RESEARCH

“A Complement, Not a Competitor: How Public Markets Can Support Business Districts in Worcester

Ron M. Barron

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible economic and community development impacts of entry-level public markets (e.g. fixed location markets, farmers markets, etc.) on the communities in which they operate. While there is extensive literature around their benefits to vendors, community health and public space, there is comparative little on the interplay between these markets and more traditional brick and mortar businesses.This is related to my project because it reviews the background and definition of markets, the basic common characteristics that define them, and some of the benefits they can offer for economic and community development are each explored.

Palaces for the People

Eric Klinenberg

We are living in a time of deep divisions. Americans are sorting themselves along racial, religious, and cultural lines, leading to a level of polarization that the country hasn’t seen since the Civil War. Pundits and politicians are calling for us to come together and find common purpose. But how, exactly, can this be done? In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, churches, and parks where crucial connections are formed.This is related to my topic because Klinenberg shows how “social infrastructure” is helping to solve some of our most pressing societal challenges. Richly reported and ultimately uplifting, Palaces for the People offers a blueprint for bridging our seemingly unbridgeable divides.

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives through Urban Design

Charles Montgomery

Charles Montgomery’s Happy City is revolutionizing the way we think about urban life. After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? This is related to my project because it talks about the way you see, feel and experience the place you live. This book also introduces the idea of how by building happy cities, we can “save” the planet and “save” ourselves.

From the Ground up Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities

Alison Sant

For decades, American cities have experimented with ways to remake themselves in response to climate change. These efforts, often driven by grassroots activism, offer valuable lessons for transforming the places we live. In From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, design expert Alison Sant focuses on the unique ways in which US cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating equitable and livable communities. She shows how, from the ground up, we are raising the bar to make cities places in which we don’t just survive, but where all people have the opportunity to thrive. This is related to my project because this book is a call to action. Sant presents 12 case studies, drawn from research and over 90 interviews with people who are working in these communities to make a difference.

Public Marketplaces Promoting Resilience and Sustainability

Alfonso Morales

Marketplaces and vendors weave together social integration, ecological awareness and caring, and economic inclusivity. A century ago, public markets were recognized and established by governments to ameliorate shocks in urban systems from inadequate food access, unemployment, and immigration. More recently, the many benefits of markets have been characterized, and research has described the utility of markets for community development. Pre-COVID, marketplaces had been left to their own devices. This is related to my project as it goes through how and why we need to understand how market places are resources in their practices of responding to myriad threats from climate change to pandemics.

Public Markets

Helen

Tangires

The public market is a worldwide urban phenomenon with a tradition as old as cities themselves, continuing today in the greenmarket movement. Surveyed here by type are open-air marketplaces, street markets, street vendors, markets that occupy the ground floor of public buildings, open-sided sheds situated in the middle of wide streets, and fully-enclosed market houses, as well as central markets and wholesale markets, whose complex of buildings and streets encompass entire market districts.This is related to my topic because the author persists that public markets are an enduring and universal form of urban food marketing and distribution, and a strong sense of tradition informs their architecture, design, and engineering.