A banner produced by The Municipality of Lima announcing the prohibition of street vending in public space. (Credit: J. Renteria)
During my Winter 2011 visit to Lima, Peru, what intrigued me most of the street vending culture there were the innovative wheeled carts covering the city’s dense landscape. Perhaps a wheeled cart isn’t all that novel, but the different scales are, as is the seamless integration of these carts into the urban fabric. In some cases, the carts are distributed by local governments and at other times they are corporate innovations, such as is the case with the Nescafe bike cart that can be seen below. Still, other times, they are simply a product of a striving entrepreneur’s toils. Below are some of my findings:
A street vendor sells grapefruits from a Municipality of Lima sanctioned cart. (Credit: J. Renteria)
Another Municipality of Lima sanctioned cart. (Credit: J. Renteria)
And another … (Credit: J. Renteria)
This handy Miraflores District sanctioned cart goes from this … (Credit: J. Renteria)
… to this … (Credit: J. Renteria)
… and can store all of this! (Credit: J. Renteria)
This cart in the District of Barranco goes from this … (Credit: J. Renteria)
… to this! (Credit: J. Renteria)
Nescafe is sold from a bike cart. (Credit: J. Renteria)
Everyday goods are sold from a push cart in Callao. (Credit: J. Renteria)
{FAVEL issues} 
Really cool sampling of these little capsules of urban beauty.
Fantastic photos! Street vendors really add a lot to a city–officially-sanctioned “green carts” in NYC bring fresh produce to underserved areas. Vendors are often underappreciated though–in Cairo, the government tries to push them out of busy streets to speed up traffic. Read more at http://cairofrombelow.org/2012/10/05/traffic-and-trade-seeking-balance/
Thank you, folks! If you happen to be looking for more pictures, you can find them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65160654@N07/sets/72157628887119955/
I really liked the women who would crack and prepare quail eggs for you on the street in Lima.