Article 4: Starring The Treasures and Trauma in Home-Based Enterprises: Towards A Rethink by Urban Planners

Nkeiru Hope Ezeadichie | Joy U. Ogbazi 

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in the Global South, and its accompanying challenges have heightened in African cities. One consequence of Africa’s urbanization that cuts across most of its nations is the high rate of urban unemployment which has led many urban poor residents to resort to seeking solace in informal employment opportunities. Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, has an escalated case of unemployment leading to the proliferation of informal economic activities in its cities, which are also predominantly home-based. The operation of informal economic activities in residential buildings is known as home-based enterprises (HBEs), which are attributed to low start-up capital, work-life balance and land use changes. This study focuses on the objective and empirical investigation of the effects of HBEs in cities of global South, using Enugu, a colonial, medium-sized administrative city in Nigeria as case study. The study projects the reasons why urban planners should acknowledge and maximize the potentials of this urbanization-driven phenomenon to meet some SDGs, while also controlling the negative impacts such as land use alterations to ensure sustainable cities. The objectives of the study are; i). To examine the dynamics of HBEs ii). to identify the Treasure in HBEs iii). to determine the Trauma of HBEs. iv). to recommend effective measures for managing HBEs for Sustainable development. It concludes by advocating that urban planners should consider the integration of HBEs into neighborhood schemes to maximize the potentials and effectively control the negative impacts thereby ensuring sustainable global South cities. 

Keywords

Treasure; Trauma; Informal; Home-Based Enterprises; Land use

About the Authors

Nkeiru Hope Ezeadichie is an Urban Planner and a Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. Her research interest includes informal economy, Pro-poor planning and urban/ rural studies. The publication is part of her PhD research work. 

Joy U. Ogbazi is a Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus where she has also previously served two terms as head of the department. She holds a PhD from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria and MSc from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. She is the co-editor of three books, author/co-author of over forty five journal articles, conference papers, books and book chapters. Her research focuses on planning theory, urban development, planning and environmental quality. Joy is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, a Fellow of the Nigerian Environmental Society and a Registered Town Planner in Nigeria. 

Introduction

There is substantial consideration of home-based enterprises (HBEs) by researchers in urban planning. This consideration has been attributed to the expansion of HBEs across developing countries generally, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from its normal domain in informal settlements to formal high, medium and even low-density residential neighborhoods (Strassmann, 1986; Onyebueke, 2001; Okosun and Ezeadichie, 2006). Consequently, it has become a veritable source of livelihood for a considerable number of residents that urban planning cannot afford to ignore. Second, as an income generating exercise, HBEs come with benefits as well as drawbacks. Political economists argue that HBEs absorb people who would otherwise lack the requisite skills and capacity to gain employment in the formal public and private sector, contribute to gross domestic products and when properly monitored, can contribute to internally generated revenue (Olufemi, 2010). Some traditional urban planners see the growth in the preponderance of HBEs as a distortion of public space with increased waste and criminal activities in neighborhoods (Okeke, 2000). 

Many rural-urban migrants in African cities lack the requisite qualification for scarce formal employment and are trapped in the only alternative; informal employment. This has led to the rise in home-based enterprises as the fastest growing economic sub-sector of the informal economy, particularly in Nigeria – the seventh and most populous nation – globally, and in Africa, respectively. The growth of home-based enterprises (HBEs) is also attributed to low start-up capital, work-life balance (opting for and maintaining employment that is compatible with family values and responsibilities), neoliberalism, and a reduction of production cost by casualization of labor force (Walker, Wang and Redmond, 2008). Notwithstanding the positive effects of HBEs in African cities, urban planners still view these activities as land use distortion and are not favorably disposed towards them. According to Tomei (2000:1), “This situation is due to a large extent, to a lack of understanding and to confusion regarding what exactly constitutes homework.” A gap that this study attempts to fill. 

Therefore, this study investigates the nature and impacts of home-based enterprises to understand and present this phenomenon more comprehensively. Enugu, a colonial, medium-sized administrative city in Nigeria is used as a case study. The objectives of the study are: i). to examine the dynamics of HBEs ii). to identify the positive impacts of HBEs and iii). to determine the negative impacts of HBEs. The study answers two basic research questions: what are the dynamics of HBEs?; what are the positive and negative impacts of HBEs in the study area? The hypothesis (H0) advanced here is that the positive impacts of HBEs are not more significant than the negative impacts. In this study, the positive impacts are the treasures that are the benefits and advantages, and the negative impacts are the traumas, the adverse effects and disadvantages. 

