Executive summary

Markets as sites for social

interaction

Markets as sites of social interaction

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ii

Executive summary

Markets as sites for social

interaction
Spaces of diversity

Sophie Watson with David Studdert

iii

Markets as sites of social interaction

First published in Great Britain in September 2006 by

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iv

Executive summary

Contents
Acknowledgements
Executive summary

vi
vii

Markets in context
Introduction
Policy context
Markets as public spaces
Policy and practice relevance

1
1
1
2
3

The research sites

Conclusion

6
12

Markets as sites for social interaction

Social life of traders
Shoppers and traders relationships
Markets as social spaces for different groups of shoppers
Conflicts and tensions in market sites
Conclusion

14
14
15
17
28
29

The broader context

The economic context
Locational and physical attributes
Management and planning of markets
Conclusion

31
31
33
41
44

Conclusions and policy recommendations

National policy issues
Local policy issues

50
51
52

References

53

Markets as sites of social interaction

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for funding the project. I would
also like to thank the following people for their contribution to the research: Anne
Jungman, Eva Kekou and Rosemary Pringle for helping when needed; and particularly
Katharine Knox for her insightful, detailed and helpful comments on the report. Margaret
Marchants administrative help was, as ever, invaluable. I would also like to thank the
following members of the project advisory group who shared their expertise and
knowledge of markets, and advised us when needed: George Nicholson, Kris Zasada,
Simon Quin, Theresa McDonagh, Gary Bridge, Tim Butler, Mica Nava and Karim Talal.
Graham Wilson from the National Association of British Market Authorities and Nicholas
Rhodes were also generous with their time and knowledge. Finally, I would like to thank
all the council officials, traders and shoppers who were interviewed for the research.
The photographs in the report were all taken by the researchers.

vi

Executive summary

Executive summary
This project was set up to explore the importance of markets as social spaces in towns
and cities in the UK. Despite some local variation, many local retail markets have been in
decline over the past 20 years. Typically, they have suffered from a distinct lack of
investment, with local authorities choosing to finance capital programmes in services that
are deemed to be a higher priority, such as education, housing and social services
(NABMA, 2005). Many markets therefore look tired and run down, and the facilities are
poor. Despite a large increase in the number of stalls available from 1998-89 to 2003-04
(with 3,911 additional stalls, raising the total available to 150,000 across the UK), there has
been a significant fall in occupancy rates in the same period from 79% to 75%. Footfall
levels have also fallen: in 2000-01, total weekly visits stood at 5,473,955; this fell to
5,363,437 shopping visits per week in 2003-04 (NABMA 2005).
At the same time, particularly over the past decade, there has been a steady growth in the
success of specialist niche markets: farmers markets, craft markets, Christmas markets,
French and German markets, and, in London, Borough Market (The Economist, 2003). For
example, it was reported that from 1998-99 to 2003-04 there was a 250% increase in
farmers markets and a 233% increase in stalls, and that shoppers visiting these events
increased by 574% (The Economist, 2003). To what extent this trend represents a longterm shift in consumer preferences is hard to assess. However, it indicates that the
popularity of the market per se is by no means in decline, and that markets can offer
possibilities not just for local economic growth but also for people to mingle with each
other and become accustomed to each others differences in a public space thereby
acting as a potential focal point for local communities that could revitalise public space.
This report aims to consider the role of markets as social spaces. In particular, it explores
the importance of markets for different groups in society, and the forms of interaction
enacted in market sites. Eight markets were selected to reflect:
different kinds of markets: covered and uncovered; detached from, and attached to,
shopping centres; street markets and markets located in town centres;
different sociodemographic and economic contexts in terms of local population
profiles;
different locations: metropolitan, urban and rural.
Interviews with shoppers, traders and local officials (including town centre managers and
council staff involved in managing local markets) were conducted in these sites, and indepth observation was carried out (along with photographic records) in order to identify
the crucial factors that affect the success of markets as social spaces. This locally based
information was supplemented by in-depth interviews with key national informants on
markets in Britain.
The findings indicated that markets are indeed important sites of social interaction for
local communities. Although the markets in the study varied considerably in the level of
social interaction, the strength of social ties, the level of social inclusion and the use of
the market by different groups, in all the markets some degree of social interaction took
place and in most cases respondents confirmed the significance of the market as a social
space.

vii

Markets as sites of social interaction

The report concluded that for a market to function well as a social space various factors
were significant in varying degrees. Essential attributes were as follows:
features to attract visitors to the site including a diverse range of products that
made a good fit with local community needs and tastes, and a sense of surprise or
the unexpected to provide interest;
opportunities to linger caf(s) or food van(s) on site or close by were key here
informal seating areas could also be important though less critical;
good access to the site public transport was key but opportunities to come by car
and access to parking were also important for some visitors;
an active and engaged community of traders both to provide the retail offer but
also to provide part of the social life of the site itself.
Other important, but less essential, attributes were as follows:
a well laid out site with thought given to the layout of the stalls, linchpin stalls or
features (the caf often being one) and particular features such as roomy aisles for
people to walk through easily, as well as protection from the weather in more open
sites;
connection with other retail outlets to ensure the market was embedded in the
local retail offer;
effective management of the site and a leadership role from councils to provide a
strategic direction for the market.
The report concludes by underlining the potential role of markets to act as a significant
site of social interaction for a community. It argues that the lack of policy and strategy for
markets at a national level should be addressed, and that markets could potentially play a
key role in wider policy agendas, such as policies addressing social exclusion or healthy
eating. It also suggests that the place of markets in community development and local
regeneration policies should be strengthened. Given the evident success of farmers and
other specialist markets, and also of many other more traditional markets in British towns
and cities, both economically and as social spaces, the report argues that their provision
in local areas should be encouraged. Most importantly, market provision in any one
locality needs to fit with, and be responsive to, the surrounding community needs,
socioeconomic and demographic profile, and local conditions.

viii

Markets in context

1
Markets in context
Introduction
Markets have a very long history and have been key focal points in the centres of British
towns and cities for as long as they have been in existence; indeed, many towns are still
known as market towns. As such, they have represented important public spaces.
Despite their traditional significance as sites of commerce, consumption and social
interaction, more recently a narrative of the decline of markets, with the exception of
farmers markets and specialist markets (for example, Christmas markets, French and
German markets and in London Borough Market [The Economist, 2003]), is more
commonly heard. Over the past 20 years, a number of markets across the country have
been under threat, closed down or resituated. According to Simon Quin (Towns Centre
Initiative), markets were thriving in the mid-1980s. The fact that markets were largely
found to be profit making through to the mid-1980s gave rise to a generalised growth in
provision, in particular an increase in market days and projects, on the mistaken
assumption that the same level of demand would continue (Simon Quin interview).
If markets traditionally have represented key public spaces in cities, does their economic
decline in some localities necessarily imply a diminution in their role as social spaces
also? This study asks: What are the key factors that make a market work well as a social
and vibrant public space for different groups in the community? Who are the main users
of markets as social spaces? What are the different kinds of social interaction in a market?
First, a brief overview of the wider policy context is relevant here.

Policy context
As a result of sustained pressure from interested individuals and groups such as the
National Association of British Markets Authorities (NABMA), when the government
issued its new planning policy for town centres in March 2005, this encouraged
authorities and developers to create the right space for markets in towns and cities:
Street and covered markets (including farmers markets) can make a valuable
contribution to local choice and diversity in shopping as well as the vitality of
town centres and to the rural economy. As an integral part of the vision for their
town centres, local authorities should seek to retain and enhance existing markets
and, where appropriate, re-introduce or create new ones. Local authorities should
ensure that their markets remain attractive and competitive by investing in their
improvement. (ODPM, 2005)
Overall, however, national policy on markets has been relatively weak and
uncoordinated, falling between a number of different departments with their respective
agendas and remits. Currently, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(DEFRA) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) (formerly
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, or ODPM) are the main departments with an
interest in markets, but there is no clear or coordinated overall policy direction. In

Markets as sites of social interaction

DEFRAs case, the focus is on wholesale food, agricultural products and livestock
markets, rather than more general markets. The DCLGs policy agendas are potentially of
greater relevance to markets, particularly policies focused on town centre regeneration or
the sustainable communities and social exclusion agendas, but to date markets have not
been considered as a key site for intervention. There is, though, considerable potential
for markets to play a significant role in these and other areas, such as the healthy food
agenda and tackling obesity in children. Currently, resources to support markets are
allocated through Regional Development Agencies and Countryside Agency programmes,
which are aimed at market town regeneration, but markets per se are not the key focus
and other support for markets is often limited to staffing and other provision from
councils, which, in many cases, continue to manage the sites that they have historically
owned.

Markets as public spaces

Despite growing government interest in public space illustrated in publications such as
the Urban Task Forces report Towards an Urban Renaissance (1999) and the Urban
Greenspaces Task Forces Living Places: Cleaner, Safer, Greener (ODPM, 2003) there is
a relatively limited amount of research to date on how social relations play out in public
space across different groups (defined here by gender, age, race, ethnicity and
socioeconomic position) or on how public space is perceived and used. More
specifically, the role of markets as public spaces has also been ignored.
In the academic field, there is now a considerable body of work that theorises the public
realm, from Habermas notion of the public sphere as a site of rational debate and
communication (Habermas, 1984) to Youngs notion of the city as a space for the
meeting of strangers and as a community of difference (Young, 1990). Other literature
on the public realm has tended to focus on the decline of the public realm and
privatisation of social relations (Sennett, 1974, 2000) or on public spaces as sites of
contestation or conflict such as Smiths work on gentrification (Smith, 1996) or
Kaznelsons work, which introduces the notion of the disenfranchised occupying city
trenches (Kaznelson, 1981). Sennett, for example, notes that, for many in the city, the
unpredictability of encounter can result in conflict or a pervasive feeling of threat
(Sennett, 1974). Others have also highlighted the ways in which urban space is being
increasingly privatised or withdrawn (Sorkin, 1992; Mitchell, 1995, 2003). At its most
extreme, the privatisation of public space becomes fortress-like and militaristic as private
interests exert literal or symbolic violence on those urban residents whose presence
unsettles economic interests (Davis, 1990). Hitherto, open and uncontrolled public spaces
of a city, sites of unpredictable encounter, have either been made subject to controls and
surveillance or made into semi-privatised spaces. The power of private capital to
thematise and commodify these spaces as sites of consumption further degrades the
opportunity for idling, casual mutual performance and display and chance engagement.
Urban spaces have been Disneyfied (Sorkin, 1992).
What is missing from these accounts are the day-to-day explorations and understandings
of how different groups interact, or not, in public spaces when these are not overtly
conflictual. We still know remarkably little about how different people actually live
together in different public spaces of the city, despite the meta-narratives of the public
realm or public space. Yet, one of the key aspects of the contemporary city is the living
of difference in the context of intense juxtaposition and social connection (see Massey et
al, 1999). Some writers celebrate the city as a site of difference, seeing this as providing
new possibilities for democratic communities (for example, Young, 1990), while others
see the diversity of the city as leading to over-stimulation and hence the need for retreat
(for example, Simmel, 1903a, 1903b, 1903c).

Markets in context

This study sets out to help fill these gaps on how people use public spaces, building on
the few existing studies to date (Deutsche, 1996; Fincher and Jacobs, 1998), including the
authors previous exploration of urban encounters in marginal and symbolic public
spaces (Watson, 2006). It sets out to consider the humdrum or everyday cultural practices
that form much of the texture of daily urban life, focusing on markets.
As one of the key sites of public space in the city, markets take many different spatial
forms: outdoor markets both covered and uncovered, indoor markets, street markets
and markets attached to shopping centres. They also vary in terms of the range of
products sold and in their size. In some cases, markets comprise as little as 20 stalls,
while elsewhere there are closer to 200 stalls. Typically, markets are run by local
authorities, although there is a growing number of markets run by private companies,
community-run markets, farmers markets, and private and public partnerships.
In many cases, markets act as a focal point for the locality and as a hub of connection,
interconnections and social interaction, and many markets have a very long history. How
successful they are as sites of sociality has not been explored, although, in recent years, a
narrative of the decline of the older-style street markets, and the apparent success of the
newer farmers, specialist and organic food markets has become common in the press.
Why some markets are thriving and others are in decline is not easy to pinpoint, though
a complex interrelation of factors can have an impact, such as the growth of the local
supermarket as a competitive alternative and the redevelopment of market sites by
private developers, leading to the relocation of markets to new sites indoor and
outdoor away from the markets traditional constituency. Yet, markets can offer
possibilities not only for local economic growth but also for people to mingle with each
other and become accustomed to each others differences in a public space; in this way,
markets can act as potential focal points for local communities. As sites of public
interaction and retail spaces, where traders pay rent for their stalls, they could in some
senses be described as public/private spaces, disrupting the often rather rigid and illconceived boundary between public and private space.
The limited research on markets has mostly been undertaken overseas and has focused
on the economic aspects of markets. For example, Sherrys (1990) ethnographic case
study of a mid-western American flea market looked at market buyer and seller
behaviour, market place ambience, the social embeddedness of consumption and
experiential aspects of consumption. Bromleys work in a Latin American city argues that
market place trading has continued to flourish in most cities and notes that dynamism in
market place trading is associated with government intervention, with principal policies
being the creation of markets outside traditional trading sites in the centre (Bromley,
1998). The social importance of markets has thus received minimal attention,
notwithstanding some recent work on social interaction and conflict in a north London
market (Watson and Wells, 2005; Wells and Watson, 2005).

Policy and practice relevance

Markets are key sites of public space for many localities, and potentially offer
opportunities not only for local economic development and employment, but also for
social interaction and connection, social inclusion, the mingling of different cultures and
the building of a sense of local community. There is a growing interest in the use of
markets as focal points for local regeneration and community initiatives, but little is
known as to why some markets succeed economically and socially and others do not.
This study set out to consider some of these issues.

Markets as sites of social interaction

Aims
This project aimed to:
1. Investigate the extent to which markets operate as social spaces for different groups in
the community as defined by socioeconomic group, age, gender, race and ethnicity.
2. Explore the different ways in which different groups use the space of the market (a) as
stall holders and (b) as consumers.
3. Investigate how inclusive or exclusive the market is of different groups (a) as stall
holders and (b) as users/consumers.
4. Explore levels of engagement and interaction between different individuals and groups
in the market.
5. Assess the success of the market as a vibrant social, economic and cultural space for
the city/town/borough in which it is located.
6. Provide a number of conclusions for local authorities on good practice and policy for
local markets.

