Mechanisms and Strategies of Night Market Governance in the Perspective of Informal Economy: Hangzhou as an Example
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Abstract #
How to govern the informal economy is an important issue in the move towards inclusive and refined urban governance. This paper focuses on the informal economy of night markets. Through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews with three representative types of night markets in Hangzhou, this paper explores the measures for informal economy governance. Firstly, the night markets are analyzed in three dimensions: order, vitality and inclusiveness. It is found that after long-term governance, Hangzhou night markets have acquired the characteristics of the formal economy, such as spatial stability and standardized operation, as well as the characteristics of the informal economy, such as people-friendly, vitality and low barrier to entry, and a trend of diversification has emerged. Secondly, we summarize the governance model of multi-entity collaboration and transformation of three types of typical night markets, and conclude the governance strategies such as differentiated rent setting, refined contractual constraints and flexible time and space utilization. Finally, drawing on Hangzhou’s experience, suggestions for the inclusive governance of the informal economy are put forward.
Key words #
informal economy; urban governance; night market; inclusiveness; Hangzhou