PHYSICAL PLANNING IMPLICATIONS OF LOCATION AND ACTIVITIES OF OWENA REGIONAL MARKET, OWENA-IJESA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria, due to her huge population, is no doubt a place where markets spring-up indiscriminately and rapidly. This often leads to an unending conflict between markets and open space management in most Nigeria urban centers from time immemorial as markets tend to outgrow their boundaries in a jiffy. This study therefore focuses on the physical planning implications of location and activities of Owena regional market in Owena-Ijesa. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 505 respondents who were randomly selected within the research population. Assessing the physical and socio-economic attributes of the market, the impact of the market on the physical development of the host community, the physical problems affecting its patronage were the major objectives. Data were obtained through the use of questionnaire, personal interview, and physical observations, and were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 and hypotheses were correlated using Spearman’s rho. Research findings revealed the dominance of the female respondents of 65.5% in the market; the Yoruba tribe covered 62.4% of the total respondents. The study also ascertained that the market lacked some basic facilities such as; adequate trading stalls, public toilets, good roads, drinkable water supply and so on which had negatively affected its patronage and as well, made the market not hygienic enough for trading activities. The research established that a statistical significance exists; between the market’s location and the patronage level, likewise, between the activities of the market and the socio-economic lives of the people the market served. Policy recommendations include: construction of public toilets, rehabilitation/re-construction of roads, building of stalls, good parking lots, health and fun centers, among others.