Methods
Eight markets were selected for the research to reflect a range of different socioeconomic
and cultural population profiles and also types of market. Two were in country towns,
one partially covered and attached to a shopping centre (Lowestoft) and one in the open
air (Ludlow). Three were in medium-sized to large northern cities, where one was
entirely covered and enclosed in a shopping centre (St Helens) and two comprised
indoor and outdoor markets (Preston, Rotherham). One was an outdoor market adjacent
to a shopping centre in the Midlands (Milton Keynes), another was an outdoor street
market (Ridley Road) in London, and the last was a farmers market also in London
(Islington). Following pilot visits to each site, every market was visited on between four
and six occasions for all the days that it operated; there were several other visits of
shorter duration, and visits were made at different times during the year to take account
of seasonal variation.
Four methods of data collection were employed:
1. Detailed observation of social interaction in the market was carried out and
recorded at focal points in the market site for example, the caf, the entrance, a
food van on each of the visits. Information recorded included gender, age, ethnicity1
of individuals engaged in social interaction, form of social interaction greetings, chats
between shoppers, trader-shopper relationships, place and length of interaction,
conflicts and tensions and any other relevant information.
2. Interviews were conducted with shoppers, traders and local officials, all of
which were recorded and transcribed. Most of these were one-to-one interviews.
Traders interviews were held during trading hours because traders were keen to
leave at the end of the day and were therefore often interrupted. Typically,
interviews ranged from 15 to 30 minutes, although some were longer. In each market,
between 10 and 20 interviews with traders were conducted. Efforts were made to
interview across a range of stalls, and to include the chair of traders in each market.
Shoppers were approached and interviewed within the market site and in cafs in, or
adjacent to, the market (these were more productive). Shoppers interviews tended to
be harder to secure and shorter from five to15 minutes, with some exceptions. Efforts
were made to interview a variety of shoppers in terms of gender, age and where
possible ethnicity. Some shoppers, particularly Asian (and possibly Muslim),
1

Age was considered in terms of age bands. Ethnicity was only tentatively noted.

Markets in context

appeared suspicious of the interviewers. In the current sociopolitical climate in Britain,

this response was perhaps not surprising. The majority were interviewed individually,
although a significant minority (one third) were interviewed in pairs or groups.
Between 20 and 40 shoppers were interviewed in each locality. Market managers and
local authority officials with direct responsibility for the market, and other relevant
local officers in, for example, tourism and regeneration departments were also
interviewed in each locality (from five to10 in each site).
3. Photographs of each market were taken during the research visits to capture how
people were using the markets and to show key features of the sites.
4. In-depth interviews (seven, each lasting one to two hours) were conducted with
the following national informants: the managers of Manchester Market, Borough
Market and Leicester Market; the chair of NABMA; staff from the National Federation of
Market Traders (with whom a focus group was held); a representative of the Towns
Centre Initiative; and an official from the London Farmers Association.
The interview material was thematically coded and analysed, and three key themes and
several sub-themes emerged as significant to the running of a market and its social
interaction. These were the locations and physical/spatial aspects of markets; the
economic and product aspects of markets; and the management of, and strategies for,
markets. Social interaction, customer profile, atmosphere, and conflict and tension
were four further themes. These issues will be explored in Chapter 3 with the objective
of considering the extent to which these more visible and recordable attributes of
markets influence the success of markets as spaces of social interaction and vibrancy.

Markets as sites for social interaction

2
The research sites

Photo: David Studdert

In order to explore the social role of markets, and the impact of different physical,
economic and management factors on markets as spaces of diversity and social
interaction, markets in six British towns and cities, and two further sites in London, were
selected for ethnographic study. The localities were chosen to reflect potential differences
between markets in rural areas, small towns, cities and the metropolis, and between
different types of market. The sites also varied across socioeconomic and social/
demographic indicators. A farmers market, which is defined as a market selling only
fresh locally grown produce, was also studied to explore this relatively new market form
as social space. This chapter gives a brief description of each market, drawing on 2001
census data from the Office of National Statistics, the Department for Communities and
Local Governments 2001 Indices of Deprivation and local information sources.

Ludlow market

South Shropshire has a population of 40,410. The vast majority of the population is white
(99.1%). The town is a popular retirement destination, with 26% of the population over
retirement age and only 3% of households forming lone-parent families. This is a
relatively wealthy population with a very high proportion of outright owner occupiers
43.5% compared with 29% nationally, and 28.5% owners with a mortgage. The
deprivation index is 206 (where 1 represents the most deprived locality and 354 the least
deprived locality in England). Ludlow is a small medieval market town, with
predominantly Georgian architecture, set in a pretty rural area. It is known as a foody
town and is popular with tourists who visit the castle, tea shops, craft shops and cultural
facilities.

The research sites

Photo: Sophie Watson

The council-run market is open five days a week, including Saturdays, in the town square
at the top of the town. There are 43 erected sites and four extra vans on Saturdays. There
are also a number of specialist markets that run periodically, including the May fair, the
food and drink market in September, and the flea market. The old covered market was
knocked down over 20 years ago, and resituated in a large open square near the castle,
much to many locals dismay because people appreciated the facilities and protection
from weather provided by the old market. There are a range of stalls at the weekday
market, including fruit and vegetables, flowers and cheese stalls run for many years by
local families, as well as clothes and general household goods stalls. In addition, more
specialised product stalls sell picture frames, teas, crafts, Indian jewellery, Russian coffee
machines and other products. Although these stalls are patronised by locals, they are
more oriented to the tourist trade. There is a tea van on the market site, but no caf,
although there are many tea shops close by. Local parking is fairly restricted, although
there is a small council parking area within walking distance. Of all the sites surveyed,
Ludlow has the poorest transport linkage.

Ridley Road market

Ridley Road market is located in the east London borough of Hackney, which has a
population of 202,824. This is a very ethnically and racially diverse area: 59.4% of the
population is White, 8.6% Asian British and 24.7% Black African or African-Caribbean
British. There is a relatively young population (average age 33), and a high proportion of
lone-parent families (10%). The borough is one of the poorest councils in England the
deprivation index is 5, only 10% of households are outright home owners, 20.6% are
owners with a mortgage and 50.6% are either local authority or housing association
tenants.
The council-run market is situated on a relatively narrow street off Kingsland High Road
and open every day of the week (except Sunday). The market has been in existence for
more than a century (the exact date of its opening is hard to ascertain), and from the
early 20th century was dominated by Jewish traders. The ethnic/racial diversity of the

Markets as sites for social interaction

Photo: David Studdert

market, both in its shoppers and traders, is now extremely marked. In terms of traders,
the market includes Africans, African-Caribbeans, Asians and Eastern Europeans, as well
as retaining Jewish families who have traded at the market for many years and who
continue to occupy the key fruit and vegetable and household goods stalls at the most
visible end of the market. Every imaginable fruit and vegetable, along with ethnic food
products and household goods, are sold on the stalls and, in the small shops, with handpainted signs, anything from African hair pieces to meat and fish, loans and travel is
available, making the site a vibrant multi-ethnic area. There is limited meter street parking
nearby. The market is adjacent to a large mall, which includes Sainsburys supermarket,
where there is further parking. There are several food vans in the market and two small
cafs hidden away.

Rotherham market

Rotherham is an old de-industrialised town of 248,175 people where the population is

96.9 % White, with an Asian community of 2.2 %. The council has a deprivation index of
63. Its loss of jobs in the coal and steel industries has left a population that is seriously
affected by unemployment, particularly among the young. Twenty-three per cent of
households are local authority tenants, compared with 13% nationally, and 26% are
owner occupiers. Poverty and ill health are concerns, and there is a relatively high
proportion of 16- to 74-year-olds with no qualifications (36.9%).
Rotherhams market includes an indoor council-run market of 88 stalls, which runs from
Monday to Saturday, and an outdoor recently renovated and partially covered market
of 131 stalls, which runs on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. There is also a bric-a-brac
market on Wednesday. The inside market has two levels. On the second level, stalls
include lighting, electrical goods, clothes, delicatessen foods, books, household goods,
makeup, bakery, handbags and luggage. In the same complex, there is a caf, a number
of advice and community centres, and a womens centre. In the downstairs inside market,
there is a large variety of stalls and many places to sit down. The market is in the centre
of the town, close to the station, and five minutes walk from a large car park.

Photo: David Studdert

The research sites

St Marys Market, St Helens

St Helens is a city of 176,843 people, of whom 99% are White. Pilkingtons Glass was
formerly a key employer in the town, but its role has declined as the industry has
become increasingly mechanised, with a resulting high unemployment rate in the town.
The deprivation index in St Helens is 36. A significant 35.3% of people of employment
age have no qualifications. Nineteen per cent of households are local authority tenants,
30% outright owner occupiers. There is a relatively large proportion of single-parent
households (8%).
The council-run St Marys indoor market is open Monday to Saturday. There are 90 stalls,
many of which are not occupied. The range of products is limited to cheap clothes,
accessories, make-up, mobile phones and other cheap household products. There are no
food stalls except for a pork butcher. There is one caf in the centre of the market site.
The market has been recently relocated as a result of council-led redevelopment.
Although the new building is bright and well designed, the front of the market faces a
street that is rarely used and all the stalls at the front are empty with fake painted stalls
painted on the closed shutters giving the entrance a surreal feel. The caf in the centre
also acts to cut off, rather than integrate, one side of the market from the other. The other
side of the market adjoins a busy but dilapidated shopping mall through a small entrance
that is easy to miss. There is parking nearby in a multi-storey car park, and the bus
station is a five-minute walk away.
Lowestoft has a population of 112,342. The population is almost exclusively White
(98.8%). The deprivation index is 113, placing the council in the top third of deprivation
ratings. One quarter of households are over retirement age. A significant 35.8% of 16- to
74-year-olds have no qualifications (compared with 29% nationally), and there are a
highly visible number of people with disabilities, mental and physical, living in the town.
The council-run market is situated in the centre of town behind a large shopping centre
the Britten Centre in the main high street. The main entrance from the street is through

Photo: Sophie Watson

Markets as sites for social interaction

Lowestoft market

the Centre. The market occupies a small space, which is adjacent to the public library and
a caf with outside seats and tables. There is an entrance to the bus station, and another
to the town centre car park. The market is open for five days, including Saturday. There
are three rows of permanent market stalls, which are partially protected from the weather
36 stalls in total selling a good range of products with many different products on
different days (such as baby clothes, fish, picture frames), as well as stalls that are present
every day when the market is open, including fruit and vegetables, sweets and a makeup stall. The market has recently been refurbished with a grant from the Sunshine Coast
Regeneration Fund, and the stalls are all covered with brightly painted shutters that are
locked up at night.
Milton Keynes is a post-war new town 60 miles north of London with a population of
207,057. It has a relatively low level of deprivation 204 on the index and good
employment levels. Ten per cent of the population are Black or Asian British. There is a
relatively young population with an average of age of 35.2 and levels of qualifications are
comparatively high (under a quarter have no qualifications). There is also a relatively
high percentage of householders with a mortgage 47% compared with 38% nationally.
The market is run by a private company Bray and Associates every day of the week
including weekends. The market is outside, with no protection from the weather, and is
located at the centre of the city (which is spread across a wide area in a multi-centred
form), adjacent to a large shopping centre, at some distance from the bus and train
stations but close to bus stops and parking. It is partially under a flyover, which gives the
site a rather depressing feel. The market has a very wide range of products, from fruit
and vegetables to light furniture and household accessories. There is no caf in the
market although there is a food and tea van but there are cafs close by in the
shopping centre.

10

Photo: Sophie Watson

The research sites

Milton Keynes market

Preston is a town of 129,630 people with a comparatively large Asian British population
(11.6%). The deprivation index is 59. The average age is low 30, compared with 38.6
nationally. Twenty-six per cent of households are outright home owners (compared with
29.5% nationally); there is a high proportion of householders who are housing
association tenants (21.6%), compared with 6% nationally, and a much lower proportion
of local authority tenants (6.8 %) than the national figure (13.2%).
Preston has a council-run indoor market, open Monday to Saturday. On the ground floor,
75 stalls sell fresh produce fruit, vegetables, bread and traditional Lancashire food such
as black pudding, as well as a very wide range of household goods, clothing (including
Goth) and miscellaneous products. Upstairs, there are 60 stalls, which also sell a wide
range of non-food items from jewellery and haberdashery to sportswear and childrens
clothes. There is a caf located on this floor. Next to the market hall under a Victorian
canopy, there is a four-day-a-week outdoor market with a wide variety of goods. On
Thursdays, this site is transformed into a large car-boot sale/flea market with 160 stalls.
The initial impression is of easily accessible parking and a well-signposted market. The
car park, however, is grimy and more expensive than at the other sites. Across the road,
there is a smaller covered area adorned with the same Victorian ironwork and design.
Here, the stalls are more scattered and there are obvious empty spaces.
Islington is a London borough with a high level of deprivation overall, reaching
deprivation 6 on the index. One quarter of the population is non white, 5.4% are Asian
British and 11.9 % Black African or African-Caribbean British. There is a relatively young
demographic (average age 34.7). There are low proportions of outright owners (10%) and
owners with a mortgage (21.1%), with 35.6% of householders living as local authority
tenants. However, in the immediate vicinity of the market, there is considerable wealth
following 20 years of gentrification of the local housing stock.

11

Photo: David Studdert

Markets as sites for social interaction

Preston market

Islington farmers market is run by London Farmers Markets (LFM) an independent

company managing 13 farmers markets. These are markets in which farmers and
producers from an area within 100 miles of the M25 set up their own stalls to sell their
own produce direct to the market. LFM seeks out new sites for markets, and supports
and encourages local community involvement in their establishment and ongoing activity,
as well as promoting and running the markets once established. Each stall pays rent to
LFM to subsidise these activities. The markets are located in a variety of sites, including
station car parks, school playgrounds and public spaces in the middle of private
developments. Islington is Londons first farmers market. At the beginning of the
research, the market was located in Camden Passage a row of antique and other shops
opposite Islington Green and next to Tescos supermarket. Over the years, as a result of
its success, the market stalls and customers were overflowing out of their allocated space,
making it difficult for people to move. In September 2005, therefore, it was relocated to a
primary school playground at William Tyndale School. The current site is rather hidden
off a main high street. Parking on Sunday here presents few problems and the local tube
and train station is 10 minutes walk away, with buses running close by. There is a wide
range of fresh and organic produce. There is no caf in the market, although there is
food to eat, including lamb burgers cooked on site.

