The Cities Unlimited Archives: Street Markets

In this Cities Unlimited archive, tr0ub1e sketches out a concept for including street markets in the city land, as well as deepening my suspicions that he is in the pay of the British Tourism Board. Commentary follows!

Posted with the permission of their orginal author, tr0ub1e, these are articles archived from the Cities Unlimited website (along with the first page of their respective comment threads) before the boards were closed down. A huge thanks to Metropolis member Ephemeron for his foresight in hanging on to these, and his hard work cleaning up the formatting! The usual Drawing Board disclaimer applies. Note: dark red text indicates links to other pages on the boards that are no longer active.

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Street Markets

a Conceptual article by tr0ub1es0me

#28176 tr0ub1e

(author: tr0ub1es0me)

What historical cities would be complete without their traditional street markets? In many countries around the world they are common place, even in today's leading world cities. In the UK, many towns and cities have a long history of holding street markets. There are many around the country but London's are probably the best known and bring in consumers from far and wide across the city, looking for a bargain. Market stalls offer an extra retail outlet opportunity for low-wealth commercial traders as no permanent building needs to be bought or leased, maintained, and taxed upon. While traders will still be taxed on their earnings, the cost (and taxes taken) on lease of one market stall pitch are significantly lower for the commercial trader, and in turn allows their products to be sold at lower prices too.

Marketplaces can become vibrant and bustling shopping areas; sometimes colourful and cultural too, offering a varied range of products for sale coming from far and wide.

Examples showing some of the variety of London's many street markets.

Petticoat Lane Market

(Aldgate, east central London) - Fashion and clothing market. It was not formally recognised until an Act of Parliament in 1936, but its long history as an informal market, makes it possibly one of the oldest surviving markets in the UK. Open Monday to Friday on Wentworth Street alone, but on Sunday extends over many of the adjoining and surrounding streets, with over 1,000 market stalls. Closes on Sunday at around 2pm and is closed all day on Saturday.

Berwick Street Market

(Soho, west central London) - Mainly selling fruit, vegetables and general goods. Open Monday to Saturday from 9am until 6pm. Berwick Street was built between 1687 and 1703. The market was established in the 1700s, however was not officially recognised until 1892.

Exmouth Market

(Clerkenwell, north central London) - Recently reinstated street market (since August 2006). It is held Friday (11am until 6pm) and Saturday (9am until 4pm). Stallholders include local and well-known food companies or producers, as well as jewellery and gifts from east London designers.

Borough Market

(Southwark, south central London) - A wholesale and retail food market, which is one of the largest food markets in the world, and regarded as one of the highest quality markets in the UK. It sells a large variety of foods from all around the world. Wholesale food market operates all weekday mornings from 2am until 8am, but the retail food market only operates on Thursdays from 11am until 5pm, Fridays from 12pm until 6pm, and Saturdays from 9am until 4pm. Historically focused on fruit and vegetables, in recent years has added stalls dealing in the fine food retail market. Some of England's finest farmers use the market to help sell their produce and maintain standards in the countryside.

Quote from Wikipedia about its history:

The present market, located on Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge, is a successor to one that originally adjoined the end of London Bridge (and made a considerable nuisance of itself in the process). It was first mentioned in 1276, although the market itself claims to have existed since Roman times and was subsequently moved south of St Margaret's church on the High Street. The City of London received a royal charter from Edward VI in 1550 to control all markets in Southwark, which was confirmed by Charles II in 1671. However, the market caused such traffic congestion that in 1754 it was abolished by an Act of Parliament.

The Act allowed for the local parishioners to set up another market on a new site, and in 1756 it began again on a 4.5 acre (18,000 m2) site in Rochester Yard. During the 19th century it became one of London's most important food markets due to its strategic position near the riverside wharves of the Pool of London.

Columbia Road Flower Market

(Bethnal Green, inner-city east London) - It was originally established in 1869. This street flower market operates Sunday from 8am until 2pm only. Traders arrive from 4am every Sunday morning to set up stalls selling a wide range of bedding plants, shrubs, bulbs and freshly-cut flowers.

Portobello Road Market

(Notting Hill, inner-city west London) - This market draws many tourists. The main market day for antiques is on Saturday. However, there are also fruit and vegetable stalls, which trade throughout the week and are located separately to the antique stalls. It began as a fresh-food market in the 19th century, with antique dealers arriving in the 1960s. The market was featured in the 1971 musical film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks in a scene involving a song and dance in and around the market. The lyrics refer to the market and the people who live and work there.

Chapel Market

(Islington, inner-city north London) - Sells fruit, vegetables, fish, bargain household goods, and cheap clothing. Open every day except Monday, but only operates in the morning on Thursday and Sunday.

East Street Market

(Walworth, inner-city south London) - Good for foreign fruit and vegetables this vibrant and large market is open every day except Monday and the busiest day being Sunday, with over 250 stalls. It has been operating since 1880.

Brixton Market

(south London) - Reflecting the diverse community in which it is based, Brixton Market contains a wide variety of foodstuffs from every continent in the world. The market is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until sunset.