The methodology entails the sampling of four neighborhoods; Obed Camp (informal settlement), Uwani (high density), New Haven (medium density) and Independence layout (low density) selected through stratified random sampling. Data was collected using two sets of structured questionnaires. 10% of the dwelling units; Obed camp 241, Uwani 750, New Haven 1,132 and Independence layout 2,360 are sampled. The residents’ rating of the impacts of HBEs are obtained and analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the components and ascertain the principal factors. Based on Eigenvalues of 36 selected variables identified as impacts from literature, the PCA extracted five major factors. Employment benefit is the major factor contributing 44.8% of the 66.4% total factors while the only negative factor (neighborhood distortion) contributed only 3.8% to the total factors. Implying that the negative impact has less significance to the residents than the positive impacts. The study is significant as it presents an objective rating of the impacts of HBEs by operators and non-operator residents using a high statistical tool (PCA). It concludes by advocating that urban planners integrate HBEs into neighborhood schemes to maximize the treasures and minimize the traumas thereby ensuring sustainable global South cities. The next section entails the review of literature on HBEs.

Literature Review

The shift of urbanization-focused research from global North to South is expedient given the rapid urbanization in the global South, especially African cities (Watson, 2009; Blanco, Alberti…..Watson, 2009). Urban population growth sources are mainly rural-urban migration and natural increases (Lucci, 2014). The growth of the world population has been from 2.6 Billion (1950) to 7.8 Billion (September, 2020). The world urbanization figures have been increasing; 0.75 Billion (1950) to 4.22 Billion (2018) and projected to 5.17 Billion (2030) and 6.68 Billion (2050) (UNDESA, 2018) with wide regional disparity and possible lower figures due to the 2019/2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. Africa remains the least urbanized continent with 43% urban residents (UNDESA, 2018). These population and urbanization figures have far reaching implications for the development of global South cities and even in the North. 

The challenges of global South urbanization are intensified in African cities because of their rapid rate and by the unpreparedness of African governments to meet the challenges of this process, exhibited in tackling the informal economy. The broad nature of the informal economic sector as it affects unemployment, demands sector-specific research to appropriately address definite peculiarities (Onyebueke, 2001). Unemployment is a continent-wide consequence of Africa’s urbanization that has resulted in many settling for informal employment. Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, has a high rate of unemployment and consequently an informal economy, which is predominantly home-based. Nigeria’s unemployment rate grew from 23.1% in the third quarter of 2018 to 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020 and then to 33.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2020). The increase in unemployment results in an increase in the number of people in the informal economy. Nigeria’s informal economy is estimated at 80% of the workforce (Robert, 2011) and the main source of employment for rural-urban migrants (Onodugo et al, 2016). The categories of the Nigerian informal economy are the survivalist enterprise dominated by urban poor women and micro enterprises (Rogerson, 1996). Urban planners in Nigeria generally view the informal sector as “a public nuisance and misuse of public space” because of their use of temporary structures (Onodugo, et al, 2016:96; Okeke, 2000). Also, urban planners in Nigeria have been opined to practice with colonially bequeathed exclusionist-orientation (Ogbazi and Ezeadichie, 2014). The neighborhoods are predominantly low-income with recent expansions to medium and even high-income neighborhoods (Ezeadichie, 2012). 

Home-based enterprise is a trending global phenomenon; however, its nature of operation differs as seen in USA and UK regions. In the global North, many businesses are HBEs. In a recent study on the assessment of jobs that can be performed completely at home, it was found that 37% of jobs in the USA can be performed at home because of their high level of technological advancement (Dingel and Neiman, 2020) in contrast with the global South. This shows the distinction between HBEs in the two regions. Home-based enterprises in the global South are predominantly informal and survival-based (Lindell, 2010). The details of impacts of HBEs discussed in the next section also portray its characteristics in global South cities. 