Conclusion
It should be clear from this chapter that markets do not form a single entity; on the
contrary, they are very heterogeneous, offering different provision and playing
contrasting roles in different localities. The markets in this study were selected to explore
some of these variations. Ridley Road is unique as the only street market in the study.
Located as it is in a poor and highly racially diverse area, it plays a significant role in
providing a very wide variety in ethnic terms of low-cost fruit, vegetables, meat, fish
and other food items, which meet the diverse needs of the local community. St Helens
market is the only entirely indoor market integrated into a low-cost shopping centre. It
largely comprises cheap clothes and goods, which compete with the low-cost items to be

12

Photo: Sophie Watson

The research sites

Islington farmers market

found in the shopping centre. Ludlow represents the classic traditional market town
model and, in providing a diversity of good-quality fresh food and a wide range of
goods, serves the long-established local community as well as tourists in the town.
Rotherham and Preston markets are similar in that they combine indoor and outdoor
markets and provide a very good range of fresh food, household goods and clothes,
which match well the needs of a predominantly white working-class local community.
Lowestoft market, which is small with good-quality food and other products, is part of the
local shopping centre and high street, thus providing one shopping opportunity among
many for this relatively low-income and older white community. Milton Keynes is a large
outdoor market attached to a shopping centre and with a more visible and separate
presence. This market sells a diversity of goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, and other
food items, but appears to appeal more to the low-income households in the local
ethnically mixed community than the more professional and higher-income groups that
also live locally. Islington was differentiated by its status as a farmers market, providing
fairly expensive high-quality fresh and organic produce to a predominantly middle-class
and white local community.
This diversity of markets and the communities they serve raises important questions as to
the different social roles that markets can play in different localities. These will be
considered in the next chapter of this report.

13

Markets as sites for social interaction

3
Markets as sites for social
interaction
Markets clearly operate as key sites of sociability, but the form that this takes and the
different people involved vary across different market sites, conditions and locations.
Markets were found to provide four different social functions through this research
specifically, through the opportunities they provided for social interaction, the formation
of social ties, social mixing across groups and social inclusion. Social interaction can
range from a very minimal connection, such as a greeting between acquaintances or
between shoppers and traders, to extended conversations between those who have met
up in the market, or extended interactions between stallholders and the customers they
serve. This engagement can lead to the formation of weak social ties, but markets can
also serve as sites of stronger social bonding where friends and families trade together
and form a particular community, or where traders and regular shoppers get to know
each other over time. Social mixing refers more specifically to interactions across different
socioeconomic, demographic and ethnic/racial groups. Finally, a markets role as a site of
social inclusion refers to the fact that it can operate well as a public space where
marginalised groups come to spend time, thereby providing opportunities to escape
isolation in the home or elsewhere, while also providing an economically inclusive space
for example, by offering cheap goods that may not be available elsewhere.
This chapter explores some of the ways in which the social life of markets became clear
in the research. These fall into five categories: the social life of traders; shoppers and
traders relationships; markets as social spaces for different groups of shoppers; ethnic/
racial differences and social relations in market sites; and conflicts and tensions in market
social relations. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the different kinds of
social role the markets served across the sites.

Social life of traders

Although the importance of social relations between traders may not at first glance seem
a crucial aspect of markets as spaces of social interaction, the reality is otherwise. For
many traders, being a stallholder in a market constitutes a key aspect of their own social
life:
Everyone gets to know each other because youre standing there all day.
Especially when its dead quiet and you have to talk to the person next to you.
(Ludlow, trader)
They always want to be in the same place, they dont want to move. And they
tend to sort of form nice relationships with those that theyre next to fortunately.
(Islington, manager)
Employment and social life for these people is thus inextricably linked. Where there is a
diverse racial and ethnic composition of traders, as is particularly remarkable in Ridley

14

Markets as sites for social interaction

Road market, for example, market trade provides a key site for the meeting and
management of differences across cultures in the local community. For example, the
long-established Jewish traders spoke of helping the new Asian traders settle into the
market, explaining the customs and practices of market life.
The interviews with both shoppers and traders revealed that the social atmosphere and
vibrancy of a market were greatly enhanced in markets where traders had strong
connections between themselves. This could take various forms. The majority of markets
have traders associations, which negotiate with market managers and councils. Where
these are strong, with an articulate chair, the changing needs of the market are more
likely to be addressed and improvements initiated. In many markets, traders give
considerable practical support to one another, minding the stall in the owners absence,
helping to carry things and so on: If anyones in trouble, everyone will always help you
out, you know its. Well if you need fixtures, fittings, you know its like if your car
breaks down, you need a hand. Yeah everyones always ready to help, you know
(Milton Keynes, trader).
In some instances, it is evident that social interaction can lead to the formation of weak
social links between people, which have the potential to develop into stronger bonds as
people get to know each other.
Traditionally, market stalls were passed down between parents and children, often over
many generations. And in many markets, families of siblings and cousins would own a
number of stalls, often in proximity to one another. In Ludlow, for example, the cheese
stall, owned by one trader, is opposite the flowers and vegetables, which are owned by
his parents-in-law, who have been at the market for 50 years. In Ridley Road, the chair of
traders comes from a Jewish family, which over generations has run the majority of stalls
at the top of the market:
Going back, it was all family-run markets, so there was loads of family and
friends that ran the markets. There was about 70 families here you had the
Caines, the Moseleys, the Greys, the Lamberts it had a nice social side to it.
It was very, very Jewish. But then, Jewish people couldnt work on a Saturday.
So some of the Jewish traders would give up their pitch to someone else on a
Saturday. But then, times change, and the Jewish people started to move away
and we got loads and loads of Greeks, Cypriots, Turkish people. That was
another good era we had.
Still today, this respondents cousins own five of the stalls, including the egg stall, where
the owners father was the publican at the main local pub, the Ridley Arms. These strong
family connections provide a sense of social cohesion and often exuberant banter
between the stalls, creating a vibrant social atmosphere. This pattern of family
relationships was also found in Ludlow, and to a lesser extent other markets, although
several people, including the longest serving trader at Rotherham, reported a dwindling
of this practice as children who, traditionally, had followed their parents into the market,
sought other jobs. Whether or not traders are related, the background sound of chatter
and banter between traders who are acquainted creates a particular atmosphere in a
market.

Shoppers and traders relationships

Given that traders represent the visible centre of the market community, how they
conduct themselves strongly affects the way a market feels to those who visit. As the
chair of the traders at Ridley Road put it:

15

Markets as sites for social interaction

If its a bubbly, buzzy place and the traders are bubbly and buzzy, then
obviously you get customers feeling comfortable. In this day and age there is a
hell of a lot more personal stress the council put a lot more pressure on
certain traders than they have to and it reflects on the customers in the market.
A striking theme that emerged from the interviews with shoppers was the importance of
their relationships with the traders, which is markedly different from the experience of
shopping in supermarkets:
Oh, Id talk to them, you know, chit-chat. But also about advice on particular
things, like if I hadnt cooked something before Ill talk to them about how you
cook it and theyre always very helpful with that. And yeah I ask them how its
going, because Im very conscious that its pretty hard work for them, I cant
imagine how they make a living. So I partly want to make them feel good, and I
want to make myself feel good by feeling like Im connecting with people.
(Islington, female shopper, late forties)
Theyre more personal, personable, and you know some people when you talk
to them about their produce, or their products, theyre very excited about it,
because theyve really put a lot of effort into it. You go to the lady who sells
honey and shes really into bees and she talks a lot about how to look after the
bees, and you know shes really excited. (Islington, black male, late forties)
For many shoppers, the daily or weekly interaction they had with traders was cited as a
key reason for going to the market, even if they reported no other social exchange on
the market site. Many reported the pleasure of banter as a form of social interaction with
market traders. In some markets, traders performed an exaggerated theatricality that
appeared to contribute to their stalls success as well as enhancing the shoppers
experience. A notable example here was the woman sheep farmer from Battle who sold
lamb and homemade lamb-burgers at the Islington farmers market and took pleasure in
teasing and being rude to her customers, who reported being amused too.
Simon Quin from the Town Centres Initiative highlighted the importance of theatre as an
attraction in markets, but noted how diversity in offer could add to this:
I think markets should be about theatre and the continental markets are a theatre
just because theyre foreign in effect, but some of the traditional markets have
that as well. I think interestingly some of that theatre can come through you
know were talking continental markets but actually many of our ethnic markets,
traditional markets that have become ethnic markets, have really become as
foreign as the continental markets theyre actually forming a tourist attraction,
they benefit tourists, in inverted commas, or are an attraction for the general
population.
However, a St Helens trader regretted that:
We are not allowed to pitch in the market in the mall. But I do it at the outdoor
markets. I like to shout at the girls. So I do pitch. Pitching definitely creates a
market atmosphere. There are certain councils and boroughs around the country
that allow it. Bolton market is one, so is Leeds. But it can frighten people,
especially the elderly.
Many traders in all markets also commented on the relationships they had with regular
customers:

16

Markets as sites for social interaction

You do notice more on a Tuesday when it is more older people. You know they
tend to have a good look round, want to have a chat with you. And you do see
the same faces; more or less the same times each day, each week. (Milton
Keynes, trader)
I have a lot of regulars. Ive got a lot of my ladies who are very regular on their
ribbons and they do a lot of knitting. Not just for their own children or
grandchildren, they knit for charities or for like one of the hospitals, like the
premature baby unit. Its very hard to buy premature babywear, so they do all
their knitting. They do all the tiny mittens and bonnets and everything and they
go through yards and yards of or, I must be correct, metres and metres of
ribbon. I mean they dont know me by name. They can pass me in the street
and go, Oh thats my button lady or Thats my ribbon lady, you know, things
like that. And thats really nice. They chat and say, Have you got anything new
in or Can you get so and so. (Lowestoft, trader)
I get on with my customers and I make them feel special they actually say,
Mick, sort me out, get me an outfit they feel comfortable with me because I
can say, there you go, bang, bang, bang, thats yours right, next! Id say about
90% of my customers know me by name. Thats the kind of relationship I have
with them. (Preston, trader)
If youre relying on people to come into the market in the rain, then the core
customers are, you know, your mainstay really. (Ludlow, trader)
Long-term traders who worked more often commonly the fruit and vegetable and other
food traders (as opposed to stallholders who worked markets on a one-day-a-week
basis) frequently referred to the loyalty of their shoppers, and the way in which they
kept an eye on long-term customers. In this capacity, they acted as focal points for the
community for passing information about a local persons health or state of their
marriage.

Markets as social spaces for different groups of shoppers

Markets perform different roles for different social groups, and their importance and use
among the population can vary according to age, gender and other factors. This research
considers the role that markets play for older people, families with children, young
people and people with disabilities.Older people
The single most striking finding about who uses markets as social spaces is how crucial
they are in the daily life of older people more than for any other group:
Weve missed a generation. The young generation arent using the market. They
go down to Next and whatever. And a lot of our customers are the elderly. They
still come faithfully to Preston market, come rain or shine. Theyll be here every
Friday morning at nine oclock, come what may. And when they die, nobody is
going to replace them. But that type of person is now literally on their last legs.
(Preston Council, official)
The market is also predominantly a social space for older women rather than older men.
This is not to say that in many instances other groups cannot be found shopping in
markets; rather, it is to emphasise the social importance of markets for this group. This
was true of all markets with the possible exceptions of Ridley Road and Islington farmers
markets, which appealed to a wider diversity of social groups as a place to linger and

17

Photo: David Studdert

Markets as sites for social interaction

Ludlow market

chat. In the markets that had cafs on site, like St Helens and Rotherham, older people
typically sat down in the caf for tea or a meal for an hour, and often longer, with
partners, friends and family. Sometimes this was with people with whom they had come,
and sometimes with those they had bumped into in the market. In St Helens, where the
majority of stalls in the market were reporting difficulties, the caf at the centre was full
throughout the day with older people sometimes chatting for hours. The fact that the caf
occupied a key central location meant it offered views across the entire site and enough
activity to create interest for the people sitting there without the more frantic atmosphere
of the shopping centre. It was also an attraction for older people being taken on an
outing by carers. One trader in St Helens reported:
A lot of elderly people use this market. Because they are a bit more frail or
fragile or frightened, they find the multinational too busy, too rushed. Because
this market is quieter, they can feel more at ease. But the market caters for every
age. For example, X over there is selling teenage tops. (St Helens, trader)
In markets where there was no caf immediately on site, such as Ludlow and Lowestoft,
older people typically repaired to cafs or tearooms nearby, while in Milton Keynes and
Lowestoft, where the market was adjacent to a shopping centre, a common pattern was
for the older people who had shopped in the market to return to the warmth and
comfort of the shopping centre. Many of them would then sit for long periods of time on
circular benches around flower beds or in the other formal seating areas provided there.
The greeting of acquaintances and friends, and stopping to chat, was frequently
observed.
Formal seating, such as the benches provided in the indoor market at Preston, and
informal seating, often barely visible in markets, also appeared to represent significant
sites of social interaction for older people. They both needed to sit down to rest and also
appeared to enjoy the informality and lack of expense associated with this activity. Not all
of them could afford to spend money in cafs. As one woman in Rotherham said, Only
posh people go to coffee shops. This comment reflects the important role of some
markets in providing a socially inclusive space for people on lower incomes.

18

Photo: David Studdert

Markets as sites for social interaction

Caf, St Marys Market, St Helens

An interesting aspect of the informal seating arrangements in Rotherham was their

gendered nature. The majority occupying the form on the upstairs balcony were men,
while downstairs, on the blue seats in the smoking corner, women in their sixties and
seventies gossiped with others who shared the space on a regular basis. They said they
knew each others faces but not necessarily their names.
The physical attributes of a market had a strong impact on its use as a social space for
older people. The importance of seating has already been highlighted. Transport was the
other key issue for older people in all market sites. Carrying heavy bags over even short
distances was cited as an inhibiting factor, which militated against older people using
markets. Given that this group tends to have lower car ownership or usage, bus stops
adjacent to markets appeared to be crucial.
As the market manager at St Helens said:
Im not physically going to be able to change the market. But I think in order to
revitalise the market it is important to get back to basics. Markets are traditionally
for people on lower incomes. They tend to use buses or public transport to get
here. Its no good having a market where youve got fruit and vegetable and the
bus stations a mile and a half away. My idea was to build a mini bus station in
front of the multi-storey car park. Ive got to bring people in, rather than hope
people will try and find me. (St Helens, market manager)
Despite the relative proximity of the bus station to this site, the managers comments
reflected problems in terms of the markets appeal, and disappointment in the markets
relocation out of the centre.
In order to create a space for social contact, markets also need to provide a purpose for
people to visit. The interconnection between the market and other amenities, in particular
all-purpose shops, health centres, public libraries, post offices and community facilities,

19

Markets as sites for social interaction

are key here, both for older people and for other visitors. In Preston, for example, the
post office in the market had recently been closed down, which, according to the
majority of traders, had led to a decline of visits to the market, particularly among older
people. In Ludlow, Kwik Save supermarket, where many pensioners bought a few
household goods during their visit to the market, had also recently closed, with reported
detrimental effects on the life of the market.
Other spatial and physical attributes of markets have a further impact on their use as
social spaces by older people. The ease of moving between stalls and the width of aisles,
for example, are two such considerations. Shoppers in Ridley Road would need to be
strong enough to withstand jostling, and a wheelchair there would be harder to manage
than in Lowestoft, Preston or Ludlow. The lack of easy access to toilet facilities was a
concern for all groups, but older people in particular frequently cited it as a problem.
Finally, traders claimed to play a strong role in keeping an eye on older people for
example, in Rotherham, a long-established trader, whose stall was located close to the
form where the older people (mainly men) sat, described how her 92-year-old father
(also formerly a market trader) had only recently stopped spending time there every day,
and how she always offered older people tea and water, and attended to their needs. All
the traders do the same, she said.

