Trading Trash in the Transition: Economic Restructuring, Urban Spatial Transformation, and the Boom and Bust of Hanoi's Informal Waste Trade

In this paper I explore how one particular segment of the informal waste-recovery trade, waste intermediaries, is impacted by Hanoi's rapid urban economic and spatial change. Using survey and interview data I demonstrate: (1) waste intermediaries simultaneously gain and lose as a result of Hanoi's urban transition; and (2) the underlying forces of urban spatial change in different areas of the city are quite distinct, which will have a unique impact on the future of informal waste-recovery in Hanoi.