1315440342

1315440369

9781315440347

9781315440361

1138217484

9781138217485

Markets are at the origin of urban life as places for social, cultural and economic encounter evolving over centuries. Today, they have a particular value as mostly independent, non-corporate and often informal work spaces serving millions of the most vulnerable communities across the world. At the same time, markets have become fashionable destinations for 'foodies' and middle class consumers and tourists looking for authenticity and heritage. The confluence of these potentially contradictory actors and their interests turns markets into "contested spaces". Contested Markets, Contested Cities provides an analytical and multidisciplinary framework within which specific markets from Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Quito, Sofia, Madrid, London and Leeds (UK) are explored. This pioneering and highly original work examines public markets from a perspective of contestation looking at their role in processes of gentrification but also in political mobilisation and urban justice

During the past decade many markets have been rediscovered as tourist attractions, food meccas and even regeneration flagships. These transformations are pushing markets to a gentrification frontier clashing with markets' traditional role as public meeting places that support, economically and socially, a diverse range of communities including the urban poor, migrant workers, ethnic minorities and the elderly. This book is the first to explore the contemporary challenges taking place in traditional retail spaces, drawing on rich international case studies from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Bulgaria, and the UK. It draws on three key themes. Firstly, contemporary transformations in markets are part of wider processes of neoliberal urbanisation. Secondly, markets can become political spaces for resistance or contestation between different groups and actors. The contested "public" nature of markets, their buildings or streets, becomes at stake as battleground for different notions of what the city itself means. Finally, markets offer opportunities for alternative practices for solidarity, cooperation and for bottom up "commoning". They can become semi-autonomous spaces in the face of corporatized food networks or exploitative labour relations through for example the exchange of locally and non-commercially produced food. This book adopts a relational and multi-scalar approach to explore markets from the inside and out, connecting to wider local, national and global processes

Routledge studies in urbanism and the city

Introduction : studying markets as spaces of contestation / Sara González

Markets of La Merced : new frontiers of gentrification in the historic centre of Mexico City / Víctor Delgadillo

Learning from La Vega Central : challenges to the survival of a publicly used (private) marketplace / Elke Schlack, Neil Turnbull and María Jesús Arce Sánchez

Resisting gentrification in traditional public markets :lessons from London / Sara González and Gloria Dawson

The contested public space of the tianguis street markets of Mexico City / Norma Angélica Gómez Méndez

Gourmet markets as a commercial gentrification model : the cases of Mexico City and Madrid / Luis Alberto Salinas Arreortua and Luz De Lourdes Cordero Gómez Del Campo

Neighbourhoods and markets in Madrid : an uneven process of selective transformation / Eva García Pérez, Elvira Mateos Carmona, Vincenzo Maiello and Alejandro Rodríguez Sebastián

Mercado Bonpland and solidarity production networks in Buenos Aires, Argentina / Victoria Habermehl, Nela Lena Gallardo Araya and María Ximena Arqueros

Public markets : spaces for sociability under threat? The case of Leeds' Kirkgate Market / Penny Rivlin and Sara González

Contested identities and ethnicities in the marketplace : Sofia's city centre between the East and the West of Europe / Stoyanka Andreeva Eneva

Popular culture and heritage in San Roque Market, Quito / Eduardo Kingman Garcés and Erika Bedón

Conclusions : international perspectives on the transformation of markets / Sara González.