Markets, A Viable Land Use in Public Space

William H Whyte believes that the biggest attractor of people is people themselves. This concept got me thinking about the idea of attractions in public spaces. Is it a good idea to place a land use such as retail within a public space? It became apparent that local markets are best fit to occupy public space as they do not encompass all of the space itself due to the stall like nature of its set up therefore people can still enjoy the outdoors without feeling confined to a artificial man made environment such as a mall or a supermarket.

Earlier on in this blog it was illustrated the importance of having sociability within a public space, studies have shown that people strike up four to ten times as many conversations in farmers markets than supermarkets. I believe this helps to create a strong sense of community spirit and sense of place due to the connections formed with other people.

As well as linking to the social aspect, markets provide an activity within the space in which draws people into the area as there is an activity to attract people’s interests.  Food is a big part of everyone’s, everyday lives, and the development of a market provides access to fresh, healthy food as well as supporting the local farmers. Food brings people together and in many cultures is considered the main feature in social environments therefore markets stimulate this as people will be brought together by food.

The spin off benefits of markets are numerous, from increasing access to healthy food to providing important revenue streams, markets positively impact local businesses, governments and residents. But perhaps the most important is the way markets serve as public gathering places for people from different ethnic, cultural and socio-economic communities. Markets are identified as one of the few places where people comfortably gather and meet. We must remember that markets are our original civic centres and originated back in the Roman and Greek time. But in those days markets were considered a place of gathering, for conversation and social aspects of society but were only for the use of men a somewhat different society then we have today. In a way markets have simply evolved as they still promote conversation and gathering of people within a community, it is just initiated through the means of local produce.

Roman Market- meeting place only for men. (photo sourced from google images)

Within New Zealand farmers markets are traditional especially in historically farming towns such as Hamilton although these farmers markets have declined over the many decades and now take place in areas which do not encourage civic engagement with the rest of the city centre. The Hamilton farmers market is located in a car park on the fringe of the city centre, limiting peoples experience to simply the market and no other engagement with local businesses and public space. An ideal placement of this market would be the newly developed Garden Place in which has been discussed earlier on in this blog. Garden place would be perfect for this market due to its placement in the city and the availability of space. This placement would capture other people who are in town as currently you have to be going to the market to experience it but many passers-by may be drawn in to the vibrant public space.

Hamilton Farmers Market. (Photo sourced from google images)

Auckland’s Britomart precinct is home to the City’s Farmers Market where regional produce is on offer as well as a vibrant atmosphere in the centre of Auckland’s downtown located directly next to the Britomart Transport centre which is the hub of all public transport for the CBD. This makes the market available to a wide range of people whilst drawing people into the public spaces of downtown Auckland.



Britomart Farmers Market (Photo sourced from google images)



A movement back towards farmers markets can be seen as a positive move within today’s economy due to the global movement towards a more sustainable future, local authorities need to start thinking locally and establish a market in which local produce can be sold to local communities in which would stimulate economic development, limit transport costs of produce and create a healthier community with stimulated civic engagement through the successful use of public spaces.