Economic Impacts
The economic value of HBEs has its greatest positive impacts for urban residents. Strassmann in his study of Lima, Peru (1985) and Peru, Sri Lanka and Zambia (1986) noted that HBEs usually provide approximately 40% of household income for operators. He continued that HBEs save time, travel-cost, and production cost. This is because HBEs operate within the homes and neighborhood. Similarly, Gough, et al. (2003) affirmed the convenience for customers in purchase, proximity, extended service duration, opportunity to make purchases of small quantities of goods, and even purchasing goods on credit as more merits of HBEs. The fungibility of money, time and space as treasures of HBEs was emphasized by Kellet and Tipple (2000). The fungibility of money implies that available funds in the household can be used for both HBE (productive) and domestic (reproductive) activities. This interchange of resources is applicable to time and space in HBE-operating homes. This matters, especially to urban poor households, as they can utilize available resources to generate income (however small) which sustains them daily so as not to slip into absolute poverty or destitution. Again, the valid, irreplaceable contribution of HBEs in the textile industry during the industrial revolution despite the technological progress was emphasized by Tomei (2000). Also, HBEs fill the gap created by planning where some necessary amenities like shops are not adequately provided within the neighborhood (Abolade, et al, 2013). The far-reaching range of HBE output was acknowledged by Chen and Sinha (2016) noting that the products transcend domestic purpose to national and global markets especially in Asia. The renting of space for HBEs provides household savings. Although the low income from HBEs is a general characteristic, Tipple (2005) confirmed that it is an important contribution for poverty alleviation while Ezeadichie et al. (2018) corroborate this, stating that the income from HBEs saves many households from despondency. 

On the contrary, Strassmann (1986) emphasized that the low HBE income is problematic given the unfavorable work conditions such as inadequate workspace and lack of privacy in the home. In the same vein, the repression of women in HBEs during major decision-making by male partners is a notable trauma (Gondwe and Ayenagbo, 2013). Another area of HBE impact is the social realm, which is discussed in the next section. 

Social Impacts
The social impacts of HBEs, Strassmann (1985) noted include, the flexibility of work schedule, adequate time for childcare, sociability, dignity, and fulfillment of self-employment, as well as security. HBEs are valued as locations where ‘informal networks and bonds are developed’ (Onyebueke, 1997 c.f Onyebueke, 2001:420). HBEs have become an honorable income source for vulnerable women. (Walker and Webster, 2004; Walker, Wang, and Redmond, 2008; Ezeadichie, et al, 2018). In addition, HBEs are particularly important to women in Africa because it is believed that it is the woman’s responsibility to take care of the children, elderly, and sick members of the family. Hence, for women not to be totally dependent on the husband for income, opt for HBEs that enable them to fulfill both reproductive and productive responsibilities. The role of HBEs in the development of human capital and opportunities for training at much reduced cost was discussed by Omuta (1986). A better work-life balance has been mentioned as another positive impact of HBEs (Reuschke and Mason, 2020). 

Contrastingly, Gough et al. (2003) described the sale of alcoholic beverages by HBE operators within neighborhoods as a major cause of noise and social vices. The health hazards caused by HBEs are criticized (Onyebueke, 2001). Marginalization in contractual agreements is another negative impact of HBEs (Tomei, 2000). The challenge for including HBE operators in national statistics as workers is noted by Chen and Sinha (2016). Another negative impact of HBEs is inconsistency in business, since it is dependent on the operators’ convenience (Ezeadichie, et al, 2018). In the global South, and especially African and Asian context, women face many socio-cultural challenges. One common example is the belief that “the place of the woman is in the kitchen”, “women should only be seen and not heard”, etc. These statements about women depict the belief that women are not to be engaged in formal employment. With many formal job opportunities, preference is given to men, even when some women are more qualified than men are. Therefore, many women, rather than continue to search for formal jobs after multiple rejections based on their gender, opt to engage in HBEs. Some HBE operators, particularly those that are engaged in it due to constraints, feel that they are socially isolated and trapped and desire to opt out of it (Unni and Rani, 2004). The environmental/spatial impacts of HBEs is another area worth discussing, as noted below. 

