Markets and Vendors in Lusaka, Zambia

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Periodical article

Title:	Markets and Vendors in Lusaka, Zambia
Authors:	Todd, David M. Mulenga, Alfred Mupimpila, Chris
Year:	1979
Periodical:	African Urban Studies
Issue:	5
Period:	Fall
Pages:	45-70
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zambia
Subjects:	informal sector marketplaces Urbanization and Migration Economics and Trade
Abstract:	The population of Lusaka has increased rapidly from about 50.000 in 1954 to almost half a million in 1978, placing great pressure on the city's housing and employment resources. The majority of the population now live in 'informal' housing areas with minimal services and are unable to obtain employment in the formal sector, which has not kept pace with Lusaka's growth. Lusaka's markets provide the opportunity for self-employment to several thousand people. Since 1955 they have grown in number, size, and the variety of goods and services they provide. Vending has become a full-time, long-term occupation, now mainly for women, and is no longer a temporary occupation for unemployed. A comparison of three markets in 'informal' housing areas with one in a formal area and another in a settlement of mixed formal an informal housing shows that the great majority of vendors in the informal settlement markets live within the neighborhood; those of the two other markets do not. The income distributions of 'other earners' in the households of vendors in the five markets follow the predicted pattern. 'Urban experience' is also a variable for marked contrasts. Ref., notes, tab., fig.