Barcelona food retailing and public markets, 1876–1936

Abstract

Covered market buildings, which began to appear in Britain and France in the 19th century and spread to cities of the European periphery, were a shared symbol of urban modernisation. The time cycles of their establishment in each country differed, however, as did the number and location of the markets in the cities and their longlasting structural effects. This article is a contribution to comparative research between specific urban markets trajectories in nineteenth and twentieth centuries and it aims to juxtapose Southern European food market experiences -particularly the Barcelona case -with West European ones.Like other big cities of Southern and Central Europe, Barcelona consolidated a sturdy polycentric system of district markets between 1876 and 1936, just when such markets were beginning to decline in "first comers" cities of Britain and France. In the Inter-war period, the market halls of Southern European cities played actually a prominent role in the everyday food trade and as functional and socializing centres in neighbourhoods.They were poles of dense residential and kinship relations for stall vendors, especially women vendors, and foci of a large part of the food retailing business in many neighbourhoods. Barcelona's particular historical circumstances made the public

Achieving urban food security through a hybrid public-private food provisioning system: the case of Nanjing, China

“…Although historically public markets have played an important role in urban food retailing in European cities (Fava et al 2016), the number of public markets is declining in many cities arguably due to the supermarket revolution (Salcido et al 2015). Yet in recent years, the potential of public markets for improving urban food security has been rediscovered and recognized (Morales and Kettles 2010;Morales 2011).…”

Supplying Barcelona: The Role of Public Market Halls in the Construction of the Urban Food System

“…Markets built in the second half of the twentieth century-when other European cities that had been equipped with public markets abandoned favored other food supply systems 19 -are characterized by a shift to a progressive artificial indoor environment. The insertion of markets in preexisting buildings or in small plots between dividing walls-like Estrella and Tres Torres-together with the drafting of a law that authorized private stakeholders to build and operate market halls under a temporary concession to try to alleviate the lack of grocery stores that persisted since the post-war period, 20 explains the urgency and opportunistic nature with which the system was consolidated at that time.…”

Port Said historic markets: a tool for urban revitalization

“…In contrast, the latter generated a polycentric model, in which several markets governed by aspects of proximity were distributed among neighbourhoods. While cities in Austria, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia replicated the single-market model, other cities, including Berlin, Budapest, Turin, Madrid and Barcelona, followed the Parisian polycentric model (Fava et al, 2016).…”

“…Its aim was to manage the markets, promote high-quality local products, healthy eating and to generate jobs for locals (Barcelona Institute of Markets, 2019). The aim was also expanded to support the connection between indoor markets and surrounding street vending, to reintegrate markets into their neighbourhoods, to bring back their role as social regenerators and centres that promote economic prosperity (Fava et al, 2016).…”