Families with children

During weekdays, the second most visible group of users of markets as social spaces was
women with pre-school children. This group, like older visitors, also typically used the
cafs provided on market sites. Respondents in this group were difficult to interview
because they were usually preoccupied with childcare activities. Rather than the market
functioning as a site of casual encounter, typically these younger women came with their
mothers or with friends who also had young children. Shopping for this group appeared
to be a more functional activity, particularly among poorer women searching for cheaper
commodities. Neither the women themselves nor the traders in any of the markets
commented on the shoppertrader relationship as being very significant to them. But
there were exceptions. The woman in charge of the make-up stall in St Helens market
frequently kept an eye on the children while their mothers, who regularly patronised her
stall, ducked across the aisle to Girl Talk, which was one of the few successful stalls in
the market.
In all the markets in the study, on Saturdays (and on Sundays in Islington farmers
market) families with children represented the major group of shoppers. Unlike the
previous group, many of these families saw the markets as sites for various forms of
social interaction or interest for the children. As one woman said: If you have children, it
is better being here than at Tescos. Things are lower down, there is always something
going on, something for them to look at (Ludlow, female shopper).
And another shopper in Ludlow commented:
My kids hate going to the shops but they like going to the market particularly
the boys. I dont know whether its claustrophobia or what, but the market they
love. They say they like the outside and its just more of an exciting
environment I think. Theres lots of different stalls. (female shopper)
Time spent on market visits tended to be longer at the weekend, because children
commonly bumped into friends from school, and parents also bumped into

20

Markets as sites for social interaction

acquaintances from the locality and then stopped to chat. The manager of Islington
farmers market put it this way:

Photo: Sophie Watson

I think they knew each other already but then they meet friends of friends or
they bring their grown up daughter or their grown up daughter brings their mum
from the country that kind of thing. So it is very sociable, I have to keep saying
excuse me, I cant get past, because theyre all stopping, chatting in the aisle and
they have interesting conversations.

Islington farmers market

The London farmers markets coordinator also described another site as an important
place for families:
Wimbledon Park is in a school yard. This is another one of our farmers markets
in Wimbledon, in a nice little residential area, so all our customers are very local
and they all come every Saturday morning with their bags ready. They all know
each other and their kids went to the school.
In this site, the market visit was greatly enhanced by the presence of play equipment, as
the coordinator noted
Theres climbing equipment and play equipment for kids, so quite often parents
and families will spend a bit of time there as well and, you know, use it as a sort
of a morning out for the children. Similarly, at Queens Park thats also happening
as well and, and to some extent Marylebone as well.... If you spend any time
at a market, you will see the same people over the course of an hour, and they
might well do a bit of shopping at the market, go off for a coffee and then come
back and do a little bit more or finish off and get something they forgot to buy.

21

Markets as sites for social interaction

This feature had been identified as a stimulus for activity in St Helens, where one of the
market assistants ideas to address the empty space in the market was to place play
equipment there.
As mentioned earlier, a market visit is frequently punctuated by a visit to a local caf or
casual eating at a food stall or caravan. Islington farmers market, like other farmers markets,
was striking in this respect. The quality and range of products sold, and the fact that
traders offered samples for shoppers to try, meant that groups formed around the stalls,
and strangers and acquaintances would frequently chat for quite lengthy periods of time.
The opportunity to sample new foods and drinks was particularly attractive to children,
who could be seen to grab more than once piece at a time. In all the markets, food vans
were well used by parents and their children, who tired of shopping without sustenance.

Adults without, or not accompanied by, children

Many people visit markets alone, across the whole age range, and in all markets women
outnumbered men. For many of the group discussed here (adults aged from their late
twenties to late fifties), markets were seen as a site of social interaction. These were
typical comments from the shoppers and the manager at Islington farmers market:
I think the public do go to the pub afterwards sometimes or they go for a coffee
together or something. I hear people saying, Well lets meet at such and such
after youve been to the book shop or you hear all these things. When will you
be round for lunch? And Im always recommending where people can go cause
we have this organic pub round the corner. (Market manager)
Yeah, I already have bumped into someone a colleague not a colleague, but
somebody from my profession who I havent seen for two years. (Middle-aged
woman)
This is my wife, my partners there. She comes we always come, mostly come
together, because we enjoy it its nice, you know, get up in the morning and
you know its fresh, Sunday morning and you come and you look around and
you see people and I like the fact that people are here with their kids and
theyre all outside and I love the smell of the burgers. (Middle-aged man)
I just think its like a proper, its the nearest thing to community at work, do you
know what I mean? (Female shopper)
I think its a real wonderful thing for a community, because you see the same
people coming and its so completely different from shopping in a supermarket.
(Female shopper)
I would normally come on my own, but Ive been with friends before, so if Ive
got friends staying with me, I bring them. (Female shopper)
Younger and middle-aged adults were generally far less present in the markets than older
people or people with children, with the exception of Islington farmers market (which
has a more middle-class clientle) and Ridley Road. The latter market represented a
significant social meeting place for many people of different cultures African-Caribbean,
African, Eastern European, Latin American and Chinese people, among others because
people of all ages, including many younger age groups, saw the market as a place where
acquaintances and old friends could be found. Here, too, there was a notably different
gender mix, with a large number of young and middle-aged men in the market.

22

Markets as sites for social interaction

Various explanations were given by the traders for the declining presence of this adult
age group. First, it was reported that supermarkets with free parking and longer shopping
hours were more attractive to those in the workforce who might be shopping on their
way to and from work and were frequently in a hurry. Second, changing expectations
around shopping such as the use of credit and debit cards commonly not an option at
market stalls discouraged this group of people from shopping in markets: The young
people are brought up now, they want to pay by card, and they want to buy all under
one roof. And of course its cash in the market and they are not interested
really(Lowestoft, trader).
Catalogue and internet shopping has also grown in significance as a shopping activity
among this group, with its greater flexibility for those in work. Others reported that
markets were perceived as a fuddy-duddy, outmoded activity of their parents generation:
The younger generation are out of market habits, arent they? You know the market, the
younger generation, to walk around the market doesnt appeal to them whereas the
generation before it was part and parcel (Milton Keynes, trader).
There were also exceptions, however: Its more friendly than a supermarket. You get
to know the stall holders as well and they know you. So youve got a more personal
shopping. And you often meet up with people that you havent seen for a while,
because you have been working (Ludlow, female shopper, around 35).
Young people working as traders in markets is also common. In Rotherham and St Helens,
there were a number of young Asian traders, particularly selling products that appeal to
younger shoppers, such as mobile phones and football shirts, while in Islington farmers
market, the manager reported: Quite a lot of them employ young people to work for
them, very interesting, all different nationalities, we had 26 nationalities one week.

Young people (teens to mid-twenties)

While young and middle-aged adults were less commonly seen than older people in the
markets studied, younger people those aged in their teens and early to mid-twenties
were also less regular users of markets. A dominant narrative among traders in all the
markets was the decline in the use of markets by young people over the past 20 years:
Contemporary young people have not been through the abject poverty of earlier
generations, going to school with holes in their shoes, etc. The market means nothing
to them except the possibility of getting something cheaper. (St Helens, trader)
Young ones dont come in very much Ill give you an example with my
children. Although some of them have worked with me here when they were at
school, as soon as they leave they dont want to come to this market. They like
supermarkets. (African female caf owner)
Despite this gloomy narrative, some traders reported that a new interest in organic food
and fresh produce promoted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and others, alongside a
culture that emphasises healthy eating habits, was putting markets, particularly farmers
markets, firmly back on the map. Certainly, younger age groups were highly visible at
Islington farmers market. According to the trader selling cheese at Ludlow:
About 10 years ago, when supermarkets were coming on strong ... they started to
brainwash the younger generation the younger married people spend their
money in supermarkets. But in the last two years you can see a trend back to the

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Markets as sites for social interaction

markets again they have said, I dont like that cheese and they come back
for some decent quality cheese again.
And in Lowestoft, this trader, when asked who used the market, responded:
Across the ages, across the board really. Lots of youngsters come in. They have
their dogs, they come and get their pet food on a regular basis. And youve got
the old ladies whove got their budgies and dogs.
Young people, particularly teenagers and college students, were typically observed to
visit markets in groups, often during their lunch hour on college days. Here, the social
activity focused on hanging around particular stalls that matched their interests and
needs. For example, in Lowestoft, the make-up and accessories stall had a constant group
of young women standing chatting by the stall and comparing items.
In Rotherham, the Goth stall represented a key social site. This often presumes a good
relation with the trader. At one point in St Helens, a (white) girl of about 17 in a group of
friends referred to the Asian mobile phone trader as her fancy piece, whom she joked
with and visited every day. Groups of boys were also found to cluster around mobile
phone stalls.
In Ridley Road, the Rasta man (self-proclaimed) soap stallholder reported: Oh yeah!
Youngsters come down here. Normally they buy, like, trainers, T-shirts and things but
they dont buy food. Some come in groups. Ive seen in here the younger people they
are not bad compared to other markets we used to go to.

Photo: Sophie Watson

Where the market was adjacent to a college, as in Rotherham and Ludlow, groups of
students were seen to hang around the market eating takeaway food and chatting during

Lowestoft market, make-up and accessories stall

24

Markets as sites for social interaction

lunch hours or breaks. A female respondent (25 years old) in Ludlow reported: When I
was at college here, six or seven years ago, this was my first port of call before I went
into the college. A cup of tea and a bacon buttie. This was the centre of it because the
college is just there.
In towns where there are relatively few facilities for young people, the market can
function as a key social site, where young people laugh and flirt with one another. Milton
Keynes was notable in this respect.

People with physical disabilities

In the markets in towns with a high deprivation index, St Helens and Rotherham, and in
Lowestoft, where there is a concentration of people on benefits, a striking sight was the
prevalence of shoppers in motorised wheelchairs. St Helens, Rotherham and Preston all
have shopmobility schemes. Observation of this group of shoppers revealed long stays in
the market. Often these shoppers appeared relatively isolated but appeared to be
enjoying the activity going on around them. One middle-aged man interviewed said that
he knew no-one there, but he liked sitting watching people go by. A man in a wheelchair
interviewed in Ridley Road similarly enjoyed this experience. Others came accompanied
by carers, friends or partners and also bumped into friends there. The form seating area
occupied by the pensioners in Rotherham also had a constant stream of visitors in
wheelchairs. For these shoppers to engage in the market, the width of the aisle and the
physical layout of the cafs were reported to be of crucial significance. The need for
parking for disabled people near the market was also mentioned: There is a lot of
disabled parking around here. It gets the disabled people right into the middle of the
town, and that is good (Preston, trader).
Several respondents, who were not necessarily disabled but who were unwell, reported
enjoying a visit to the market, for example:
Ive been off work for a few months now and its keeping me in contact with
people. So I quite enjoy popping in as frequently as I do at the moment its
nice to come for the bustle and to meet people that you havent seen for a long
time its been a really nice place to come, interact with people without it being
too long. (Ludlow, female shopper)
Overall, where markets were accessible to wheelchair users, they appeared to function
well as places where this group could be included in the social life of the community.

Ethnic/racial differences and social relations in market sites

The use of markets is highly local, with some exceptions. A survey of shoppers at
Islington farmers market, for example, found that 60% lived within a mile of the market.
As a result, markets usually reflect the social demographics of the locality in which they
are placed in terms of their users and the produce on offer. The ethnic composition of
traders, however, is more varied in larger towns, but not in small market towns such as
Ludlow.
In this study, Rotherham and Milton Keynes were the most ethnically diverse sites, apart
from Ridley Road, where the majority of the local population are not white. In
Rotherham, traders reported relatively untroubled relations between people of different
ethnicities, although there were clearly some tensions. The market manager said: There
have been quite a lot of asylum seekers in Rotherham, mostly Eastern Europeans. They

25

Photo: David Studdert

Markets as sites for social interaction

Rotherham market

tend to congregate and chat. Some of the people in the market find that quite
intimidating. One Asian woman, on seeing the interviewer, expressly elected to be
interviewed, and reported observing such high levels of antagonistic attitudes from the
fruit and vegetable traders towards herself and other Asian female shoppers that she
refused to go to these stalls and sent her white husband to shop for her instead. This
comment from a white woman shopper confirmed her point that some peoples attitudes
in the market were racist: How can I put it without being rude? They let coloured people
play with the food the English people arent allowed to touch it. So George wont go
to that stall because he simply doesnt want his food mauled.
In Milton Keynes, different ethnic/racial family groups appeared to keep themselves to
themselves and mix little across communities, although in this location no inter-ethnic
racial tension was reported. On the contrary, one Indian 45-year-old woman shopper
said: To be honest, yeah, Ive never seen, all the times Ive ever been here, and Ive been
in Milton Keynes for years, Ive never seen any hassle between people, never.
In Preston, shoppers commented on the presence of Eastern Europeans:
Shopper 1 (Polish man, around 60): If you listen to people talking, you will hear
a lot of different languages.
Shopper 2: A hell of a lot of different languages.
Shopper 1: Because a heck of a lot of Polish people come to Preston.
Shopper 2: Its a big influx of East Europeans.
Islington farmers market, like other farmers markets, attracted predominantly white
customers. The site offer is clearly important in terms of how people use a site:

