Mr. Boazizi and the Planning System

 Commentary by Prof. Michal Lyons*

April 2011

As Mr Mohamed Boazizi prepared to torch himself last December he wasn’t thinking of regime change. And although the tide of rebellion ignited by his act may lead to welcome democratic reforms, evidence suggests that these won’t alter the conditions which drove him to suicide.

Because of the dearth of jobs in any other sector, like hundreds of thousands of people in any major developing-country city, Mr Boazizi had to earn his living as a street vendor selling petty goods for petty cash. To maximise these minuscule transactions, vendors break land-use regulations to locate where footfall is highest: streets, squares, bus stations, or outside public buildings.

Thus vulnerable, in democracies as in dictatorships, vendors are preyed upon by officials when tolerated by government, and experience sporadic but frequent, brutal enforcements, when not. This causes indignity, misery and poverty and huge losses to their business. These setbacks are also a loss to society. Although most such enterprises are unlikely to become major businesses, they provide a much needed stable income for the urban poor, and enable today’s children to progress to better jobs through proper access to health, education and so on.

The solution? Quite separately from issues of regime change, adapt planning laws to accommodate the burgeoning need for central, visible trading space alongside traffic and pedestrian flows. Physical planning consequences of reform are straightforward and inexpensive. Economic, social, cultural and political gains from focusing planning regulation on current economic realities would be immense.

Governments must act. Retaining the status quo will continue to drive millions to despair by criminalizing their attempts to make an honest living.

* Michal Lyons, Professor of Urban Development and Policy, London South Bank University, 14 London Rd, London SE1 6JZ, UK