds of economic, social, cultural and artistic activities that are carried out on the streets. Virtual streets are added to real streets with globalisation and digitalisation. It is observed that the very small-scale street trade, which is expected and predicted to disappear in the last century, has become more widespread and effective in contrast to all these predictions and expectations. In this chapter, it is foreseen that the SE, with all its sub-sectors, has not yet been measured with its sub-sectors, and with its global buyers and sellers having reached the enormous dimensions that affect the daily life of 5 billion people out of the 8 billion world population. Quantitative indicators compiled from databases show that this set of street traders has reached a global trade volume of $30 trillion under the common denominators. With a volume of $30 trillion, SE has attracted the attention of the producers and investors of street robots as well as other entrepreneurs and researchers. SE, which has been expected to be eliminated and not seen as worthy by economists and politicians, has been the sole supplier of the needs of the poor, with hundreds of sub-sectors. It is seen as the easiest, most common job opportunity of the unemployed. In this chapter, the functions, its place in the city life, its added value at the local and national levels and its problems and global solution proposals of the SE, which is expected to become more important in the world agenda, will be discussed.