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The paper looks at space as the material base for social relations- the relation between
people, place and time. The concept of space is omnipotent as it is the eternal stage of
environment building. Daily life in the city is a socio-spatial construct as the social
constitutes the spatial practices. The paper refers to Max Webers concept of oriental; an
urbanism of the East highly entangled with indigenous culture. This is overtly visible in the
Indian market places. Indian market places are fields of social production through material
determinism. Although material determinism leads to rationalization of spaces, the field
itself is an intimate dialogue between people and space, people and people. Hence space in
daily life of a city is deployed to a powerful effect of determining urbanism. The paper
analyses convergence of four concepts - space, daily life, market places and urbanism.
Fundamental concept of space as physical & metaphysical has been overviewed from the
point of view of social studies. The concept of space has been extended to understanding
city as the crucible of daily- life; i.e. socio- economic and socio-spatial interaction and chaos.
The historical vitality of market places as highlights of citys daily life has been traced
leading to determinants explaining the emergent meaning of urbanism pertaining to the
socio-spatial construct.
Key words- space, daily life, market places, urbanism
IntroductionThe paper investigates the fundamental query of space. Space is the concept bordering all
physical and metaphysical phenomena. Architecture can be defined as valuable constructs
of space- in the domain of art and science. Hence, it is rightly said that architecture is about
people, place and time. Henri Lefebvre, in his Rhythmanalysis (1992) states that in daily
life- the bundle of natural rhythms wraps itself in rhythms of social and mental function. By
this he asserts the relationship between space and time- space defining the domain of
everyday life and time keeping the count of human activities. What we see as material
manifestations of concepts that is the definition of space at that moment. It is in this space
that all the rationalities like organization, law and coherent structure coincide with
irrationalities- human whirlpool of emotional chaos & illogical differences. It is the
playground of the intangible and the tangible; a field of dialectics.
Built environments can be understood through morphology and form. The scale of the built
environment varies from micro to macro. Cities are such complex environments of the built
and the unbuilt. Particularly in case of Indian context, cities are transformative landscapes
with cultural complexities, dynamic economics and contested cityscapes for upward mobility.
Socio-spatial aspect, essentially the daily life of a city is in its public realm. Market Places are
melting pots where in life thrives in an ever dynamic setting and hence help define Indian
Urbanism. To understand the indigenousness embedded in the spaces of Indian Market
Places, it is imperative to comprehend Indian Urbanism- the idea of pan- Indianness.
The urbanity of India today is influenced by multiple cultures since ages. The national history
is formed in a geographical crucible with multiple productive possibilities, hence the cultures
were constantly influenced. An Indian persona is fraught with ideas of identity, all differing
from culture to culture, but all in an idea of common geographical context. In modern times,
India has been a subject of energies of the West and our newer evolving identities are a
spectrum of self- images fashioned out by Western reflections. The supranational Indian
culture is not structured but is a response to the need of upward mobility. The roles between
rulers and the ruled are inter-changeable depending upon the power to grab opportunity for
economic upward mobility.
Pawan K. Varma (2004) has asserted the three aspects power, wealth and technologypower, economic and political, for upward mobility, wealth- as the true pursuit of any true
Indian, pre-empted by traditions and belief, technology- the new paradigm to pan-Indianness
not as a prowess but as a means to a good comfortable beginning of life. Indians were and
are gifted with survival kit: an ability to anticipate opportunity, resilience, flexibility of tactic,
a canniness to judge human needs, and a talent to make the circumstances fit for needs.
Coming from the same crucible, Indian people have developed shared outlooks, common
beliefs, overlapping identities and they garner similar aspirations. The tactic that
international economists use today is that localizing the product so as to conform to the
cognition of the locales.
There also exists the concept of jaatbhai or brotherhood in the markets of India. The
people who run the market are distributed and work as syndicates. As a syndicate, their
understanding of right and wrong is related to efficacy for raid upward mobility. In an
emerging market like India, there already exists an array of home grown options in many
categories, which can offer incredibly tough competition to new entrants. Even after the
liberalization of economy in 1991, markets in India were sophisticated with their own
methods of marketing, their own methods of innovation on consumptions. Best describedmarkets in India are and always will be- mind-boggling in terms of its linguistic, cultural and
income diversity (Bijapurkar, 2009). Hence, Indian market places showcase the vigor of daily
life of a city- in terms of negotiation, management and inherent excitement of competition.
Indian Urbanism and Indian Market placesThe idea of market place is deeply entwined with the idea of commerce in history of
civilizations. While referring to these civilizations, geographical context is a pretext.
I reason thus: Asia has properly no temperate zone, as the place situated in a very cold
climate immediately touch upon those which are exceedingly hot, that is,, Turkey, Persia,
India, China, Korea and Japan. In Europe, on the contrary, the temperate zone is very
extensive.
-
Herewith, while proposing a political theory regarding nations of the world, Charles de
Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu began with differences in the climate and geography of
regions across globe. Different climate meant different flora-fauna which is the fundamental
reason why there were exclusive natural assets specific to regions. On a global level,
diversity presents opportunities for exchange. Thus there began exchange of valuable goods
through maritime trade routes- the most important in one history being the Spice Route and
overland routes- the important one being the Silk Route.