Environmental/Spatial Impacts
HBEs have been opined to provide necessary income for better living standards and sizes of dwelling units (Strassmann, 1985). Urban poor households that operate HBEs are more likely to improve the standard and size of their unit to ensure improved business and comfort of the members of the home. Residential space alteration by urban poor for HBEs was viewed as a positive process, described as ‘invented spaces’, as they exhibit resourcefulness and creativity (Gondwe and Ayenagbo, 2013). 

In terms of the negative impacts, HBEs lead to sub-standard housing and environmental effects as well as reduce the residential quality (Okeke, 2000). However, this situation has been attributed to the government’s inability to provide any physical location for informally trained urban residents (Ezeadichie, 2012). The employment-creation characteristic of the sector has engendered many land use challenges such as incompatible land uses, building alterations, proliferation of temporary structures in planned residential areas, and open space changes (Okeke, 2000). In an assessment of waste-generation by HBE operators, it was discovered that the majority generate higher volumes of household waste while a minority generate hazardous waste (Tipple, 2005a). The indiscriminate use of any accessible space for HBEs has resulted in the defacing of planned residential neighborhoods in African cities (Abolade, Adigun, and Akande, 2013). However, this challenge has persisted because many urban planners in African cities refuse to acknowledge and plan in accordance with current urban realities. The next section examines the relationship between home-based enterprises and urban planning. 

Home-Based Enterprises And Urban Planning
The role of urban planners in supporting or suppressing HBE operators is an important issue. Many governments in global South nations consult urban planners when policies affecting home-based enterprises need to be made. Unfortunately, as Strassmann (1985), Simon, (1998) and Kamete, (2002) noted the policy makers usually work against urban designs that support HBEs. These oppositions are attributed to dogmatic land use theories that are discordant with current realities in the rapidly urbanizing global South cities. For instance, Strassman (1986) noted that HBE operators experience hostility from urban planners because of their philosophy that there should always be a clear separation of home and workplace. Potts (2007) reiterated the views of Strassman by stating that policies of government portray discouragement for the informal economy, (HBE inclusive). She affirmed that planners rarely approve of anything that concerns the informal economy as they distinctly alter the planned land uses. The non-consideration and inclusion of the working poor in urban planning has been noted to have an adverse effect on the survival of the urban poor in cities of the global South (Watson, 2011). Conclusively, the spread of HBEs from informal settlements to all densities of formal residential neighborhoods (Okosun and Ezeadichie, 2006) should send a critical signal to urban planners in the global South. Similarly, Watson and Agbola (2013) opined that a different approach needs to be adopted by African planners and professionals if rapid urban transformation is to be managed effectively. Therefore, basic, comprehensive knowledge on the dynamics and impacts of this urbanization-led phenomenon is indispensable. 

Methodology

The selected area used for this case study is the colonial Enugu city, the capital of Enugu State and the oldest capital city in the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The choice of Enugu as the case study is due to the researchers’ knowledge and experience gained from numerous works done in the city during the past three decades. The Enugu State population is 3,267,837; the State and city unemployment rate, 9.6% and 14.5% respectively, and the city unemployment rate was 22.3% (NPC, 2006). These figures account for the proliferation of the informal economy and particularly home-based enterprises in the study area, hence the choice of Enugu city for the study. 

The data for the study were accessed through primary and secondary sources. The total number of buildings within the neighborhood constitute the study population. The study employed a descriptive survey method. The boundary coordinate points were input into Google Earth to define the location map of the study extent with a Google Earth satellite image as a backdrop. A Garmin GPSMAP 64 Handheld GPS device was used to pick the coordinates of the sampled buildings located within the neighborhoods during fieldwork, while ArcMap and ArcGIS 10.3 software were used for analysis. The data collection instrument was two sets of questionnaires. The first set was systematically administered among residents consisting of both HBE operators and non-operators in the residential buildings, who rated the positive and negative impacts of HBEs on a five-point Likert scale. The second set of questionnaires was administered among urban planners in planning authorities in charge of the selected neighborhoods. The 32 residential neighborhoods in Enugu were categorized into low, medium, high and informal densities and then one was randomly selected from each category to ensure a comprehensive, representative, and inclusive analysis (Kazimbaya- Senkwe, 2004). The selected neighborhoods based on the stratified random sampling are shown in Table 1. The total number of building footprints (sample frame) in the study neighborhoods was 4,483 from which 10% sample size involved 452 residents’ questionnaire administration in the study. Also, the second set of questionnaires were administered among seven Town Planners since there were not many registered town planners in each planning authority. The 10% sample among the residents was determined by systematic sampling of the 10th building in each street within each neighborhood. The key research question is: what are the positive and negative impacts of HBEs? The hypothesis (H0) states that the positive impacts of HBEs are not more significant than the negative impacts. 

