Street economies — the invisible engine

When people talk about urban economies, they often seem to focus more on the obvious, such as luminous high-rises, industrial parks, large infrastructure, and all those formal investments that show up on government dashboards.

But let’s be honest, particularly in cities across the Global South, that’s only half the story. The real buzz, the real hustle, often hums along in the narrow lanes, the roadside stalls, the open-air repair shops, and the ever-moving handcarts. That’s where rickshaw drivers...