Street Vending as a Field of Power: An Institutional-Historical Analysis of Urban Policy in Tehran

This article investigates the socio-political dynamics and institutional configurations that have shaped the phenomenon of street vending in Iran, particularly in Tehran, from the 1940s to the present. Moving beyond the prevalent narratives that treat street vending as merely an informal or deviant economic activity, the study situates it within the broader frameworks of urban political economy and policy discourses. Drawing on historical documents, legal archives, governmental regulations, and ethnographic observations—including voices of vendors themselves—this research reveals how various institutions (municipal authorities, health ministries, market organizations, and law enforcement bodies) have successively problematized and governed street vending through shifting discourses of legality, public hygiene, urban order, and even urban aesthetics.

The paper identifies five key discursive and policy phases: from the criminalization of vendors as " obstructers of public passage" to their reconfiguration under neoliberal governance logics that treat them as both urban nuisances and tourist attractions. This historical periodization uncovers a recurring pattern in which policies oscillate between violent exclusion and tactical inclusion, often masking deeper struggles over urban space, economic precarity, and institutional legitimacy. In contrast to existing scholarship that either pathologizes or romanticizes vending, this study offers a relational and institutional account, highlighting the interplay between vendor resistance and the evolving strategies of urban governance. Ultimately, it argues that street vending is not only a mode of survival but also a site where the politics of visibility, informality, and urban citizenship are continuously negotiated.