Street Hawking and its Impacts on Nairobi Central Business District Urban Space.

ABSTRACT

This study provides insight into the street hawking phenomenon and evaluates its impact on the Nairobi Central Business District. There is a common saying that “where there is traffic, there is business” which reflects a characteristic of Kenya market hawkers. It is hard to image how hawkers do business. They stand by the street, some of whom carry goods in hand and some on head. Anytime there is traffic, they rush to it and try to sell their goods to people in the vehicles. Owing to this selling methods, pedestrians and drivers can get goods what they need while walking and driving and it saves their time to go to stores or looking for parking place. Therefore street vendors earn good money most of the time. The objectives of this study were to find out the various categories of street hawkers trading in the Nairobi Central Business District, to describe the nature of street trading activities in the Nairobi Central Business District. This study also sought to know the opinion of hawkers as to whether trading activities impact negatively on the Nairobi Central Business District and suggest solutions to these problems. The method used for data collection was questionnaires prepared and administered to hawkers. Also, non-participant observation was done. This study recommends best ways of managing street hawking in the Nairobi CBD.