Factors Influencing The Proliferation Of Roadside Trading In Enugu Urban

ABSTRACTS

Enugu has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the influx of commercial

activities on their major roads with each of them competing for an accessible

location to display their goods and also access their customers. This indiscriminate

display of goods has resulted in disorderliness, chaotic traffic congestion, drainage

blockage, indiscriminate conversion of adjoining land-uses to commercial activities,

increased noise pollution, reduction in access road width, poor and inadequate

parking, visual intrusion and social crime. The fact that most neighbourhoods have

functional markets in and around them would generally presuppose that no road side

trading will be seen in the area, unfortunately this is not the situation. The desire to

actually understand the factors that have been behind the proliferation of these major

roadside trading in the area in spite of these markets has remained the concern of this

study. This study therefore aims at empirically determining the factors influencing

the proliferation of roadside trading in Enugu urban centre with a view to

appreciating the reasons for the emergence of roadside trading and evolving ways to

manage or curb this continuous emergence. The objectives were to: (i) examine the

nature of road side trading in the study area, (ii) identify the factors that contribute to

the emergence of roadside trading in the study area, and (iii) determine whether

these factors differ among the various residential densities in the study area. Two

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research hypotheses were postulated in the study. Survey research design was

adopted in this study. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study.

Primary data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and observation.

Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were adopted in the

study to determine the sample population and the residential density areas selected in

the study. The sample frame includes roadside traders along the selected major

roads, residents (women at home) and environmental professionals. Three

neighbourhoods that have high volume of roadside activities were selected from

each of the three residential densities in Enugu urban. A total of 950 copies of

questionnaire were administered and collected in the study. Principal Component

Analysis and analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05

significance level. The study revealed that majority of the road-side traders do not

conform to planning standards while doing their trading activities as well as not

staying at areas designated for commercial activities. Four factors spur people to

road side trading in the study area and these include: location, economic,

accommodation, and social factors. It was recommended among others that there

should be policies that should be put in place to address unemployment in the

society and that government should provide corner shops at different strategic areas

in the neighbourhoods