Recent work on entrepreneurial urban governance has focused on the new forms of exclusion produced by neoliberal entrepreneurial urban strategies, arguing that local forms of social-spatial organization are being dismantled through practices ranging from the privatization of urban public space to the emergence of gated communities. By exploring the role of agency amid these changing structures of constraints, this article interrogates processes of socio-spatial exclusion under entrepreneurial forms of urban governance. I argue that despite constraints placed upon different groups of affected citizens, excluded groups develop survival strategies that enable them to maintain a livelihood and in some cases empower them to thrive. I use the case of a recently implemented entrepreneurial policy in Mexico City called the "Programa de Rescate" (The Rescue Program). The prime objective of the policy is to revitalize and beautify the streets, buildings and central plaza of the city's Historic Center. Although this policy seeks an improvement in the quality of life for the local population, it excludes particular forms of social interaction that are central to the well-being of a large sector of the population, particularly street vendors who rely on public spaces for their daily survival. I use the case of the "Programa" to show how street vendors have struggled to remain on the streets of Mexico City's Historic Center. Copyright (c) 2009 The Author. Journal Compilation (c) 2009 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

In cities across the Global South, neoliberal urban policies have unfolded through a series of projects that take the streets, plazas and other public spaces of the city as central arenas to booster the neoliberal project. This has entailed the removal and displacement of groups who depend on these spaces for their daily survival, for example street vendors and other participants of the so-called informal economy. This paper draws from and seeks to contribute to work on the urban politics of informality in the Global South. My objective is to broaden our understanding of informality and resistance in cities by recognising difference and de-homogenising so-called informal activities, particularly street vending and vendors. To make this argument, I draw from the experience of resistance movements against displacement carried out by street vendors in Mexico City as a result of the implementation of a series of exclusionary policies implemented by city authorities. I demonstrate that thinking about difference matters to the way in which vendors carried out their resistance strategies and to how the post-policy context materialised.

Play, laughter and theatrical forms of activism have been recently documented by scholars interested in the politics and spatiality of resistance. This article focuses on the playful techniques of resistance deployed by street vendors and artisans in Mexico City as a result of the displacement generated by a recently implemented policy popularly called Plazas Limpias (clean plazas). Through a case study Coyoacan, a tourist-oriented neighbourhood known for its historical richness and aesthetic qualities, I show how street vendors and artisans who were removed from plazas in the area engaged in a number of playful resistance strategies which drew on the symbolic and material importance of place. I argue the street vendors and artisans deployed playful techniques of resistance for two reasons. First, play helped develop emotions that were crucial for the sustainability of the movement. Second, playful strategies of resistance were practiced because of the symbolic importance of Coyoacan as a place of creativity, play, performance, and art.

Latin American scholars have recently discussed the privatization of urban public space.

The value of mixed-methods research has recently re-gained impetus among geographers interested in the production of knowledge (Elwood, 2010). Key conversations have centred on efforts to blend traditionally viewed quantitative tools such as GIS with more qualitative practices and data. While discussions in qualitative GIS have demonstrated the value of merging the qualitative in GIS, we highlight the unexplored potential of GIS in the enactment of qualitative research, specifically as visual method. Our argument is based on research which explored the role of the state in urban change in Dublin City. We conclude that there is significant potential to better incorporate GIS into visual methods, particularly through photo-elicitation style interviews. Contrary to some of the existing literature, the persuasive power of the map as visual resource can prove particularly successful in engaging elite stakeholders. Further, we conclude that the methodological approach we took, facilitated the production of different kinds of knowledge around processes of urban governance.