ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to show how the grounded theory approach can be used in urban design research on informality. In countries of the global south, it becomes necessary to employ ways of unpacking the complexity that begins from the data or entails an intense engagement with the ground reality. Our research looks at how the spatiality of street vending works in the context of a market precinct in Bangalore, India. It records the everyday practices of street vendors through gathering visual data, mapping data, and interview data which is further analysed through the grounded theory coding process. It draws upon Herb Simon’s logic of design framework to show how vendors move from given to desired locations and argue that for research settings such as the ones that constitute southern urbanism, this can be a useful approach.
