The Effect of Street Trading on the Urban Environment

Abstract

This study examined the effect of street trading on the urban environment particularly in Osogbo city so as to ascertain the causal factors, understand its spatial pattern and the reasons behind the choice location made by street traders. 140 street traders were selected from 6 clusters on the basis of street adopting the systematic sampling technique. Furthermore, 50 non street traders were randomly selected and interviewed for the acquisition of more information on the study. Findings revealed that street trading activities in Osogbo was influenced by several social factors within the Central Business District CBD. The major impact of street traders in Osogbo is the traffic congestion, narrowing of roads, and disobedience to urban space regulatory laws. However, the test of hypothesis also revealed that the level of patronage influences the choice of location made by street traders. Hence, establishing the fact that there is no relationship between involvement in street trading and socio-economic status of street traders. Therefore, the study suggests that building more markets, relocation to a more spacious and off-road sites will solve the problem of accident occurrence amongst other identified effects of the informal act.