26

Markets as sites for social interaction

What we found in Tower Hamlets was that the largely Bengali population were
only interested in buying what they usually knew about and what they usually
wanted which was specific vegetables and fruits that were imported from
wherever, from Bangladesh. They were only interested in halal meat, for example,
as well, which you know is kind of quite limiting if youve not got halal meat
producers. (London Farmers Market officer)
Ridley Road, of all the market sites, according to traders and shoppers and from all
observations, operated as perhaps the most vibrant social space for shoppers and traders
between and across many different cultures. According to one trader:
You get a lot of Jamaicans, Africans, Nigerians. They all live in the area. Its the
old famous Ridley Road. This is like a meeting point for a lot of them. There are
people down here who havent seen each other for 20 years, and they have met
in Ridley Road. You know, no other market but Ridley [is like that]. It must say
something, you know.
And the woman who runs the egg stall noted:
There are lots of South American people down here now. Spanish, Brazilian,
Cuban ... theres a big community of South Americans coming up now. Chinese,
you get a lot of Chinese people now. And Polish. Lots of Russians. Lots of
different people shop here.
The shoppers interviewed reported visiting the market regularly with the specific
intention of bumping into acquaintances and long-lost friends, even to the extent of
looking out for people last seen in their country of origin:
Yeah, I do bump into people. You meet people you have not seen for years!
[Interviewer] Do you? From the local community?
From abroad! People from Nigeria come here, they are looking for me, they dont
know my address. I tell them everything because they have been looking for
me for long. And eventually they found me here. (Nigerian woman, late fifties)
Interestingly, the lack of formal seating areas did not deter vibrant social interaction here,
and informal spaces, such as crates, empty stalls and steps of containers, were occupied
throughout the day by many of the African and African-Caribbean communities, while
groups of people were frequently seen standing by stalls:
Yes, theyll collect in the street. If they see a friend or neighbours theyll just hang
in there, stop, and start chatting. And in about 10 minutes they finish, its up to
them. Usually it doesnt trouble me. It happened to me once, I said, Please can
you move aside a bit for me, because they had been standing there for so long,
chatting, chatting and blocking the stall. (Soap stall trader)
Sociable? Yeah! I come down here on a Saturday because I know if Im going to
bump into someone you can bump into them here on a Saturday. That used to
be a big pub and on a Saturday, Ill tell you what theyd all be there and
you could have a laugh and you used to meet your uncle there, your brother .
(African-Caribbean woman, 37)
The closure of the long-established Ridley Arms pub in the middle of the market was
mourned by many traders and shoppers as the loss of a crucial social space. But the role

27

Markets as sites for social interaction

of the market here in bringing people together still seemed valuable. According to the
traders, the market functioned not only as a space of social interaction but also social
mixing. It facilitated the creation of social bonds across different ethnicities, particularly
between the old Jewish families and more recent African-Caribbean and Asian traders.
Some tensions, however, were reported. More negative feeling was attached to the more
recent arrival of Eastern European traders and traders who did not share the English
language.

Conflicts and tensions in market sites

As the above comments on Ridley Road suggest, social tensions were occasionally
evident. Respondents in a number of markets (particularly the poorer ones) in the study
reported moments of tension and conflict, although, overall, market spaces appeared
remarkably tension- and conflict-free. The most commonly cited issue was people using
the space for taking drugs:
Theres a problem with drugs as in every market. We have found empty needles,
that type of thing, syringes. The staff are trained to deal with this. The toilet
tenants, team leaders, market tenants, all have radios. They have the direct
numbers to the office. So if an incident happens, or there has been an accident,
or shoplifting, they alert straight away. (Rotherham, market manager)
Another issue cited was young people simply hanging about and being seen to create a
nuisance for other shoppers:
The same group of about six druggies has been in town for the last 10 years.
From time to time theyll do something really bad and then theyll get caught and
maybe put in prison. Then they are out and do the same thing again. We dont
have much violence really with this particular group. Then you will get gangs of
kids coming in and because its a gang of kids you think, oh, trouble! The
majority dont cause any trouble but it can be a bit off-putting. (St Helens, market
assistant)
Winos were also cited as a problem in St Helens market, and bag snatching or stealing
from stalls was reported as another source of tension. One trader in Preston told this
story:
We have a list of people who we know are really bad shoplifters. If they come
up to you, you shoo them off quick. What they do, though, is nick off one stall
and then try and sell it to another stall. I had it done to me last week. Somebody
pinched a game off my stall. They scammed me. And then they took it down to
another stall and sold it there I went mad at the other stallholder for buying it
in the first place.
Many of the markets had employed security guards with the result that the area was now
seen as a safer social space. CCTV was also used on some sites:
Every week somebody gets pickpocketed and people get scared. Theyve got a
camera, but its at the end of the market. They havent got no camera in the
middle. (Rotherham, trader)
In Ridley Road, policing was more informal, which seemed to be a preferable approach:

28

Markets as sites for social interaction

Everybody knows me. I am the Rasta man who does soaps I am watching
everybody and everybody is watching me. Everybody knows what everyone is
doing. And if you are doing anything wrong, me personally, I do tell you
straightaway. (Soap stall trader)

Conclusion
The research reported on in this chapter has revealed that markets operate as social
spaces in a number of different ways for different social groups. This varied across the
different sites, and also between different social groups. The social life of traders
themselves played a significant role in helping to create a vibrant atmosphere in markets,
at the same time as being of significance in forging links in that community itself. The
interactions between traders and shoppers were also found to be a crucial component of
the social life and interactions in the market, particularly for older people who regularly
visit markets for the pleasure of these relationships. In these respects, the markets also
functioned as sites of social bonding. Furthermore, they operated as sites of social
inclusion, in the sense that for many of the customers, particularly those more
marginalised in the city, passing the time of day in the market and chatting with a trader
or another shopper might be the only chance they had to talk with someone all day. St
Helens, and to a lesser extent Milton Keynes, appeared to offer fewer of these
interactions, which were more common where there were longer established traders who
had worked in the market for many years, and across generations. The exception to this
pattern was Islington, where the market had no long-established pattern of use, but
where the strong connection and involvement with their produce meant that traders were
keen to engage with customers who shared their passion for fresh, locally grown food.
Markets were revealed to be sites of social interaction for all groups in the community,
even younger people despite a dominant narrative that this group had disappeared
from market sites. However, there were differences between groups. Markets first and
foremost represented a crucial place for social interaction in the lives of older people,
and specifically older women, across all the sites. They were also seen as important social
spaces for families with children, particularly on the weekends, when market shopping
was a time to bump into friends, shop and chat at leisure. Young people enjoyed market
visits in a different way from the former two groups, congregating around specific stalls
and standing around chatting to friends.
Even where markets exhibit low levels of social interaction and/or the absence of some
social groups in large numbers, if we see the social inclusion function of markets as a
more limited form of social interaction, simply co-presence, the markets role as a place
to stop and dwell for a while takes on greater significance. Given that markets also offer a
wide range of affordable products to their customers, in this respect they also perform an
important role in including low-income groups, who may be excluded from other
shopping sites. The three groups for whom markets are most significant in this respect
are older people, people with disabilities and young mothers, although, where there are
problems of accessibility, the inclusiveness of markets for some groups may be
constrained.
Finally, how did markets fare as sites of social mixing? Conflicts and tensions in markets
were reported to be rare. However, there was some evidence of interracial tension at one
of the sites, and some reports of shoplifting and drug use elsewhere, which had been
tackled by an increase in security guards in some sites, and informal policing by the
traders in others. Overall, the markets tended to reflect the sociodemographics of the
local community and where this was very mixed, such as in Ridley Road, the market
appeared to act as a site of mixing and connection in very positive ways. The markets as

29

Markets as sites for social interaction

a whole, again with the exception of St Helens, also appeared to provide opportunities
for some mixing across different age groups, particularly in caf sites.
Overall, a significant number of shoppers in each site saw the market as a sociable space,
even if they themselves did not go to the market specifically to meet friends or socialise.
What is revealed here is the importance of exploring how different markets operate in
different communities, drawing out the different social roles they may play. In other
words, what works for one local community may not work for another. Policy agendas
thus need to be sensitive to local needs and specificities. As this chapter has begun to
show, some key attributes could contribute to markets success as social spaces, including
different economic, locational, physical and management factors. These are examined in
the next chapter.

30

The broader context

4
The broader context
The focus of this chapter is on the extent to which markets success as social spaces is
affected by other factors. First, a market clearly cannot be viable if no one goes to shop
there. Thus, the economic success of a market bears some relation to its success as a social
space. Here, the notion of dwell time is important, because, if there is not much in a market,
it is unlikely to keep its customers on site for long. As one trader in Preston put it: You need
to have the people, you need to have the stalls, the influx of general public to come and
look round the stalls. You know, without one, you cant have the other. The strength of
this relationship is not easy to quantify, but it clearly underpins the markets operation.
Second, if a market is in a poor location, badly designed, inaccessible by private or public
transport, not protected from bad weather, and suffering from other negative physical
attributes such as poor layout and design, these too are likely to have an impact on its
success as a social space. The question to be addressed here is the extent to which these
attributes matter for a market to be a site of social interaction, and, in particular, which
factors are critical.
Third, there are a range of management or strategic elements that are likely to affect the
economic and social success of a market, and this research considers how such factors
can have an impact on its social life and vibrancy. The interviews revealed that these
were issues that were important in varying degrees to both traders and shoppers.
This chapter considers the economic issues underpinning the operation of markets and
the locational and physical attributes of the markets studied, as well as their management,
in order to provide a context for understanding more fully how markets function as social
spaces.

The economic context

Given that, for the majority of people, the prime reason for visiting a market is to buy
products, even if they also enjoy markets for social reasons, a diversity of traders and
products will clearly also influence a markets success as a social space. Traders and
shoppers in almost all the interviews commented on the importance of the quality of
goods, their competitive prices and the range to be found in the market. Given steep
competition from cheaper stores, this can be a serious issue:
My wife buys the food on the local market in another town where we live. But
shell come back and say, why do I go and buy shirts in the market, or buy
whatever for the kids, when I can go to Matalan? It doesnt cost me anything to
park, I can take the article back if theres a problem with it, and theres no
arguments and its quite a bit cheaper than the market. Its also centrally
heated in winter. Its a hard one to answer. (Preston Council, official)
Moreover, according to key informants managers and traders the success of a market
depends on a good fit between the products and the local community. Kris Zasada
(Manchester market) commented:

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Markets as sites for social interaction

Are the opening hours right for the community its serving? Is the product mix
right for the community its serving? Is there a depth and range on offer, is there
some sense of dynamism, some sense of change where there are new products
and new traders coming in? Or is it the same faces that have been there for 25
years? If youve got a healthy mix and a dynamic mix, I think that is a strong
indicator of a good, successful market.
Farmers markets, partly because the prices are higher, tend to attract a more middle-class
section of the population. Thus, the farmers markets were very popular in gentrified
Islington and Ludlow, while attempts to introduce a farmers market into Tower Hamlets
in east London had been unsuccessful, according to the London Farmers Market
coordinator in this case also because the Bengali population there wanted to buy halal
meat or produce from their own country. Similarly, selling expensive goods in St Helens
would not easily be viable, whereas in Ludlow:
Were very lucky here, we have a very good variety of trades in the market. If
you want a 5,000 diamond ring you can find it in the market, on a Saturday. If
you want a circle ring, you could probably buy it today. Weve got diamonds,
weve got circle wedding rings. For good quality, we have two old fashioned
antique ring stalls, where a lot of money is spent. (Ludlow, trader)
A good variety and range of products seemed crucial to all markets as a minimum
requirement for their success as social spaces. In Preston, there was a consistent view that
the quality and range of goods in the market had declined in recent years, which was
attributed to the uncertainty around the markets future and the fact that the market was
held on too many days:
At one time ... Preston market was the best in the North but now youre
getting many one-type stalls. Theres not a variety its not a full market you
know, there are lots of gaps at one time, on the outside market, you couldnt
get a space. You had to wait for a pitch. (Preston, trader)
Its dying because theres not any variety. Theres not enough specialised stalls.
Theres no different shoes they are all the same. The clothes are all the same.
Theres about seven mobile phone stalls outside. (Preston, trader)
Where key stalls are, or become, absent from a market, this can have a downward spiral
effect, as occurred in the new St Helens market:
The first three or four months were very good because people from outside the
town were coming in to have a look at the new market and footfall was very
good. Then we noticed that the odd stall was starting to struggle. The rents were
a lot higher than anticipated and maybe trade wasnt as good. It was like a pack
of cards. It happened in blocks. Somebody would leave which affected the guy
next door so his trade dropped. Eventually he would go too, and then the next
three or four blocks tended to go en masse. We lost the butchery department and
the fish guy, which was a big blow. They are a big draw for any market. (Chair
of Stallholders Federation)
By contrast, in Ridley Road, which was one of the most vibrant of the markets in the
study, the range and quality of fruit and vegetables and different ethnic foods was
constantly referred to:
See, a lot of people come here for the food. Especially if youre not from here,
you know you can come to Ridley Road market and you can get your yam, your

32

The broader context

dashi, your plantain. The Nigerians they can get their food the Chinese can get
their food. But now, if you notice, there are more clothes stalls than food stalls.
(Ridley Road, African-Caribbean woman shopper)
As such, the market draws many shoppers, particularly African and African-Caribbean,
some from as far away as Birmingham and Kent.
The appearance and layout of a market plays a crucial role in attracting shoppers to the
market and keeping them there, and hence in providing opportunities for social
interaction. Anchor stalls, which pull people into the market, are therefore important, as
is the attractive display of produce. Kris Zasada (Manchester market) notes:
Strategic anchors are important and people really have to understand the
importance of the retail profile of that market. And again its trying to learn good
practice from the retail sector. If you go into any supermarket, you will find
certain commodities that are put into specific places; and that isnt random.
Theres a huge amount of research and a huge amount of psychology that sits
behind that, youll get a good visual display on fruit and vegetables, youll always
find them given a fairly high priority. Quite often youll find the bakery with its
smells somewhere central to draw you in.
This idea of linchpin stalls to serve as focal points was particularly evident in the former
Islington farmers market site, where the lamb-burger stall attracted large numbers into
the market by abutting the edge of the pavement on which people walked past. Similarly,
the fruit and vegetable stalls at the front of the Rotherham market appeared to be a
significant attraction.

