Through an international range of research, this volume examines how informal urban street markets facilitate the informal and formal economy not merely in terms of the traditional concerns of labor and consumption, but also in regards to cultural and spatial contingencies. In many places, street markets and their populace have been marginalized and devalued. At times, there are clear governance procedures that aim to prevent them, yet they continue to emerge in even in the most institutionalized societies. This book gives serious consideration to what these markets reveal about urban life...

Using a transnational analytical framework, this book provides a comprehensive overview of formal and informal markets and place in globalised cities. It examines how urban markets are situated within social, cultural and media discourses, and within material and symbolic economies. The book addresses four key narratives redevelopment and relocation; privatization of public space; urban renewal; and urbanism and sustainability to investigate shared and individual attributes of markets and place in diverse, international urban contexts. With case studies in Sydney, Hong Kong, Beijing, Rio...