Findings And Discussions

The Dynamics of Home-based Enterprises
The returned residents’ questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics while the hypothesis was tested using principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the factors. The set of collated questionnaires completed by the residents disclose that in terms of the dynamics of HBEs, there are more female than male respondents in the four neighborhoods. Also, most HBE operators are between 16 and 45 years, corroborating the facts in existing HBE literature (Onyebueke, 2013). The household size of most HBE operators has the highest frequency for 3-5 and 6-10. In terms of educational qualification of household heads for HBE operators, Senior Secondary School Certificate had the highest frequency in the four sampled neighborhoods (Obed Camp-55%, Uwani-50%, New Haven-31.7%, and Independence Layout-37.6%). This also agrees with existing literature (Onyebueke, 2013), indicating the relevance of HBEs for the educated as well. Data on the presence of HBEs in the study area indicate the following: Obed Camp-45%, Uwani-78.4%, New Haven-75.2%, and Independence Layout- 60.7%. Obed Camp, the informal settlement had the least figure due to the demolition of structures at the time of this survey in August 2018. The other three formal neighborhoods have HBEs of over 60%, reiterating the ‘informalization of formal settlements’ observed by Myers (2011: 73). 

Another important characteristic of HBEs is the categorization, this study revealed that the three main categories of HBEs; manufacturing, services, and commercial are present in the study area. The data from the study shows that in Enugu, there is 7.1% manufacturing, 30.5% services, and 62.4% commercial HBEs. In the four sampled neighborhoods, manufacturing remained the least significant, while commercial remains the highest frequency as shown in Figure 4.1 and is typical of African cities’ HBEs (Tipple, 2005). One of the dynamics of HBEs which urban planners regard as the major negative impact is the alteration of residential buildings to accommodate HBEs. This is evident in the sampled neighborhoods. The data shows that the front of the buildings was the chosen location with the highest frequency for the three formal neighborhoods. However, the street, right in front of the house was the choice location for Obed Camp (informal settlement) HBEs. The front of the house is usually chosen for easy access to customers and to avoid interference with domestic activities. Other parts of the building used for HBE including the whole room and part of a room were observed in other studies. Figure 4.2 shows the photograph of a typical home-based enterprise in Enugu city. 

The data on residents’ rating of the impacts of HBEs was used to test the hypothesis of this study, H0: the positive impacts of HBEs are not more significant than the negative impacts. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to test this hypothesis using the statistical package for social sciences to ensure an unbiased outcome. The choice of PCA is to employ a highly rated statistical tool for reduction of the impact factors to a manageable size and for a reliable result. The PCA was used to determine the cumulative percentage of the analyzed factors and the major components of the impacts of HBEs in the study area. Based on Eigenvalues of 36 selected variables from the literature, the PCA extracted five principal factors that had Eigenvalues of more than one, while the extraction loading cumulative is 66.5%. The five principal factors are employment benefits (44.87%), government revenue (10.58%), social improvement (4.35%), neighborhood distortion (3.84%) and economic improvement (2.81%). Out of the five principal factors from the PCA result, four are positive impacts and one is a negative impact. The positive impacts are employment benefits (44.87%), government revenue (10.58%), social improvement (4.35%) and economic improvement (2.81%), while the negative impact is neighborhood distortion (3.84%). These impacts are discussed under treasures and traumas of HBEs in the next section. 

The Treasures of Home-Based Enterprises

The treasures, which are the benefits of HBEs include the following;

Employment Benefits
The result of the data analysis reveals that 75% of sampled household heads are informally employed. The analysis further shows that 76.6% of the respondents are owner-operators, 13.5% are employees in HBEs while 9.9% are family members involved in HBEs. Data on the number of workers in HBEs disclose that 35.1% of the businesses had only one employee, 58.55% had two to four employees, 5.3% had five to seven employees and 1.1% had eight to ten employees. The implication of these figures is that these employees would have probably been unemployed without HBEs. The employment benefit of HBEs is the most significant positive impact for the residents in the study area based on the high rating and the high factor loading of 44.87%. 

