EFFECTS OF STREET TRADING ON URBAN AREAS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Street trading is a form of squatting that involves perpetual movement that may
occur within established market places or around road intersections which results
to several negative impacts on physical environment such as traffic congestion,
environmental pollution, and aesthetically unpleasing environment. This study
looks at the effects on cities in Nigeria. Three urban areas Bauchi, Lagos and Port
Harcourt were sampled to study the impact of street trading in Nigerian urban
areas. 100 questionnaires were administered to each of the three urban centers
selected. It is found that 40.59% of streets traders are migrants from the rural
areas The study discovered that most of the streets traders indiscriminately
disposed of their refuse by burning and dumping in the drainage there by blocking
the drainage channels causing flood during rainy season and 24.75% dumped
their waste right on the roadside. There is disorderliness in the arrangement of
different methods used in displaying of items by street traders there by making the
study area appear as an insightful and unpleasant urban environment thus
displeasing visual effect and 28.71% of streets traders encroached into the road
with up to 1-1.5m and above causing serious traffic problem. The paper
recommends development of rural areas to reduce rural-urban migration,
relocating those that encroached to in the road, and the provision of moveable
refuse collection points