Romford Market

(outer east Greater London county) - Large open-space market with 270 stalls. The market operates Wednesdays and Fridays from 8.30am until 4.30pm, and on Saturdays from 8.30am until 5pm. There is a farmers market at the site from 10am until 3pm on the second and fourth Sunday of every month.

Romford has been a market town since 1247, and it holds the exclusive right to hold markets over an area of radius "six and two thirds miles" centred on Romford, a right granted in medieval times but successfully used to prevent nearby Ilford from opening a market as recently as the 1990s. Romford shopping centre grew up around the original marketplace which is located along the line of the old Roman road from London to Colchester.

Market Place on non-market days, when it operates as an income generating additional car park for shoppers:

Upminster Market

(outer east Greater London county) - Upminster's market is only open on the first Thursday of every month. Instead of the main road being closed, it remains in use while the stalls are set up along the wide sidewalks.

In CITIES XL we should be able to zone an area for Street Markets, which can cover any road sidewalks, open paved areas, on lanes of road themselves, or on large surface parking lots. In the zone we can then mark out areas for market stalls, which will be split up by the game into separate pitches for leasing to traders. Finally, we can add any other aesthetical features. The market stalls can sell anything from fruit and vegetables to clothing, to music and films, to hardware or small electrical appliances, and more. Some market stalls in cultural areas may sell exotic or foreign items too.

The zone could be as small or large as we desire. They could range from a few market stalls along a particular sidewalk, to large open market areas with hundreds of different stalls. For players that do not wish to design and lay out their own Street Market, a few pre-made ploppable versions can also be provided in the game (like SimCity 4's Farmers Market).

Marketplaces will fill with stalls early in the morning, as far as is realistic for the level of demand for low-wealth commercial service and the level of resident (consumer) demand for the relevant products. Towards night-time, all of the market stalls would be deconstructed and taken away. We should be able to restrict the Street Market to being permitted only on certain days of the week (known as "Market Day(s)"), if we wish. Markets that are zoned on top of parking lots or actual lanes of a road would result in closure and change-of-use for that parking lot or road whenever it is Market Day.

I think the important feature of the Street Market should not be overlooked for CITIES XL. In SimCity 4, we only had the basic-looking Farmers Market. This is a good idea for agricultural areas and sometimes in the city, but could also be improved (e.g. allowing us to create our own layouts of the market in any shape or size and using modular pieces such as all the different relevant props, and adding paths or roads throughout). I think it would be great to also design and create our own layouts as for Street Markets, too, and even just add occasional small sets of market stalls along some sidewalks in our cities. This authentic and sometimes traditional and historic feature of many cities would add another smaller touch of realism to the game, and would not be the hardest feature to implement.

Post any other comments, suggestions, additions, or adjustments here too.

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#28181 Pumasboy

wow nice markets!!! i like the idea of street markets!!! wat would some cities be without street markets!? I mean in Jerecuaro, there's a plaza where all these people sell fruits and other goods. In SC4, there was the flea market... but it acted like a low wealth commercial area (which it mostly always is, but not always). Like your idea lots though and should be considered in CXL

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#28182 Tia

Good idea such that it should be seriously considered. In SimCity 4, there was a flea market, as Pumasboy suggested, but (just a joke here) Sims who went in left with itchy backs!

As for getting this realized, we would have to make it into a pedestrianized street in the same manner as a road, but markets develop in the same manner as SimCity 4 buildings. The stalls should be able to be preserved at will of the player.

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#28186 g314

Yeah, once again great work on that tr0ub1e! :) (But, can't we rate your articles anymore? That would get a 5 if you ask me...)

This could be a new zoning tool together with the usual RCI ones, which can be zoned along the street or in an empty lot. There are three kind of markets I can think of at this time:

• The well-known SC4 Farmer Market - This is one thing I definitively want to build in my country town, but I would like it to be a modular structure where I can build things such as recreative stalls and attractions (strength hammer, shooting ranges, treasure hunt, etc.) and produce stalls (from your town's farmlands). This kind of market will open every year in June-July. There should be different Harvest Fairs depending of your city's size: Town Fair, County Fair, State Fair.
• City Street Market - Exactly like you've exposed here. ;)
• Ethnic Street Market - An addition to regular City Street Markets. If your city has a big enough foreign people community, you'll get the "invisible reward" (because I prefer the reward concept as benefits instead of unlockables) of zoning your local street market to automatically turn into an Ethnic Market. So you'll get for example a regular street market changing into a traditional Chinese-item market in your city's Chinatown.

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#28216 tr0ub1e

it's been a while since i've had a chance to work on any new articles like this.

who says we've run out of ideas? :p i don't believe anyone but myself has mentioned street markets until now (that's if the forum search results are anything to go by... :D)

thanks for your posts guys!

g314 wrote:

But, can't we rate your articles anymore? That would get a 5 if you ask me...

well, i decided to remove them because i felt the surveys handle "voting" much better and give a slightly better picture. i didn't see the need to keep track of article ranks any more, though i suppose i still could have left a comment at the end of the articles about rating them.

oh and i agree that it's an important thing to have, and i'd also like it as a new zoning tool that can be placed on-top of pedestrian or road networks (road lanes, sidewalks, plaza, pathways, parking lots). similarly to Transit Enabled Lots in SimCity 4, it would be a "transit-top zoning" tool, if you like - as opposed to the other zones which can only be placed on unused empty land.

