An Assessment of Open Market Goods Display on the Surrounding Landscape of Jos City Centre, Nigeria

Abstract

The main thrust of this paper is to assess the impact of open market goods display on the surrounding landscape of Jos city Centre. Field surveys by questionnaire and interviews were the main tools of data collection while Secondary data were collected from relevant literatures. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select 332 traders along the streets. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics i.e. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 to determine the characteristics of the traders and the impact of open market goods display on the surrounding landscape. A total of 144 questionnaires were distributed to traders. Only 100 of the questionnaires were retrieved representing 69.44%, 17 not clearly filled and 27 was not retrieved. The study observed that majority of the traders were within the age of 21-30, predominantly male, most of whom are single, and majority possess either secondary education or National Diploma/National Certificate in Education. It was observed that encroachment of the major roads by traders was found to lead to traffic congestion and accidents, abuse of social amenities, air pollution, sanitary problems and armed robbery among others. Items offered for sale vary from second hand clothes, shoes, fruits to electronics. Recommendations include; enforcement of governments policies on street trading in the city, provision of more trading shops and stalls, provision of sustainable waste management machinery, and checking trade related problems and encroachments into roads.