• Swagatika Mishra
• Neeraj Gupta

Every city narrates the story of its unique socio-cultural background through the merchants and their merchandise. The street ‘bazaars’ play an important role in every city’s economy and the residents. The livelihood of millions of people depends on these bazaars. However, there is little cognizance given to this important economic activity in formal spatial planning resulting in an extra burden on urban services and infrastructure. In absence of the allocated spaces, such street vendors not only affect the local trade and commerce but also reduce the state economy resulting extinction of many local practices. This paper explores the realm of women’s micro-enterprises in streets of Keonjhar, a city with a unique culture in the tribal region of Odisha. The study included photographic documentation, spatial measurements of small pocket and interviews with the women. It is found that the tribal women play an important role in keeping the cultural heritage alive and presenting a distinct character to the city. The local people from the nearby hinterland collect fresh and organic goods to sell in the market which always has better preferences than shelved items. The district planning authorities of the city have allocated a space for the daily market. It is found that this area is highly inadequate, not well connected to public transport and lacks basic amenities like toilets etc. It is not conducive to the needs of the women who travel from nearby rural settlements with head loads of merchandise and fresh agricultural produce. It is also seen that such markets are almost uniformly distributed across different residential areas as if ‘planned’ by the market forces. It is concluded sustainable development goals can be achieved only if the spatial planning follows a truly inclusive approach where local cultural context and needs of women are fully catered to. This will help in conserving the ethnic culture of the region and also enhance the ‘liveability’ of the local residents.

Women, Micro-enterprise, Culture, Spatial Planning, Liveability, Odisha, livelihood

"MAINSTREAMING ‘STREET BAZAARS’IN SPATIAL PLANNING: STUDY OF TRIBAL WOMEN’S MICRO ENTERPRISES IN KEONJHAR CITY, ODISHA.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no.151-157, MAY-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRCL06026.pdf

"MAINSTREAMING ‘STREET BAZAARS’IN SPATIAL PLANNING: STUDY OF TRIBAL WOMEN’S MICRO ENTERPRISES IN KEONJHAR CITY, ODISHA.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no. pp151-157, MAY-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRCL06026.pdf