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#28220 Simpol

Ooh, this is a good idea.

We have a market that's full of Asian stuff! Well, it's not exactly on the street, but on a parking lot or something

It opens at night :p

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#28228 eric

festivals would be nice too. especially planning the road detours :)

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#28232 x

Small commercial zones situated in high-pedestrian, low-vehicle traffic should be the starting points of street markets. Also, this would be great when coupled with mixed use zoning, because with that, people can live on the buildings above the street market.

Now, here in the Philippines, markets are usually open everyday, early morning and late afternoon. There's one just one block from home, and it's open all day, everyday except Christmas and Good Friday. Market days would be good, but there should also be an option to have markets open everyday.

Now, how about malls...

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#28234 Asheroo/ aka. Ashley

I would like to see markets in the game. You should be able to make a 'Market Zone' which consists of pavement but on the days you want between the hours you want (unless you want the computer to 'auto' it for you) people come in and set up there own markets.

Here's the Brisbane Southbank Markets (there is a beach like pool down the path there, but not on the river)...

x asked before this post, I believe...

Now, how about malls...

Look at my Shopping Centre Management thread in the Micro-Management Archive. ;)

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#28235 Nate

Excellent idea! Vending permits can make lots of money for cities.

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#28239 Aspharanx

I love the idea because we have a street market every monday (and wednesday on a plaza in one of the parts too).

Perhaps these can also be included

• fun fair with bumper cars, food stalls, luna parks etc. You pick a place to do it (might be a street but mostly it's a plaza). The fair stays for a week. The more space they get, the more attractions can come. Most of the time the fun fair here is combined with something else happning in the city.
• annual market. If you have a certain number of farmers they might hold an annual market. They sell cows, horses, etc. Here we have it almost in every part of the city. Most of the time it's together with schools, for example the children bring their pets too and sit on the edge of the road to show them.
• flowerparade. The first sunday of september means there's a flowerparade here. People build cars coverd with flowers that are showing something and drive around a certain area.
• carnaval. People build cars, once more showing things like what's happening in the poltics or in the city. They also dress up. People, often with kids, who are also dressed up come to see. Something like in Rio de Janeiro or like mardi gras.
• garagesale, don't know how the word would actually be in english but it's something like a garagesale. So just like a market, on one or more streets people get a few meter where they can stall their 2nd hand stuf. often it are people from the city itself that are just selling.
• folklore event, some European cities also have a folklore event. Like in my city every year our 3 giants (recognized by UNESCO as world herritage) come out in a big parade showing the history of the city. Every ten years or Ros Beiaard, a huge wooden horse comes out carried by men. This is also recognized by UNESCO. These sort of events are attraction a lot of people.
• dance parade, trucks with huge speakers drive trough some streets making the audience dance.
• gayparade, a colorful parade full with gays
• soapbox race on a certain street
• flowermarket, a small weekly market that for example might take place on the parking in front of a church where people can by flowers. Often it's nothing more then just 2 stalls here.
• roasted chicken, not really a market but there are market stalls selling roasted chicken. Often there is a certain day or half day were they will be standing on a certain place selling, and this way they move around the city.
• road selling cars such as an ice cream truck but there are also cars selling fish and vegtables.
• christmas market, where stalls sell christmas stuf but also where you go drink jenever and gluhwein.
• evening market, just on the evening some sort of market. Not like the weekly one but streets are closed. Bars put out chairs, you can buy some food, you can buy some cloths, ...
• braderie, don't really know that word in English. Don't even know if it exists in America. The major shopping roads are closed and all stores put stalls outside their store and offer discount.

Also, besides that certain dead end streets or parkings here also act as a sport ground for some sports. And when they are events, these are closed too, might also be intresting.

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#28243 ToeJam

great idea !!

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#28205 Yunkery Casdent (Gary)

This idea MUST be implemented, please!

It could also become popular tourist spots.

Street Markets attract low and middle-wealth residential.

Street markets could be an alternative for those who don't want to go to malls which usually charge extra for the staff, cleaning, air-conditioning, and security.

Street markets could also be recreational areas (of a different kind), where people 'shop till they drop'.

Street markets give people a great chance to socialise, and interact, which could reduce crime like theft (or maybe increse it if people living there don't have jobs).

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#28368 Aspharanx

That the crime decreases is only partially correct. When lots of people are together they are the perfect target for pickpockets to disappear in the mass. The chance to get pickpocketed during a street market is higher then when you are just walking down the street. So pickpocking should be increased. Increasing police during the street market and running a campaign to warn people about the risk helps and might put an end to it. When a city here takes these steps, often the pickpockting goes to a neighbouring city with less protection :P

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#28653 Qayyum

I love to see the feature implemented in this game. We can chose the style like Asian style markets or European style markets. :) Usually markets clog the traffic if the road is always used. We also can allocate markets we want to using Market Zone. Unlike other zones, this zone can be put on roads.