Revenue Benefits
The provision of revenue to the government through HBEs implies that its positive impacts are not just for the operators and neighborhood residents but also extends to the government of the cities, yet these governments rarely have any plan or support programs for the operators. In Enugu, 50.7% of HBE operators that were sampled indicated that they pay the state waste management levy, while 49.3% indicated that they pay their local government levy for small businesses. The levies they pay range from a minimum of one hundred naira (N100, $0.27) to a maximum of twenty-five thousand naira (N 25,000, $69.4). In terms of the frequency of payment, 9.5% of the respondents paid monthly while 89.8% indicated that they paid annually. 

Social Improvements
These are major positive impacts of HBEs in the study area with a factor loading of 4.35%. Social improvements include intangible impacts of HBEs such as increase in self-confidence, improvement of skills, development of work culture and flexible work hours. These intangible impacts are highly rated by respondents in this study and are among the 36 variables found in the literature. The data shows that HBE operators usually get some start-up training. The following are the data on start-up skill acquisition; vocational 4.6%, apprentice 33.7%, formal 8.9%, and self-trained 52.8%. HBEs, apart from the provision of employment opportunities, help to increase self-confidence of the operators who were regarded as unemployed prior to their involvement in such an enterprise. This impact is particularly important to women who could not seek formal employment due to their reproductive responsibilities, did not have any source of income to meet some personal needs, and had to depend on their spouses or other family members. The engagement in HBE empowers women to claim that they are employed, while in their homes, and they can independently cater to personal and household needs at the same time. This increases self-confidence in the home and neighborhood. 

Economic Improvements
This is the fifth principle factor with a loading of 2.81%. HBEs bring about economic improvement at all levels; for individuals, households, and government agencies. Income generation through HBEs is a measurable way of assessing economic improvement. The data on monthly income from HBEs reveals that 17% of the HBE operators sampled earn less than N9,000 ($25)monthly, 41.5% earn between N9,000 ($25) and N20,000 ($55.5), 14.2% earn between N21,000 ($58.3) and N30,000 ($83.3) (N30,000 {$83.3} is the current minimum wage in Nigeria). Also, 6.7% earn between N31,000 ($86.1) and N40,000 ($111.1) and 20.6% earn above N40,000 ($111.1). These data vary across the four neighborhood densities that were sampled. This implies that 27.3% of HBE operators in the study area earn above the national minimum wage monthly, although more than half of the operators earn below the current minimum wage. The low income from HBEs is a characteristic of the phenomenon, however many factors contribute to this situation including lack of official acknowledgement and support. Data on other sources of income reveals that 59.6% have no other source of income, while only 9.7% had other sources that yielded income above N30,000 ($83.3) monthly. The remaining 30.7% of the respondents had income from other sources that were less than the minimum wage. With these figures, HBEs are real sources of economic improvement for the operators and their households. The payment of levy by the operators ranging between N100 ($0.27) and N25,000($69.4) is a source of economic improvement for the government. The implication of this finding is that HBEs are the sole source of income for almost 60% of the operators, and as such, any action by government agencies against their operations will render these households destitute. This finding is significant particularly for African urban planners who still insist on opposing HBEs. The negative impact of HBEs is discussed in the next section. 

The Traumas of Home-Based Enterprises
The traumas of HBEs are the adverse effects discussed below:  