Locational and physical attributes

Proximity to town centre and transport links
Historically, markets were usually located in the centre of a town, typically in a square
the market square surrounded by shops, and sometimes incorporating a covered area.
This, too, is the European model. In many towns, the market would have been the main
place in which locals shopped. In smaller towns and cities, town centres or market
squares have remained the most common site for the market, although over the past two
decades there has been a shift. In London, street markets both in residential areas and
high streets have been the more common form.
What represents an optimal location, however, is difficult to determine. As Kris Zasada
(Manchester market) puts it: In simple terms it is a question of does that market work for
the location? And thats then subdivided into issues such as accessibility, the physical
environment, critical mass and does it have a sense of place, which is extremely
difficult to define.
The extent to which a town centre site is beneficial for a market is a complex question.
Although in the walking city of earlier centuries, such a site was optimal, with the growth
of towns and cities and the increasing importance of parking, access to transport and
other retail facilities, a town centre site can, if not well integrated into the wider shopping
environment and other facilities, be problematic.
The complexities of locational attributes and the role they play is illustrated in Ludlow, which
is poorly located in relation to wider shopping facilities, but the site itself, according to
the market manager couldnt be better what makes it work really well is the position

33

Photo: David Studdert

Markets as sites for social interaction

Street entrance to St Marys Market, St Helens

right at the centre of the town. You have the castle, the medieval shop, something like
180 listed buildings. Certainly, for tourists the site is ideal, because they can combine a trip
to the market with a visit to key adjacent local sites, such as the castle, although recent
changes to parking regulations have barred coaches from parking outside the castle, with
apparently detrimental effects on the numbers of tourists visiting the market. Nevertheless,
its central location, well served by buses, was frequently praised by interviewees.
In Lowestoft, the site of the market, which is thoroughly integrated into the towns main
shopping street and centre, and close to public transport and parking, meant that the
majority of people shopping in the town passed through the market at some point during
their visit. By contrast, in St Helens, the shift of the market to the edge of town from an
earlier central position, which all the interviewees preferred, was reported to have had
seriously detrimental effects on the market:
I took our people to look at other markets. We decided that the magic ingredient
for a market is car parking, bus services, access and footfall. I took them to a
place like Bury market where, you know, trams come in, the bus stations next
door. Ive been to Leeds market on numerous occasions. The bus station is at the
bottom. People feed off the buses. I took them to Widnes market. It is a good
market because its a council-built market, that one. Obviously theyve got free
car parking there, and bus services going past. Your traditional market shopper
used to pick the bus up next to the market which was where the bus station was.
So traditionally, if you look at those markets which havent changed, the bus
station is always next to the market. (St Helens, manager)
Weve got a front market here that nobody wants to go to a brand new market
Its dead. The developers architect built the pavement and the one-way
system and took away the parking. No traffic comes down this way any more.
Theres no bloodline anymore. Theres no reason for people to come down here.
The bus station should always have been built at this site. I also believe a market
should be in the centre of town. This is on the edge, and it makes a big
difference. A market is the heart of a community and it should be built in the

34

The broader context

centre. The bus station should have been built on this side so that people flowed
through. (St Helens, trader for more than 20 years)
The evidence from each of the markets pointed to a high degree of dependence on
public transport by market shoppers, and an appreciation of the fact that in a number of
markets for example, Milton Keynes and Rotherham there were nearby buses to take
them home. Central town locations are likely to be well served by public transport and,
for this reason alone, appeared to make market sites more viable.

Parking provision
The provision of parking near to a market was also seen as a key issue by both traders
and shoppers. For the former group, unloading vans in the morning necessitates easy
access to the site. In Ridley Road, traders described being issued with parking tickets
while unloading produce. Given that many people choose to shop in a market for fresh
vegetables, fruit and other heavy goods, walking long distances to the car, particularly for
women with children in tow or older people, may not be an option. This was an issue
frequently cited in the interviews.
In Ludlow, for example, parking was seen as a major problem by shoppers because of
the recent introduction of yellow lines, and by traders because of the fact that the
coaches were now unable to park. In Ridley Road, too, despite its good location in
relation to public transport, car parking was frequently cited as a major issue:
Parking is shit! Thats whats killed the market there is nowhere to park at all.
(Ridley Road, trader)
As the years have gone by, it has got steadily worse. So many people come
shopping just to pick up a few cheap bits off the wall. They used to be able to
park all the way along here. Now they go somewhere else. (Ridley Road,
trader)
They dont come down here any more. The last time they came they parked,
went and did a bit of shopping, and got a 120 wheel clamp on the car. Youre
not gonna see that person down here again.(Ridley Road, trader)
However, there is often a conflict of views between market users, shoppers and traders,
and the council with respect to parking. One key informant, Nick Rhodes (Leicester,
market manager), pointed out, in his city: Well, the traders would like to see more
parking, and theyd like to see parking closer to the market and thats the tension in itself;
they want to see more parking and the council want to see more pedestrianisation.

Layout of market site

From the interviews with key informants, traders and shoppers, the physical shape of the
market was revealed to be a significant factor in a markets success as a social space. As
Graham Wilson of the National Asociation of British Markets Authorities (NABMA)
commented: Markets are very much about interaction between traders and the public
and design and space must promote and encourage this interaction.
Markets that combined indoor and outdoor areas appeared to work well. In the
traditionally English indoor and outdoor market of Rotherham, shoppers and traders were
positive about the physical environment of the two markets, which combined a warm,

35

Markets as sites for social interaction

well-lit inner space with a well-covered, atmospheric outdoor area. Nevertheless, there
were some complaints:
The roof leaks from the top, it gets wet in the aisles. Obviously, you know, your
old aged pensioner could slip, hurt their ankles and so on. Theres also quite a
big hefty step to get onto here. This means we are unable to build a ramp for
disabled access which is a requirement that I think should be imposed within
the market areas. (Rotherham, trader)
One of the main reasons that the combination of outdoor and indoor markets was seen
as a success was the fact that in poor weather conditions, shopping outside was not seen
as appealing by shoppers, while at the same time making for unpleasant working
conditions for the traders. The poor British climate is inevitably an inhibiting factor for
successful outdoor social interaction over any extended period, and markets are no
exception. For example, this female shopper in Ludlow said: I think there needs to be
some better weather protection. Ive seen people drenched before now because the
water has pooled. The other day the wind blew and it just emptied completely over a
little girl. I think they could erect some sort of covering.
For this reason, indoor markets are popular with shoppers and, according to the traders
and site managers interviewed, often have higher footfall than outdoor markets, during
the winter months especially. A survey in Manchester supports this view. As Kris Zasada
(market manager) reported: Once we accepted that we needed to redevelop the market,
we tested that with the local shoppers, and about 95% of the people we asked said they
would like weather protection for the new market.

Photo: Sophie Watson

In Ludlow, many shoppers preferred the old covered market for the protection it offered
from the weather. In this site, shoppers described being put off making a visit to the

Lowestoft market

36

The broader context

market in bad weather. Certainly, on winter days during the research, particularly in the
early part of the week, the market had a very sparse population, and social interaction
was minimal. Similarly, in Preston:
Today its lovely. Im sitting here getting a suntan. But in the winter, if youre on
the edge, the wind blows in and if its raining the wind carries the rain into the
market. And it puts people off looking round and browsing. They come into the
market at one end and they shoot through. I know they have to keep it open to
keep the air pressure for the roof right. They should have given us some
lightweight blinds. On a cold windy day you could drop them to maybe six foot
high, which would be enough to stop the rain coming into the market. But they
dont seem willing to spend any money. Theyd rather paint the ironwork than
put the money into something more practical. (Preston, trader)
In Lowestoft, the regeneration of the market had solved the problem by providing
cheerfully painted shutters so that stallholders could leave their products locked up
overnight, with, according to the traders, an apparent increase in people visiting the
market:
They will have all the rainwater guttering and everything that goes with it and
security, sprinklers etc. I think youll find they are pretty bright and there is
lots of art work stencilled onto them as you say, it is about bringing social
vibrancy back to the area. It draws in staggering numbers not just to the
market but to the library, and to the other shops around here I think its
around 17,000. (Sunrise regeneration coordinator)
Another aspect to the layout of a market, as mentioned in the previous chapter, is the
availability of seating, the lack of which was a frequent complaint made by several
respondents in Milton Keynes: Yeah, there is nowhere to sit actually, there is nowhere to
sit at all. So if you want to eat something youve got to buy it and walk off and find
somewhere else to sit (Milton Keynes, male, 41).
In summer, the stallholders put plastic seats out, which are well used, but during winter
months shoppers tend to go to the shopping centre to sit down, because lack of cover in
the market, where the water drips down off the flyover, was cited as a deterrent to
staying in one place.
In Preston and Rotherham, pensioners sit on the benches provided in the indoor market
for hours on end, and once a space is vacated it is soon filled up. As pointed out in
Chapter 3, seating is considered particularly vital for older people. For example, two
older female shoppers interviewed in St Helens said:
We used to have an open market there and another market at this end that dates
from the 1800s. What did St Helens do? They smashed the lot down and they
built a monstrosity in their place. We dont like it. A lot of our generation dont
like it. You know, theres not enough seats for people to sit down on. Old people
want to sit and have a break and have a rest.
The provision of seating represents another complex issue, however. The reluctance by
councils to provide seating stems from a number of sources. Key informant Nick Rhodes
(Leicester market) gave one reason: We were a bit sceptical about public seating because
we thought the alcoholics are just going to sit there and were going to have to kick them
off every morning, but to be fair its been used for the right reasons.

37

Markets as sites for social interaction

Formal seating, though, does not guarantee social success, and creative and informal
responses to its lack can be found in many markets that produce a more casual and
relaxed sense of sociability and vibrancy. Ridley Road is one such classic example, where
people were seen to sit for hours on packing cases, steps to the containers and walls. But
for older or frail people, this is less of an option.
The more general environment of the market represents another part of the picture. If a
market looks attractive in terms of the arrangement of the stalls, the distance between
them, and an attractive display of goods, people are more likely to pass through the
space, stop, look and chat. Where a market is clean, with no rubbish flying around in the
wind or banana peels to slip on, it is also more likely to be more appealing to customers.
Simon Quin of the Towns Centre Initiative noted in discussion of what issues matter for
markets that in many of the ones that he had visited the stalls are too close together
and in some theres rats around the place and in the evening after the markets have
finished no ones cleared the stuff away.
In the research sites, however, ambivalent responses were given on the questions of
cleanliness and the condition of the site. On the one hand, shabby conditions can be
seen as off-putting, as shoppers reported on several occasions in Milton Keynes:
I suppose that going through the market, it doesnt often stop us and say, you
know, heres something I want; because it smells pretty appalling, kind of
hamburgery, hot-doggy smells all over the place, different loud music and prices
that seem unbelievably cheap. So thats the kind of middle-class prejudice that
says thats so cheap it cant be good value. I think its highly accessible but its
not a particularly pleasant place to be. (Milton Keynes, white male, 59)
(And in Preston:) Look in the middle there, how filthy it is. If they put a clear
Perspex there it would bring some light in and brighten the place up. (Preston,
trader)
The market is upstairs. And there are often problems with the escalators. Some of
the old people cant walk up the stairs and the escalators keep breaking down.
(Preston, trader)
(And in St Helens:) The stalls are an old type, like what they used to be years
ago. When you walk down that end, its a bit cramped and dark, and not very
inviting to people. When you come in this side it is very spacious and open and
bright but unfortunately theres no stalls. (St Helens, market assistant)
These comments suggest that cleanliness and an attractive design and layout matter. On
the other hand, in Ridley Road, the messy, dirty, ramshackle sense of the place was never
commented on and seemed even to enhance the sense of the space as a lively one. It
could be that the colourfulness of the stalls and people in the market offset any sense of
shabbiness in this site.
Another issue is the overall layout of the site and how it fits in with its immediate
environs; visibility and permeability are relevant here. The St Helens newly developed
market suffered in this respect. The new front of the St Helens redeveloped market
building looked out onto a little-used road where one bus stopped on its way out of
town, opposite the Pilkington Glass museum, whose visitors according to the curator
rarely crossed the road to the market. Entering from this direction, the empty stalls
created a dead space.

38

The broader context

If the market is not visible to people passing close by, it is unlikely to attract new
shoppers, newcomers to the locality or tourists who may be less familiar with the area.
Key informant George Nicholson (Borough Market) emphasised the importance of
permeability:
I think a sign of a good market is how permeable it is. When Borough was
a wholesale market, it was empty anyway but it just happened to have a
crossroads in the middle of the city which is a vastly good place for a
market.The one thats in the Arndale shopping centre (Manchester), which is
built on the site of the old market tragically, but on the second floor of the
Arndale it doesnt have any permeability. You go in, actually you can go out
the other end on that one but it doesnt have the kind of openness that you
associate with social space. In fact, I think probably the way the spaces are
designed you can almost see whether they are social spaces, because thats just a
box, a concrete box with an entrance. I think its quite difficult to see how things
are packed in, how youre going to get social space out of that because theres a
reduced amount of opportunity for interaction. You know you go in and basically
you buy or you dont, or you walk around and you might bump into someone
but [you may not], so I think theyre quite complex spaces markets but part of
its to do with the physical design.
When the Islington farmers market was moved to a school playground down a side
street away from its prominent position on a pavement opposite Islington Green in a
busy thoroughfare, the traders expressed concern that the lack of visibility would affect
the market. Interestingly, as a result of good promotion of the market by LFM, the initial
shortfall in visitors was beginning to fall off within three months, indicating that lack of
visibility can be tackled where there is a will to do so.
A further key issue in the design of a market is the accessibility into, and through, the
market for people in wheelchairs and people with pushchairs. The width of the aisles
between the stalls is the main issue here. In Lowestoft, where the aisles were relatively
wide, people in wheelchairs were a frequent sight, although the social atmosphere of the
market was relatively low key, while in the outdoor Preston market, where there are wide
aisles, pensioners could be seen stopping and chatting throughout the day. Once again
though, this issue, and its relation to vibrancy and social interaction, is not entirely clearcut. In Rotherham, where some of the aisles were quite narrow, and in Ridley Road,
where the walking area between the two rows of stalls along the roads edge is relatively
narrow, the markets were both teaming with shoppers who stopped to chat, look at the
produce and bargain with the traders, creating an atmosphere of buzz and vitality, which
can be lacking in more spaciously laid out markets.
Finally, the safety and security of a market space is another issue of concern whether a
site feels threatening and is poorly lit. This was an issue raised by women as a deterrent,
in a number of sites, particularly the more dilapidated older markets.

Relation to other retail outlets and customer facilities

The question of a markets proximity, or not, to other retail outlets, particularly
supermarkets, is a vexed one. On the one hand, markets need to be integrated into the
wider shopping environment, so that shoppers can combine market shopping with other
shopping activity, which may include shopping in a nearby supermarket for goods that
are not available in the local market. On the other hand, if a supermarket is located at

39

Markets as sites for social interaction

some distance from a market, and parking is provided, it may attract shoppers away from
the local market, because of ease of parking and longer shopping hours along with other
factors, such as the cheapness of products, the wider range, quality control and the
possibility of returning damaged goods.

