Two months ago Vietnam cleared its street vendors. Here’s what happened 

An image of a zealous District 1 vice-chairman, Nguyen Ngoc Hai, rolling up his sleeves and pointing his finger at illegal vendors on footpaths went viral amid often angry public debate. 
The enforcement kicked off another round of decades-old debate about whether there is too much or too little state authority in Vietnam, and conversely, too much or too little democracy and liberty.
The cleanup campaign’s purpose was to clear shop displays, tables and chairs that were impeding pedestrian traffic and have long been complained about by locals and tourists alike.
Notable was the fact that even the sidewalk security sentries’ kiosks at Ho Chi Minh City government agencies, including at the state bank, were swept away. Elsewhere concrete steps leading up to a five-star hotel were demolished with little prior notice 
and after a confrontation between hotel management and the wrecking team.

The 1980s sidewalk ‘revolution’
Unsurprisingly, the crackdown has proven divisive, with one group insisting the campaign was right, another standing up for the livelihood of small businesses, and many who thought the methods could have been more carefully considered.
The issue has been represented as one of livelihood versus municipal rules, as one of democracy versus the need to be disciplined, neat and tidy.
The crackdown was far more than just a technical issue of who has rights on the footpath. It contains much political significance. In the days after the Vietnamese government opened up with market reforms in 1986, the termination of many state enterprises meant the loss of a huge number of state jobs. This pushed many individuals into making a living hawking goods or services on the sidewalk. A popular poem at that time even described discharged army colonels selling ice cream from pushcarts.
It wasn’t only city dwellers who took part in this informal economy – peasants deprived of work at home flowed into the city to make their daily dollars. The municipal disorder was tremendous, but the jobless had to make a living.
In 1995, when the government felt that people’s living conditions had improved, it started a clampdown on the informal sidewalk economy. Today, more than 20 years later, while the problem is not as severe as in the 1980s and early ’90s, the major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are still choked with sidewalk clutter, especially in tourist areas and away from the civic centres and government offices.

Rollback of snap decision
But most pundits agree that the city-ward officialdom, which relies on taxes from businessmen for some of its income, is likely to turn a blind eye and find a middle way that will please upper levels while at the same time allowing vendors to carry on. 
Already this week, netizens are posting photos of stalls returning to sidewalks.
Meanwhile construction of some recently demolished features on Ho Chi Minh City sidewalks had originally been approved by the local authorities. Affected residents are now demanding compensation.
This is a typical situation in Vietnam, where policy decisions are not thought through, may be partial in implementation, and do not provide longer-term solutions.

Secret to Singapore’s success 
On the Internet, Vietnamese often hold up Singapore as a model of sidewalk orderliness. I am often at pains to emphasise to them the differences between the two countries. If the street hawkers and vendors are to make a living, they must have a place to do that in new premises as a “pull” factor to get off the street. Singapore has long understood that.
However, the inner cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, where most of the money from street vending is to be made, do not have a lot of space to build new markets or food courts.
Also, commercial owners and city officials may prefer to unlock the financial value of land parcels by building office and residential towers. And these in turn may not allow for enough parking – yet another big problem in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
State power and the enforcement of regulations are weak. No doubt this underpins the popular opinion among Vietnamese that they are happy because they can mostly do whatever they like in their area of residence. However, until the government addresses the nexus between policymaking, enforcement, corruption and options for vendors, the sidewalk saga will keep on repeating.

David Koh, a researcher on Vietnam for many years, is director of David Koh & Associates, a business consultancy on China and Southeast Asia.