A large share of urban work in most developing economies is .
Informal does not mean illegal, and the distinction matters for policy.
A repair workshop with no pays rent, buys parts and serves regular customers.
It sits outside the tax system and outside every protection the tax system funds.
Governments have historically responded with two instruments: drives and .
Clearance moves the activity and destroys the customer relationships that made it .
Formalisation drives usually fail for a reason that is easy to establish by asking.
Registration brings costs immediately and benefits slowly, if at all.
Where has succeeded, it was bundled with something the operator wanted anyway.
Access to credit, a legal address and protection from are the usual three.
Simplified single-rate taxes have worked better than proportional systems at this scale.
The administrative cost of assessing a stall exceeds anything it will pay.
Cities that recognised work in planning have produced the most durable results.
A designated trading street with water, waste collection and fixed hours converts a conflict into a .
That is not in the textbook sense, and it collects revenue and reduces harm, which is what was for.