AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SATELLITE MARKET AS A DECONGESTION STRATEGY IN KUMASI, GHANA: THE REALITIES

The challenge of congested large physical market centres/spaces in developing country cities has grown over the years as the populations grow while their local economies tend to be largely informal, requiring a lot of direct personal interaction. In some cases, satellite markets have been developed in the case of Ghana to take care of the basic commercial needs of their residents while decongesting the central business districts (CBD) of such cities. This paper is aimed at enabling the investigator to grasp and understand the barriers of satellite markets as a strategy to decongesting the CBD. The units of enquiry for the data collection were KMA and buyers and sellers in the satellite markets. The method adopted for the collection of data was questionnaire interviews. The major findings identified from the survey are: the uniqueness of the CBD made it very attractive to consumers and traders alike. Secondly, some of the economic benefits derived from the satellite markets as traders are boosting of economic activities in the markets as more traders will be attracted to the satellite markets. Also, the major problems which were identified in the satellite markets were; types of facilities, availability of products and to some extent the security in these markets, inadequate facilities to attract traders to the markets, inadequate security, limited space or market area, unavailability of some goods and products sold at the satellite markets. The recommendations from this study includes; Education and coordination of the stakeholders, Expansion of the satellite markets to accommodate more traders and Provision of facilities that attract traders to the satellite markets.