Neighborhood Distortion
One negative impact of the five principal components from the PCA result is neighborhood distortion 3.844%. Neighborhood distortion refers to the use of spaces in neighborhoods for purposes that were not originally planned, and which are not compatible with other existing land uses. Most of the negative impacts of HBEs are spatial/ environmental-related. The prominent ones in the study area are traffic congestion, air pollution, fire hazards, noise pollution, lack of home security, and overcrowding. Traffic congestion is seen in front of some buildings with HBEs due to customers who wrongly park vehicles to make purchases – this is more visible in the formal neighborhoods; Uwani, New Haven, and Independence layout. Air pollution is a negative impact of HBEs caused by those that cook for sale in front of their houses. This is particular to informal settlements and high population density neighborhoods. Fire hazards occur in any neighborhood, it is not a common effect of HBEs but usually occurs due to the carelessness of the operators. Noise pollution is a predominant impact of HBEs particularly in informal and high-density neighborhoods and is also noted in the study area. Lack of home security is an impact of HBEs and more in cases where a room is designated for the business, or the customers must get to the backyard for purchases. The issue of home security is a major reason why most operators (34%-highest frequency) use the front of the buildings for business so that customers will have no reason to gain access into the residential buildings. Overcrowding is another major impact of HBEs, the use of a complete room or part of a room reduces the space available for domestic purposes in the home. In contrast to the residents’ rating of these spatial/environmental impacts, these impacts were very highly rated by urban planners in the second set of questionnaires. This outcome is not surprising as the planners’ actions are based on knowledge of the short-and long-term implications of these processes, notwithstanding the highly applauded economic impacts of HBEs. Other negative impacts include poor upbringing of children as they, in HBE households, are unduly exposed to all manner of people who come as customers. HBE locations are also possible meeting points for people of questionable character in the neighborhood which can promote social vices within the area. 

Summary of Findings
The residential space alteration by urban poor for HBEs was viewed from a positive perspective and described as ‘invented spaces’, with the argument that some pattern of building alteration for HBEs by urban poor exhibit resourcefulness and creativity (Gondwe and Ayenagbo, 2013). This is an attribute that urban planners should acknowledge and enhance for sustainable development rather than the usual outright condemnation and confrontation. The applauded role of HBEs in reducing the level of unemployment has been described as the bane of the sub-sector as long as urban planners are concerned. The use of spaces in front of the house limits the space for children to play and for sit outs in the evenings by family members, however, the rating by residents both HBE operators and their neighbors who are affected and who also patronize them show that this negative effect is not quite significant. Four out of the five principal factors from the PCA result are positive impacts (94%), while one factor has a negative impact (6%). This result implies that the positive impacts of HBEs in the study area are more significant than the negative impacts. Therefore, the hypothesis (H0) advanced here that the positive impacts of HBEs are not more significant than the negative impacts is rejected. 

Conclusion and Recommendations

The operation of informal economic activities in residential buildings; home-based enterprises (HBEs) is an important source of income and employment and yet adds to the urbanization challenges faced by urban planners in global South cities. The findings on the impacts of HBEs reveal that 52.8% of HBE operators are self-trained and shows the need for government support in this respect. The government can support operators by organizing formal training for them to further improve their skills and this will lead to harnessing the potential to achieve sustainable local economic development. The trending global recognition and relevance of HBEs (especially because of COVID-19) necessitates context-specific and empirical studies that can be applicable to similar contexts and provide knowledge-based data for informed decisions and management of HBEs. The study is significant in two ways; first the study provides a novel and digital method for determining the sample population for HBEs which has been a long-term challenge for researchers in this sub-sector especially those from global South cities (Sudarshan and Sinha, 2011:15). Second, the use of principal component analysis (PCA) for data reduction and to ascertain the major impacts is rare in HBE studies. These two unique approaches are the work’s contribution to both literature and methodology and are relevant for urban planners in terms of research and practice. 

HBEs are a veritable means of employment\livelihood. The traumas\ negative impacts are highlighted for amelioration through various means such as individuals, planners, and governments. A major challenge for HBE operators is the constant conflict with urban planners because of alteration of planned residential buildings for HBEs, this can be resolved by, first, a change of approach by planners from confrontation to collaboration. An example of the confrontational attitude of planners in Enugu is captured in Ezeadichie, et al (2018:85) “Available anecdotal evidence suggests that the non-inclusion of the HBEs in formal urban planning resulted in their operations being largely seen as illegal, and as such, various government actors subject them to multiple levies, outright extortion, occasional harassment, and the pulling down of their structures while denying them government support and security”. 

Second, participatory and inclusive planning approaches should be adopted by urban planners in order to accommodate HBE operators rather than the current top-down approach. Third, guided adjustment of buildings will ameliorate the negative impacts of alteration. The regulation of all HBE activities that contribute to neighborhood distortion is expedient to ensure reduced negative impacts and promote sustainable local economic development. 

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