Wooden crates, shifts, impact market revenue

Oct 29, 2020

The researchers said the sisal strings, which were initially used for physical separation in Nakasero Market, had been violated with people moving over and under them.

As markets struggle to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, architects have observed that using wooden crates for physical distancing can increase vendor numbers. The creates are popularly used for storage and transportation in the markets.

Research carried out in Nakasero Market found that when the wooden crates, which are about a metre in width and height, are organised in a pinwheel format, market density increased by 17% or an increase in vendor spaces from 168 to 196 in the open-air section.

"The pinwheel array allows for more fluid circulation in the market. This mirrors the original market more closely and it eliminates the contamination posed by the initial distancing design," Ann Murungi, a master's in architecture student from the Uganda Martyrs University (UMU), Nkozi, said.

She was part of a cohort of researchers from UMU and the Washington University in St Louis (WASHU), who collaborated remotely on a week-long study of how Uganda's oldest and most vibrant market was implementing government guidelines on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers said the sisal strings, which were initially used for physical separation in Nakasero Market had been violated several times, with people moving over and under the strings. They said the wooden crates, when used with separation paint on the fl oor, are a more robust means of physical separation.

The researchers also noted that the crates can be a platform on which haggling, buying and selling and other forms of exchanges can occur.

Crates can increase market revenue

George Sserugo, a delivery boy in Nakasero Market, said vendors pay between sh250,000 and sh500,000 for space in the market. The vendors also remit a daily market fee of between sh2,000 and sh4,000, depending on the size of the stall.

Sserugo said the open section of the market had two shifts during the lockdown, one from 9:00am to 7:00pm while the other shift takes the rest of the time. This implies that 28 additional vendors could provide between sh7m to sh14m in money for stalls and sh56,000 to sh112,000 in daily market fees.

He added that the vendors had been restricted to one box per vendor and a maximum two for those with a lot of stock during the lockdown.

He said masks and washing of hands are mandatory to access the market. Sserugo said the large umbrellas that vendors had been using to provide shade have been thrown out for smaller ones, which enable camera surveillance and circulation of fresh air.

Sserugo said prices of most food items went up due to the lockdown, for instance, a kilogramme of onions was going for sh8,000, up from sh5,000.

This resonates with the recent Uganda Bureau of Statistics data, which indicates that the general price level went up by 4.1% in June, due to restrictions in public transportation.

Design is vital for pandemic fight

Doreen Adengo, the principal of Adengo Architecture and a lecturer at UMU's Faculty of Built Environment (FoBE), said during the research, vendors wondered what an architect would be looking for in a market.

"During this pandemic, we can play an important role in analysing public spaces and developing long-term strategies for urban resilience," Adengo said.

Jonathan Stitelman, a visiting assistant professor at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at the Washington University in St. Louis, said the COVID-19 crisis had been terrible, but that the researchers took an optimistic view and did proactive designs.

Stitelmam said the market is a powerful spatial position which ensures that Ugandans live a healthy and nutritional life and is also a place for engagement of various forms of labour, from vendors to bag boys, bodaboda rivers, managers and so on.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});