Reordering Street Vending in Puebla's Historic Center: An Analysis of Urban Governance and SME Competitiveness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22678495Keywords:
Informal trade, commercial reorganization, unfair competition, smes, urban governance, historic center of Puebla.Abstract
The tension between the formal and informal sectors in heritage urban centers represents a critical challenge for contemporary governance, where historical preservation collides with economic subsistence dynamics. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of street vending on the competitiveness of 150 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and determine the effectiveness of recent reorganization policies in the Historic Center of Puebla. Through a mixed cross-sectional methodology, integrating surveys and documentary analysis, critical findings regarding the vulnerability of the established commercial ecosystem were revealed. The results indicated severe affectation in the business fabric, with 48% of economic units reporting a critical drop in sales attributable to unfair competition. Furthermore, structural unemployment, identified by 56% of respondents as the root cause, was found to act as the primary driver of the phenomenon, challenging simplistic narratives of criminalization. The research concludes by emphasizing the imperative need to transition towards governance policies that transcend mere aesthetic cleansing of public space, to comprehensively address the economic resilience of formal trade, thereby guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of this World Heritage site.
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