Metropolitics

The Flea Market of Marseille

Michèle Jolé & William Kornblum — 2016-05-17T05:00:00Z

Marseille's flea market (“marché aux puces”) lies at the heart of a vast urban renewal project that could end up wiping the market off the map for good. Michèle Jolé and William Kornblum, who have both adopted Marseille as their hometown, explore the loss that the transformation of this veritable institution would represent for the city's residents and, more generally, for the northern neighborhoods (“les Quartiers Nord”) of Marseille.
“The more we gain distance from the center, the more the

- From the Field / public space, urban renewal, market, Marseille, retail, commerce, informality, urban project

In Cathedrals of Craft: Workplaces for the New Elite Service, Retail, and Manual Labor Jobs

Richard E. Ocejo — 2015-05-12T05:00:00Z

As artisanal economies emerge in postindustrial cities, the symbolic language and craft culture of the industrial city remain strikingly apparent; a prime example of this is the growth, in gentrifying neighborhoods, of high-end bars, barbershops and butcher shops that draw on the romantic imagery of their traditional working-class counterparts. Richard E. Ocejo's exploration of New York City's Chelsea Market highlights the intersection of three 21st‑century urban transformations: shifts in the

- Essays / United States, work, food, retail, New York, food culture, craft work, postindustrialism, cultural omnivores, service sector, artisans, new economy, Featured

Occupy Mall Street?

Anthony Maniscalco — 2015-04-21T04:50:00Z

The quintessential suburb is home to the shopping mall, an indoor space of anchor departments stores, small specialty shops and food courts. This multi-tiered site of commerce is sometimes repurposed as a senior exercise track, a meeting place for holiday festivities, or YouTube-inspired flash mobs. However, as Tony Maniscalco explains, coordinated efforts and legal precedents have curbed the possibility of freedom of expression and assembly at shopping malls.
When the suburban shopping mall

- Debates / consumption, public space, United States, property, suburbs, retail, commerce, shopping mall, First Amendment, assembly, supreme court

Christmas Markets and Department-Store Window Displays: Examples of Retailtainment

Nathalie Lemarchand & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-12-18T05:50:00Z

The function and fate of high-street shops are the subject of discussion and debate within retail firms. Where should physical stores be retained? What should these stores look like? And what can customers expect to find there? Retail is both an economic sector and a social activity: it involves not just purchasing, selling or exchanging goods or services, but also frequenting particular places and establishing social relations. Trade is therefore about more than just mercantile exchanges,

- Essays / retail, Christmas, retailtainment, local development, retail areas, department stores

Château Rouge: a “Little Africa” in Paris?

Marie Chabrol & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-22T04:55:00Z

The Château Rouge area of Paris is regarded as an “African neighbourhood”. But what is the reality behind this image? Marie Chabrol shows that it has less to do with residents' backgrounds than with the commercial uses of the area, which put this district at the heart of large-scale mobilities.
Paris, like any major metropolis, has different neighbourhoods whose images are built and rebuilt around business activities linked to immigration. The Château Rouge area – situated in the shadow of

- From the Field / immigration, public space, Paris region, Paris, mobility, retail, neighborhood, Goutte d'Or, Château Rouge, ethnic retail, user, use of space, centrality

The new spaces of consumption

Andrea Mubi Brighenti — 2012-05-30T04:55:00Z

Recent retail spaces are giving a new shape to our everyday environment. Kärrholm proposes new concepts to better understand these changes and how they affect our practices, for example by syncing our lives with the "rhythm of shopping." Brief introduction to the discipline of "architectural territorology."
Retail spaces in Western cities have changed dramatically during the last half-century, both quantitatively and qualitatively, shaping new relations with the rest of the city space, and

- Reviews / architecture, consumption, urban planning, retail, retail areas

The Ladies Kingdom and Its Many Uses. A shopping mall in Riyadh for women only

Saba A. Le Renard & translated by Eric Rosencrantz — 2011-03-30T05:30:00Z

The frenetic development of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is unveiling new and unexpected urban realms, including a shopping mall for women only: the following is a look at a public space liberated from the constraints of social control – and consecrated to consumption.
Inside the shopping mall of the Kingdom Centre (Al Mamlaka), a modern tower built in 2001 and overlooking the new “urban glamor zone” (Saskia Sassen 1996) of downtown Riyadh, there is a whole floor reserved for women called the

- From the Field / consumption, public space, gender, Saudi Arabia, retail, retail areas, shopping mall