ROADSIDE TRADING AND SPATIAL IMPLICATIONS ON URBAN PUBLIC SPACES: A CASE STUDY OF SOME MAJOR ROADS IN IKOT EKPENE URBAN, AKWA IBOM STATE

Street trading or offering for sale, any article where the public have access without payment (public space) is seen as the oil required to lubricate the engine of socio-economic transformation. Against this backdrop, the researcher carried out the study on the spatial implications of street trading on public spaces in Ikot Ekpene urban among which objectives included investigating the factors that promote street trading and assessing the perceived spatial implications of such trade on urban public spaces, among others. Many literary works on the subject were reviewed. Since street traders are scattered along major and minor streets, to sample the subject that met the criteria for inclusion, a total enumerative or consecutive sampling technique was employed in the selection of 300 sample through the administration of questionnaire (a major data collection tool) on them. The analyses of raw data employed tables and percentages which discussed through research questions raised. The results showed that street trading has both positive and negative impacts on socio-economic and physical environments. Among the positive impacts include generation of self-employment, building entrepreneurial skills, serving as training ground for revenue generation, and poverty reduction, among others; whereas street trading is safety-risky, pose potential problems of hygiene and sanitation, pollution of the environment through wastes generation, traffic congestion among others. Recommendations were made based on findings which included among others that Ikot Ekpene Local Government should establish an effective development control measures that should ensure that all commercial activities take place at a designated place and where this fails, street traders should be considered for inclusive physical planning when town planners design roads and widen the widths/setbacks to accommodate these traders.