ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Onitsha, a commercial city and the second densest city in Nigeria after Lagos, in order to exemplify the role of markets in urban transformation in sub-Saharan African cities. It aims to demonstrate the ongoing transformations of markets in Onitsha into a symbol of local identity and into heritage among the Igbos, while the city’s urban growth is shaped by the sustained contextual forces and material flows. The chapter illustrates how markets are being transformed into heritage with tangible and intangible manifestations. It argues that Onitsha markets are heritage in transition interwoven in the everyday life of the citizens. The chapter shows that urban markets and their collective spaces form meta-cultural urban heritage that should be integral into the design and management of future cities in emerging urban economies. The chapter examines the concept of heritage as an integral aspect of ‘deep cities’ in rapidly emerging and constantly changing sub-Saharan African cities in the twenty-first century.
