The paradox of Kenya’s Market Centers
Planned yet unplanned encapsulates the paradoxical nature of roadside markets, which often emerge spontaneously despite existing formal retail infrastructure, urban plans, and regulations.
Roadside markets, also known as farmers’ markets or roadside stands, are informal or semi-formal markets often set up along highways, country roads, streets or in designated public spaces where farmers, artisans, and vendors sell their products directly to consumers. In as much as the roadside stands create unstructured urban form, the markets cannot be entirely condemned. The positive side of these markets includes the sale of fresh produce directly from farms, support for local economies and products, seasonality in unique produce, promotion of handmade crafts, community interaction and cultural experience.
Roadside markets highlight the tension between formal urban planning and the organic, adaptive strategies of informal economies. This dynamic creates a unique urban landscape where planned infrastructure and spontaneous economic activities coexist, sometimes in harmony, but often in conflict. People have mixed feeling about planned market spaces for several reasons including lack of authenticity and organic charm, uniformity, cultural disconnect, social dynamics and interactions, commercial homogeneity, economic considerations, flexibility, adaptability, accessibility and location.
Economic Necessity
The persistence of roadside stands reflects a broader economic reality, where the formal economy does not provide enough opportunities for all vendors. These markets become a lifeline for many traders, creating a complex dynamic where economic necessity drives unplanned development within a planned urban environment.
Urban Order
Urban Areas and Cities act 2019 gives a clear criterion for Classifying market centers in Kenya considering population threshold (2000) and municipal facilities such as streetlights, health facilities, sports and cultural centers, solid waste management, abattoirs, education facilities, opens paces, bus parks, walkways, community centers, animal control and welfare. Most market centers in Kenya lack these basic municipal facilities, however, the few enjoying the facilities are unattractive and unoccupied by market vendors. County Governments spend colosseum amounts of taxpayers’ money establishing “abandoned” market spaces which is economically unsound.
Urban planning seeks to create harmonious, convenient, equitable, and sustainable urban environments. The conflict between the roadside markets and urban order brings forth planning implications such as traffic flow disruptions, urban safety, and urban hygiene. Maintaining aesthetics and functional urban designs calls for a change in thinking to understand the paradox between formal planning and informal economies.
Concerned local authorities should provide municipal facilities and infrastructure through a public participatory approach to ensure market centers meet the infrastructural and economic preferences of traders. Upon provision of formal retail infrastructure and services, concerned local authorities should impartially formulate and enforce regulations and strategies to deal with non-compliance practices such as unregulated roadside marketing to promote urban areas convenience, aesthetic, safety, hygiene and sustainability.