Photo: Sophie Watson

In Lowestoft and St Helens, the market and shopping centre were so closely linked that
the identities of the two were intertwined and shoppers moved from one to the other
comparing prices and products, in some cases to the markets disadvantage. On the other
hand, the closure of the supermarket Kwiksave on the market square in Ludlow was
universally seen to have had a negative impact on footfall in the market, particularly
among older shoppers who had combined supermarket and market shopping in the
same site. In Milton Keynes market, which is adjacent to a large shopping centre,

Photo: Sophie Watson

Market at rear of Britten shopping centre, Lowestoft

Milton Keynes market, viewed from shopping centre

40

The broader context

customers to the market, particularly in the winter, reported restricting their activity in the
market to shopping and returning to the indoor shopping centre to meet their friends
and have coffee or a meal, thereby diminishing the role of the market for social
interaction.
This last point relates to one of the crucial elements revealed in the research for a market
to work as a social space, which is the location of a caf, or other food outlets such as a
food or tea van, or a pub in the market site. Where these are absent or minimal, such as
in Ludlow, the time spent in the market site is notably less. Islington farmers market is an
exception, which can be explained by the commitment to tasting food and discussing
produce with traders, and the custom of putting out samples for shoppers to try. In
Rotherham, the caf in the market site was full at all times of the day, as was the van at
the top, and Ridley Road market stalls sold tea, coffee and an array of different foods,
including goat curry. Outdoor vans and cafs, not surprisingly, were little patronised in
cold or bad weather for example, in markets like Lowestoft, where the caf has outdoor
seats adjacent to the market, a notably diminished level of social interaction was evident
in winter months.
Of importance, also, in attracting and keeping people in the market site is the presence of
public facilities such as a post office, advice centres as in Rotherham and toilets, the
lack of which was mentioned in a number of sites including Ridley Road and Ludlow. In
Preston, for example, the closure of a post office was reported to have had a very
detrimental effect on the market:
This used to be the hub of the town centre. We had the post office over there
which is now closed and gone down Fishergate. (Preston, trader)
Theres definitely less people coming through since they closed the post office.
(Preston, trader)
As Kris Zasada (market manager) put it: Again, its about customer service. Do they have
access to toilets, is there a catering offer there, are there changing rooms? Because thats a
real challenge on street markets, where youve got lots of sales of clothing.

Management and planning of markets

Vision, strategy and plans in local markets
Many respondents, particularly among the key informants and traders, described a lack of
interest in markets by many local authorities. Although the provision of markets
expanded in the 1980s to raise revenue, in many localities there has been a subsequent
lack of investment or strategic thinking on the role of the local market, and interviewees
referred to old-fashioned attitudes. Graham Wilson (NABMA) for example, noted that:
Markets are not viewed by local authorities as a front-line service. There is some
movement particularly in respect of authorities where partnership schemes are being
promoted and PPS 6 [Planning Policy Statment 6; ODPM 2005] gives us some
governmental encouragement.
According to this respondent, there are some market authorities and companies running
markets such as Borough Market and those in Belfast, Leicester, Bradford, Bury and
Manchester that provide good examples because they have thought outside the box and
been innovative in the way they have promoted their markets. They have also managed
to obtain investment.

41

Markets as sites for social interaction

Simon Quin (Towns Centre Initiative) reinforced the point:

I think they were just seen as a cash cow for local authorities, like car parks, and
there was no real investment, in fact; and gradually (by the late nineties) they
were seen as actually not making as much money as they used to and whats
going to happen in the future, and what are all these issues that weve got to deal
with?
In St Helens, disappointment at council neglect was consistently expressed:
The council has a Cinderella syndrome about markets. They are interested in the
income we produce and they want us to be financially viable. Once you get to a
position where they are no longer financially viable, markets close or get
relocated, or sections get sold off. In my view, there is no great interest in
markets from councillors and elected members because we are not what you
would call a traditional market town. (St Helens, manager)
Markets are frequently managed by the property section or the treasurers department in
the council, within a much bigger empire where the chief officer has a huge span of
issues to consider, and where they are accountable to a member with a vast portfolio, so
they rarely appear either on the political radar or the officer radar (George Nicholson,
Borough Market). The impact of a lack of strategic thinking on markets is felt most
acutely by the traders, and little commented on by shoppers, but a lack of vision and
strategy has an impact on other issues discussed here that enhance the value of a market
as social space. This was very evident in the case of Islington farmers market, which is
run by a very proactive and forward-thinking company. When the market was relocated,
for example, LFM had assiduously promoted the new site in the local media and adjacent
neighbourhood.
The market managers represented the more visible face of the council, and were
frequently mentioned in the interviews as having a significant effect on the markets,
particularly the lives of the traders. The market manager at Ludlow, for example, was
highly visible on the market site on most days, and had a seemingly very positive
relationship with traders:
Ive got a job and they are making a living. I do no end of little favours for them.
If their car is in for service, I pick them up from the garage and they do the
same for me. I wouldnt do the job unless I knew the traders liked me and I
liked them too. (Ludlow, market manager).
Similarly, in Lowestoft: Bob who is here all the time, bless him, he works his
socks off. Any problems, he will deal with it (Lowestoft, trader).
However, responses in Milton Keynes were far more mixed, from You get a bin
bag if youre lucky. The rubbish sometimes gets collected sometimes doesnt
(Milton Keynes, trader) to Nothings too much you know, you got any
complaints, you talk to them about it. Theyre always nice, theyll do what they
can to help you out, theyre really, really good blokes, yeah (Milton Keynes,
trader).
Uncertainty as to the markets future seemed to have significantly undermined
Preston market, and traders and shoppers alike referred to the possibility of its
imminent demise: Well, theyre closing it down, arent they? Theyre trying to run
it down they are going to flatten this and enclose the market, to box it all in
and so all this will disappear (Preston, shopper).

42

The broader context

A trader in the market told his story:

They kept pushing the same proposal around. And then they had a feasibility
study and spent 20,000 on that. Nothing ever gets done. So we got absolutely
sick and fed up of it. We just said, we may as well buy it. The council couldnt
borrow any money. So it was a case of, if we didnt do it ourselves, nothing
would get done. We got to the end of it and then, hey presto, they started to
stall on whether they would sign it over to us. And then we found out that
Grosvenor were interested. The first we knew about it. There was a town
centre initiative meeting 12 months before we got to the end of our date of
borrowing and all parties were invited to turn up. We all sat there and drew
pretty pictures on pieces of paper in groups of four. I didnt know that one of
these groups of four was Grosvenor. But that was two years down the line. Wed
been at it for two years by then. So when we got to the end and said, you
know, cards on the table, why arent we signing up?, somebody said, Grosvenor
are interested in all of the town centre and your proposal is only for the market.
Our proposal was that we would have bought this place. (Preston, trader)
However, it is not always easy to ensure that council staff dealing with markets are well
versed in the particular issues of concern. Managing a market site can be an unfamiliar
portfolio, which may be grouped alongside parking and estate management. This
situation is not helped by the lack of professional training for market managers, who
come from a variety of backgrounds, often unrelated to the needs of market
management.
Kris Zasada (Manchester market) commented:
I think there is a real issue within our industry that we dont have a professional
body that provides and maintains the professional standards and qualifications
that are needed lots of people drift into market management from different
areas of local government, and there isnt much of a national process to enable
them to learn all the skills that are required.
If the market site is run well and for the optimum length of time each day, which may
vary according to the needs of the local population, it seems more likely to succeed as a
social space. There was a prevalent view that there were currently too many markets and
too many market days. Graham Wilson (NABMA) put it this way:
The expansion in the 1980s and early 1990s was handled badly. Markets were
seen as an income generator and the money propped up mainstream services
such as education and there was no investment from profits. Lack of
government recognition and poor planning policies have also had an impact.
There are clear implications for social interaction here because, if the people inclined to
shop in markets are spread too thinly over too many sites, the vibrancy and social life of
a market suffers. In most of the markets in the study, the market was much emptier in the
earlier part of the week, with consequently less social interaction on the site.
Shoppers in the markets with a higher stall vacancy rate commented on the fact that this
created a negative impression and a sense of failure: Because theres a lot of empty stalls
I dont think it encourages people to come in, they dont see a bustling market
atmosphere, you see, which you do in other markets. People come for the atmosphere.
They dont like it when its empty (St Helens, trader).

43

Markets as sites for social interaction

This concern was not evident in markets with lower vacancies, such as Ludlow or
Islington farmers market.

Promotion and marketing

Promotion is a key issue for markets. Widespread local knowledge of the site, and the
hours and days of opening, were reported by traders as vital to a markets success. This
is particularly the case when a market is shifted to a new site, as in Islington, or
redeveloped, as in Lowestoft:
It is, they tend to stay here and talk, which is really nice because then you have
time to talk to people who sell, the farmers and everything else. Whereas before
the aisles were very small, two or three feet wide, they didnt have time to speak
to anybody. We dont obviously get the passing trade, the bus doesnt stop
outside, but apart from that, as long as the advertising stays up and the boards
are out on the street, then it should be fine. (Interviewee)

Conclusion
In this chapter, we have argued that there are a number of ingredients that play a
significant role in making a market both socially viable and, at best, thriving. The
relationship between the economic viability of a market and its success as a social space
is not easy to disentangle, because the fact that a market is thriving economically does
not ensure that it is a space where shoppers will stop and chat, engage with others or
form social connections, although some sense of economic success is necessary to
underpin the effective operation of sites as commercial entities. Dwell time in the market
is an important factor in creating the conditions for people to engage with others and this
appears to be influenced by a number of factors, which include products that match the
communitys needs at reasonable prices, a pleasant environment to linger in, seating,
cafs or other eating outlets as a focal point and a buzzy atmosphere to attract people in.
The following tables have been constructed to elucidate some of the differences between
the markets and come to some conclusions as to the importance of various attributes for
the success of market sites as public spaces for social interaction, social mixing or social
inclusion. The assessment of a markets atmosphere and sociability brought together first
impressions recorded at the start of the research and observations made across the study
period. All the markets were quieter in the early part of the week and also during the
winter months. However, the level of use, and therefore the overall atmosphere of the
market, varied far less across the seasons where the market was indoors, as in St Helens,
or contained an indoor site, as in Rotherham. Notwithstanding these daily and seasonal
variations, fairly clear overall summary descriptions of each markets atmosphere can
confidently be offered.

44

Ridley Road

Good mix of
stalls, eating
outlets, adjacent
shops.

Ethnic diversity.
Good-quality,
good-value food
and household
products.

Limited on-site
management.

No council
vision.

Ethnically
diverse
products.

Factor

Level of
mixed use
in retail
offer

Range and
quality
of goods

Management

Vision

Unique
selling
point

Not apparent

Strong vision
from local
regeneration
project. Limited
local council
vision.

Strong on-site
management.

Limited daily
range but good
coverage on
market days.

Site adjacent to
other shopping
outlets,
community
facilities and
caf.

Lowestoft

Not apparent

Very limited
council vision.

Strong on-site
management.

Very limited
range. No fresh
produce
except meat.
Cheap, low
quality.

Caf only site

breaking up
market space.

St Helens

Table 4.1: Economic and management attributes of the markets

Islington

Ludlow

Very highquality and

diverse range
of fresh
produce.
High prices.

Very wide range

of low-cost
products

Limited council
vision.

Fresh organic
food.

Strong LFM
vision for
market.

Private company Active on-site

management,
manager.
mixed input.

Diverse and
wide range of
cheap
products.

Variable
on-site
management.

Good quality,
variety of food
and other
products.

Predominantly a
shopping space
combined with
good caf
provision.

Preston

Crafts and
fresh local
produce.

Good site and

wide range
of products.

Interested
Limited council
and positive
vision. High
council vision. levels of
uncertainty
regarding
markets future.

Strong
on-site
management.

Very highquality local

food, craft
and tourist
items.

Predominantly a Predominantly a Central town

shopping space. shopping space. ties it in
with nearby
shopping
and eating
activities.

Milton Keynes

Excellent central
location well
connected to local
community centres
and cafs.

Strong council
support.

Strong on-site
management.

Very diverse range

of food products and
goods. Good value.

Very mixed-use
space, including
more established
retail outlets,
bordering on
community
facilities, advice
centres, and cafs.

Rotherham

The broader context

45

46

Poor. Limited
pay and
display, 1.20
2 per hr.
Majority
resident or
business
parking in
surrounding
areas. Active
parking
attendant
presence.

Parking
Good. Multistorey car park by
foot through
adjacent shopping
centre. 0.5 hrs
20p; 1hr 60p; 2hrs
1; 3 hrs 2; 3+
hrs 4. Other
multi-storey car
parks nearby. No
street parking
near front
entrance.

Some problems.
National rail 0.5
miles away. Main
entrance served
by one bus stop.
Main city bus
station 250 yards
in other direction.
Taxi rank
100 yards.

Good.
National rail
250 yards.
Within
200 yards of
the market
buses serving
Lowestoft and
towns within
region. Taxi
rank
200 yards.

Good. No close
underground.
National rail
more than 50
yards. 9 buses
within 70
yards. No taxi
ranks.

Access to
public
transport

Good.
Minimal
accessible onstreet
parking.
Adjacent
multi-storey
car park 650
places. 1 hr
55p; 4 hrs
2.20; all day
2.75.

St Helens

Lowestoft

Ridley Road

Key factors

Table 4.2: Locational and physical attributes of the markets

Good. Multistorey parking.

(550 spaces).
Free. Open-air
parking 1 up to
2 hrs and some
free parking up
to 2 hrs.

Good. National
rail 9 miles away.
Very good bus
service both
sides of market
serving town
and surrounding
area. Taxi rank
100 yards.

Milton Keynes

Adequate. No car
parks in vicinity
but no restrictions
on on-street
parking on
Sunday.s.

Adequate.
Undergrounds at
0.45 miles and 0.7
miles. British Rail
0.22 miles away.
8 buses from 0.15
to 0.25 miles
away.

Islington

Poor. Limited onstreet parking.

Small car park (28
spaces) 10 yards
away. Free. Max
stay 1 hr. Further
down hill, more
free parking and 6
disabled parking
bays. Small openair car park 100
yards away: 30p 1
hr; 80p up to 3hrs.

Adequate.
National rail with
limited services
0.75 miles away at
bottom of hill on
which market sits.
No bus station,
but bus pick-up
and drop-off
point 50 yards
away serving
Ludlow and other
local towns. No
dedicated taxi
rank.

Ludlow

Good. Multistorey car park,

10 levels. 1 per
hr; 5+ hrs 8.
Disabled parking
spaces close to
market.
Shopmobility
scheme 300 yards
from market.
Limited street
pay and display.

Good. National
rail 660 yards
from market.
Major bus station
125 yards away
through St Johns
shopping centre.
Serves Preston
and surrounding
region.80 yards
from bus stop
serving
destinations
within Preston
area.

