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1. Introduction
The dilemma at the core of this research is the fact that many public markets[1] have experienced radical transformations, since their original construction more than 100 years ago (Balsas, 2017). Many public markets in the western world have been demolished, others have been adapted to different uses, still others have maintained their original functions while being expanded to accommodate modern and postmodern lifestyles and preferences (Spitzer and Baum, 1995; Zukin, 1998). While some public markets provide advantages (i.e. continuation of original uses), others have created dire consequences for cities, which have led to the eradication of basic socio-economic functions and the emergence of food deserts in central areas (Pothukuchi, 2004). Hallmark events have been implemented in many western cities with the main goal of increasing awareness of those cities’ unique idiosyncratic attributes in a more globalized world. The conviction of those communities’ leaders is that the higher levels of visibility will, ultimately, make those cities more competitive for investors, while also increasing their residents’ quality of life.
The purpose of this paper is to examine public market functions in three different continents (Europe, North America and Asia) and to identify a set of planning implications for their use in contexts of urban regeneration. Two of the four case studies have hosted large hallmark events (Barcelona – the 1992 Olympics and the 2004 Universal Forum of Culture, and Macau – the 2005 East Asian Games), while the North American cases regularly host small events such as arts and culture festivals. The criteria for selecting the case studies resulted from the author’s familiarity with those cities’ urban dynamics and commercial development through extended residencies in all of them. This paper is based on the following research questions:
How have public markets impacted their host urban neighbourhoods? and
Are there lessons to be learned from successful and failed cases?
It is argued that in the twenty-first century, public markets have to complement their traditional retail offers with creative place-making strategies to enhance a community’s competitiveness and increase its urban habitability (Johnson, 2002). This observation is made in the midst of increasing developmental pressures and widespread tendencies to multiply specialized retail offers in both traditional, and especially, innovative commercial formats (González and Waley, 2013).
This...