Abstract

This article examines the adaptation and legitimisation strategies employed by street food vendors at night in Chilean urban contexts, emphasising nocturnality as a strategic resource in the re-signification of public space. Using an ethnographic approach, the study analyses three representative cases—La Feria, El Bandejón, and La Plaza—to explore the interactions between informal vendors and urban environments shaped by restrictive policies. The findings reveal that reduced institutional surveillance at night enables the development of solidarity networks and self-regulation among vendors, fostering forms of collective resistance. Furthermore, while formalisation, as observed in the case of La Plaza, offers certain advantages, it also limits the flexibility and adaptability that characterise informal vending. Contributing to the broader debate on the re-signification of public space in contexts of informality and urban control, this study argues that nocturnality creates opportunities for the construction of legitimising territories that challenge daytime regulations and resist the criminalisation of street trade. The article concludes by advocating for further research into the intersections of formality, informality, and temporality in shaping contemporary urban life.