Preston

(continued)

Good. Large covered

market above bus
station 250 yards
away. 1hr 60p; 2 hrs
80p; 3 hrs 1.20; 4
hrs 1.60; 5 hrs
2.50; all day 4.
Parking bays for
traders; access at
start of day, later
available to holders
of disabled badges.
Limited on-street
parking.

Good. National rail

0.5 miles away.
Substantial bus
station 200/300
yards from markethub for local and
regional bus services.
Dedicated taxi rank
250 yards away.

Rotherham

Markets as sites for social interaction

Ridley Road

Crowded street
market spilling
into
surrounding
area.

Close to high
street and
shopping
centre.

Good.

Weak.

Caf. Food
vans on site.

Key factors

Layout of
market
site

Links with
other retail
outlets

Visibility
from
outside

Links with
amenities
and local
resources

Cafs and
food vans
Caf.

Next to public Weak.

library.

Nearby caf.
No food van.

Islington

Ludlow

Outdoor,
Outdoor in school Outdoor. In town
adjacent to large playground. Away centre near castle.
shopping centre. from main street.
Close to flyover.

Milton Keynes

Rotherham

Outdoor.
Outdoor and indoor.
2 storeys. Close to
2 sections.
Indoor. 2 storeys. town centre.
Close to town
centre.

Preston

No caf. Food
vans.

Weak.

Poor.

No caf. Lambburger stall.

Weak.

Post office
recently closed.

Good signage
on roads.

Tea rooms nearby. Several cafs

Food van on site. close by. Pub
open from
10.30am, wellused all day.

Weak.

Good temporary Good.

signage from
Upper St, none on
other proximate
streets.

3 cafs and food

vans on site.

Next to advice and

referral centres.

Good.

At a distance from At a distance from Integrated into

Short distance to
In large shopping Adjacent to
large shopping
supermarket.
other shops.
centre but at far shopping centre. other shops.
area and centres.
end of smallest
mall.

New building
poorly arranged.

St Helens

Very poor.
Not easy to
see from main
high street.

Close to high
street and
shopping
centre.

Small
enclosed site
with limited
number of
stalls.

Lowestoft

Table 4.2: Locational and physical attributes (continued)

The broader context

47

48

Social contact Very limited.

between
young and old
within
families.

Strong
connections
between traders
of different
ethnicities and
customers.

Social mixing

Social inclusion Strong focal

point for local
low-income and
mixed-race
community.

Some
lingering at
stalls,
particularly
make-up and
books stalls.

Very high level

of social
interaction across
all groups.

Social
interaction

Frequented
by wheelchair
users and
older people.

Lots of meeting
and chat
between friend
and
acquaintances.
Groups forming
and reforming.

Busy and
cheerful, bright,
affluent.

Islington

Mainly middleLimited mixing

across ethnic/age class clientle
but mixed age.
groups.

Low-key daily
interactions.

Busy but rather

dowdy/scruffy
feel.

Milton Keynes

Limited inclusion
Frequented by
Used by lowerincome groups in of local lowolder people,
wheelchair users, local community. income or
ethnically diverse
and very young
groups.
single mothers.

Caf is sole
social space.

Buzz index
1-6 (6 = high)

Low-key, quiet Very quiet and

space, but
empty, down-atconstant
heel feel.
stream of
people passing
through.

Very vibrant,
busy, noisy,
scruffy, informal.
Endless chatter.

Atmosphere

St Helens

Lowestoft

Ridley Road

Attributes

Table 3: Social attributes of the markets

Rotherham

Very inclusive Inclusive of local

of local
working-class
homogeneous community.
community.

Very important
to local
pensioner
community.

Good
Limited
interracial/ethnic connections
mixing.
across age groups
but reported
interracial
tension.

Social mixing
across
different age
groups.

Good levels of
Good levels of
day-to-day social daily social
interaction. Lots
interaction.
of chat and
clustering in
pairs and groups.

On lower floors
Very vibrant.
and outside, busy Packed and
cheerful.
and sociable.
Empty upstairs.

Preston

High levels of
social
interaction
between
families and
friends.

Bustle and
movement.
Typical
countrymarket feel.

Ludlow

Markets as sites for social interaction

The broader context

In summary, for a market to exist as a social space, there are several basic requirements.
First, a good range of products that match what the local community is looking to buy is
the single most important requirement for a market to work both economically and
socially. Thus the social and economic aspects of market are intertwined. Second, people
need to get to a market both public transport and/or good parking access is important.
In particular, negative features such as parking problems act as a clear deterrent to
shoppers visiting and spending time in the market. Third, the presence of cafs and food
vans, and informal and formal seating on site, enhance opportunities for just sitting, at the
very least, or more extended social interaction. Fourth, although good management is not
crucial for a market to function well as a social space, with the exception of Ridley Road,
the markets that appeared to be most vibrant and social were also those where positive
comments about the practices of the market manager in particular, and also the strategies
of the council, were frequently made. The traders also clearly play a crucial role in
attracting people into the social life of the market, and more established traders appear to
be more comfortable in this role. The links between the social and economic aspects of a
market are once again paramount here because, if traders are not making a decent
income, they will withdraw from that site to a more profitable market or leave the trade.
Returning to the earlier tables, there is considerable variation in the social roles played by
the markets in the study. At one end of the continuum, Ridley Road exhibited high levels
of social interaction, social mixing, social bonding and social inclusion, even though
parking access was poor and there was no council strategy for the site. The diversity of
products, the strong trader presence and the good public transport links were strong
factors in the markets success. Strong social ties were also evident in Ludlow, Rotherham
and Preston, where long-standing trader families in the market provided an important
focus for the local community. Lowestoft appeared to play a less active role as a social
space, despite the good access to public transport and parking and strong links with the
local shopping centre and library. Here, there was insufficient buzz and activity in the
market, and limited social space to draw people in and encourage them to stay. St Helens
had few attributes to draw people into the market. Its prime social function was as a site
of social inclusion, the caf at the centre of the market operating as a popular social
space for those more marginalised in the wider community, and the cheapness of some
goods (though lacking fresh produce apart from meat) drawing some householders,
notably young single mothers, into the market.
The attractive food products at Islington clearly attracted a particular section of the local
community the middle classes who enjoyed social interaction in that space, although
dwell time was limited by the lack of provision of a caf or major food outlets on site.
The high prices meant that this market did not really operate as a site of social mixing or
social inclusion. Similarly Ludlow, although also more middle class in its clientle due to
the towns local socioeconomic profile, attracted a broader community, with its good
local produce at reasonable prices, good location, access to public transport, wellmanaged site and proximity to tea shops. The parking problems at this site nevertheless
deterred some customers from shopping in this market. Rotherham market demonstrated
the value of strong locational and physical attributes combined with good economic/
management attributes, low-cost and good-quality products, and a buzzy atmosphere,
thus overall providing a strong site of social interaction as well as an inclusive space for
the local community. Preston was similarly buzzy, with high levels of daily social
interaction, its only real difference from Rotherham being the uncertainty around its
future, which some traders and shoppers reported finding demoralising.
It is clear from this summary and the information presented in the tables that there is a
complexity of interrelated factors that contribute to the success of a market as a social
space, and which need consideration by local and national policy makers and
practitioners.

49

Markets as sites for social interaction

5
Conclusions and policy
recommendations
Im not saying that investment is the be-all and end-all. People have come to
me and said, you need to put a new floor in, you need to do this, that and the
other. And Ive been to some of the grottiest markets possible, but they are the
busiest. And I have been to markets which have spent millions of pounds on
the flooring, and new escalators and you name it, and its made no difference.
(Preston, council official)
Not surprisingly, the picture that emerges from this research into what makes markets
successful spaces of social interaction and diversity is a complex and textured one.
Although the markets in the study varied considerably in the level of social interaction,
the strength of social ties, the level of social inclusion and the use of the market by
different groups, in all the markets some degree of social interaction took place, and in
most cases respondents confirmed the significance of the market as a social space. The
research therefore concluded that all markets operate as social spaces, even if simply as a
public space for marginalised members of the community to shop or pass the time of
day. As such, they play a crucial, and mostly neglected, role in local communities.
Of the selected market sites, Rotherham, Ridley Road, Ludlow and Islington farmers
market were the ones where the highest levels of social interaction were observed. The
populations visiting the first two were predominantly from low-income groups and, in the
case of Ridley Road, more ethnically/racially mixed. Ridley Road represented the site of
greatest social mixing. However, Milton Keynes and Preston markets also exhibited many
instances of social interaction, and both these markets played a role in the social life of
their local communities. The other two markets, Lowestoft and St Helens, while not being
sites of much social interaction, appeared to play a social inclusion role in providing
public spaces for marginalised groups to see others and spend time outside the home
St Helens was the most striking in this respect.
In all sites, the social relationships between shoppers and traders were relatively strong,
and certain groups, particularly older people, clearly used the market as a meeting place
or bumped casually into friends and acquaintances. Overall, the group for whom the
market was most significant as a site of social interaction was older people, and women
particularly, followed by families with children at the weekend and single parents with
young children during the week. However, young people and younger/middle-aged
adults without children were also visible in markets, particularly, in the case of the
former, Rotherham market and, in the case of the latter, Islington farmers market.
A number of attributes were found to contribute, in varying degrees, to the success of a
market as a social space. Essential attributes were as follows:
features to attract visitors to the site including a diverse range of products that
made a good fit with local community needs and tastes, and a sense of surprise or
the unexpected to provide interest;

50

Conclusions and policy recommendations

opportunities to linger caf(s) or food van(s) on site or close by were key here;
informal seating areas could also be important, but less critical;
good access to the site public transport was key, but opportunities to come by car
and access to parking were also important for some visitors;
an active and engaged community of traders both to provide the retail offer but
also to provide part of the social life of the site itself.
Other important, but less essential, attributes were as follows:
a well laid out site with thought given to the layout of the stalls, linchpin stalls or
features (the caf often being one) and particular features such as roomy aisles for
people to walk through easily, as well as protection from the weather in more open
sites;
connection with other retail outlets to ensure that the market was embedded
among local retail outlets;
effective management of the site including a leadership role from councils to
provide a strategic direction for the market.

National policy issues

Many respondents, particularly the key informants, commented on the lack of policy or
strategy for markets at a national level. Markets could play a crucial role in helping to
deliver many of the national governments agendas especially those which concern
healthy eating, sustainability, social cohesion and the building of communities. The lack
of connection of these political priorities into policy on local markets represents a
significant lost opportunity.
There are two current policy agendas in particular where opportunities for raising the
profile of markets exist. The first of these is the social exclusion agenda. Core to this is
the objective of creating sustainable, inclusive communities in towns, cities and rural
areas. Programmes have focused on children and young people, crime, employment and
opportunity, homes and neighbourhoods, and transport and development. Clearly,
markets could play a crucial role in many of these initiatives; however, they have not
formed a part of the policy agenda. Markets have the potential to provide key public
spaces for the local communities to meet, including opportunities for children and young
people, and the potential for employment generation and the testing of new products
and ideas in a local site, as we saw with the young Rasta soap maker and trader in Ridley
Road.
Town centre management initiatives and regeneration policies represent the second
underexploited avenue for raising the profile of markets. Town centre management
involves partnerships between private and public bodies primarily local authorities,
which contribute anything from 10-80% of the running costs and local businesses. In
Britain, there are now approximately 500 town centre managers. According to Simon
Quin, Chief Executive of the Association of Town Centre Management, markets could
play a key role in the regeneration and redevelopment of town centres, which in the
majority of cases is missed. There are exceptions, such as Manchester, Norwich, Leicester,
Bolton, Ilford and Romford, among others, where markets are recognised as part of the
picture in local plans. In addition to this economic role, markets offer something more.
Although the new PPS 6: Planning for Town Centres (ODPM, 2005) endorses the role of
markets in making a valuable contribution to the vitality of town centres, as well as
contributing to local choice and diversity in shopping, there is little emphasis on the role
of markets as social and public spaces. Given the potential for markets to act as
significant sites of social interaction and, perhaps to a lesser extent, of social mixing and

51

Markets as sites for social interaction

inclusion in a community, their place in community development and local regeneration

policies could be strengthened.

Local policy issues

An important component of market strategy is responding to the sociodemographic
profile of the locality, and ensuring that markets meet the needs of their population. At
the economic level, this means encouraging into the market traders who meet the
shopping needs and desires of the local community. One example of recent good
practice is offered by the strategies employed by the Gospel Oak Neighbourhood
Management Initiative, under the governments 2001 Neighbourhood Management
Pathfinder Scheme for regenerating deprived areas. Here, in Queens Crescent market,
several new stalls were introduced in 2005-06, such as those selling organic bread and
cakes, Italian cheeses and olives, fish and jewellery, and an Indian fresh food stall. These
were to encourage new people back into an old inner London market that had been in
decline for several years. The market has also been rebranded with the placement of new
and brightly coloured stalls and shopping bags, and the parking issues that had
contributed to the loss of several long-established traders are also being addressed. Initial
observations indicate that the policy has been a success.
At the physical, infrastructural and locational level, a market strategy also needs to ensure
that the market site is accessible, particularly to older people, people with disabilities and
those with children, as well as providing a site that has good protection from the weather,
seating, wide enough aisles and other attributes that attract customers to the market.
Some respondents noted that partnership arrangements were the best route for obtaining
the investment that is required to build a markets infrastructure so that it can compete
successfully. The involvement of market traders in the running of a market is another
significant component. A specific strategy and vision for the market at council level is also
key, as opposed to placing markets within a wider profile of activities, such as parking or
estate management, where the markets potential role to contribute economically and
socially to an area can be lost. At the site level, a well-trained and responsive market
manager can make a real difference to the effective running of the market, and therefore
to its success as a social space.
Given the evident success of farmers markets, specialist markets such as Christmas
markets, French and German markets, and Borough Market, similar provision in local
areas should be encouraged. In this study, research at Islington farmers market revealed
the added significance of this market type as a social space, at least for the better-off
members of the local community.
Most importantly, market provision in any one locality needs to fit with the surrounding
community needs. Where a market is located in a predominantly low-income area, the
provision of affordable, high-quality goods will draw large numbers of people into the
site, and where there is good seating, cafs and high levels of accessibility, older people
in particular will be encouraged to dwell for considerable lengths of time, as in
Rotherham market. In contrast, where a market is located in an ethnically mixed area, to
attract a wide diversity of customers into the market, the provision of a variety of food
products, goods and even eating places that serve ethnically diverse food is essential in
making a market a successful social space. Therefore, for a market to work, both
economically and socially, it is crucial that the strategy and vision for a market at the local
level needs to be sensitive to the local conditions and needs of the community in which it
is situated.

52

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