Conforming to the intense activity of global trading, history has witnessed rise and fall of
cities catering to trade. Some of these are the port cities of Quilon, Alexandria, Jaffa, Gaza
etc. Apart from port cities the land voyages created settlements along the ancient spice
trade routes in the Central Asia namely the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Osh,
Korla, Wenquan, Lhasa, Kathmandu etc. Transportation of goods along such extensive
geographical fields required places for disembarkment of goods and areas for storage and
distribution. This area had to be networked with the cities they disembarked in, for the
demand of goods was within places of settlements. Thus the concept of markets emerged as
physical spaces where exchange of goods was facilitated. It was a system conceived for the
purpose of commodity exchange. The market places also exhibited social interaction as
these were the places where populace was abuzz with activities of exchange.
As suggested by Adler (2011, p.3) And while Silk was one of the major products
transported from China to the West as far back as the Roman Empire, the trade, especially
in other luxury goods as spices (from India) and gemstones (from western Asia), was active
in both directions. Along with trade in material goods, the Silk Road was a medium of
cultural exchange. One of the prime examples of this was the spread of Buddhism from India
to Afghanistan, China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.
With such a pre-eminence of trade on a global scale, the market places were not only a
platform of interaction and exchange but also places of knowledge dissemination. The very
phenomenon of gathering also made it a place of convivialities.
If subjects of a settlement (the people) are considered as varied points in space of the
settlement, by virtue of the intelligence, the primordial instinct of collectiveness, and
realization of longevity due to collectiveness and communication, all are manifested in the
spatial assemblages where the varied co-ordinates of subjects change in the new formation
of proximity. Market places are perfect exhibits of the same. Market places are not only
components of a city structure, but since ancient times they have been deemed as city
centers. The most simple reason for this is that it becomes an event in everyday life where
in people indulge into communication, exchanges, experiential aspects of the place, and the
movement of goods and people promotes cosmopolitan ambience, furthering the
possibilities of interaction. Thus market places were evidently places of orientation and
identification in the functional and cultural sense. With the advent and continuance of
trading economy, man had existential foothold, for the market form, as spatial form in which
commerce happened, related to his daily existence. This orientation is not only at the global
scale but also at a local scale of a settlement in the identifiable form of Genius Loci
(Norberg- Schulz, 1979).
Markets therewith, were not only physical spaces, but also had the Spirit of Place (NorbergSchulz, 1979). Market places are critical part of the evolution of civilizations and still
continue to have the essence of eminent places in the city structure. Market places are
combinations of intangible and tangible within the physical network of spaces and social
network of humans. Indian markets places are products of their own consumer history and
culture. Market places are ingenious combinations and adaptations of as many multiple
solutions as much a space can accommodate within its limit. Market places in India have
large catchments- owing to the population. The Indian market is full of people who want
diversified options- ranging from low-cost solutions to costly brands. The mere
understanding of entrepreneurial venture in the grassroots is where there is diversity.
CONTEXTUAL
SETTING
MORPHOLOGICAL
SETTING
NETWORK
Image 2 -'Mela'
ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES
BUKHAR
A,
UZBEKIST
AN
ISFAHAN,
IRAN
CHAWRI
BAZAAR,
DELHI
MORPHOLOGICAL
SETTING AND
NETWORKS
ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES
INTERFACE
CONNOU
GH-T
PLACE,
DELHI
SECTOR
17,
CHANDIG
AR-H
CITY
CENTRE,
KOLKATA
The bazaars (Bukhara, Isfahan, Chawri Bazaar) were in actuality a human network in the
CONTEXTUAsocio-cultural / religious/ institutional setups, combining the physical fabric with interactive
L SETTING activities of exchange of goods. The Market place becomes a linear experience- as it is the
web of physical spaces, bound to each other through their linearity that is unique in such
market places. The idea of commerce is encompassed in the city as linkages / human
networks.
In defining market places in such a layer as which has origins in colonial period, an
altogether western concept of zoning is encountered. Connaught Place was conceived at the
edge of the new city beautiful (Jain, 2010), with limited access from old core area of Delhi, so
as to maintain the segregation of social classes as well. This resulted in an internalized form
of a market place, a limited realm with clearly defined boundaries.
Le Corbusier defined city in zones, as the colonial predecessors, separating the civil
activities. Chandigarh with its planned architectural compositions and formal image was
highly monitored for creation of sanitized environment (Sagar, 2002): new urban image of
Independent India.
One of the unique attempts at combining the traditional and the modern experience of
shopping is the City Centre, Kolkata. Designed by Charles Correa, this example is unique
pertaining to the Indian context. As an attempt in redefining shopping experience,
combinations of linear and central spaces were created. Hence, although being a singular
entity, City Centre Kolkata, through its multiple entries becomes decentralized and
accessible.
The interior of the mall is an intriguing series of streets and chowks (linear and central
elements respectively).
The most controlled form of shopping environment is the mall, a concept borrowed from
United States of America. Malls are super enclosures of market places, with highest degree
The other mobile system is the shop on wheels, the vendors, with a little added advantage
of vehicular mobility. Both the hawker and the vendor account for the physical manifestation
of informal economy of India. As urban centers are wishful landscapes as much they are
anticipatory landscapes, in the Indian context, the comprehension of informal activities as a
natural part of cities is important. The phenomenon of congregation of hawkers and vendors
and the phenomenon of place making in Indian Figure 2 Vendors
cities can be deemed as one and the same. A
common example is that of the chaupatidistinctively an area with organization of hawkers and vendors, forming an assemblage in
the existing city networks where the predominant activity is food consumption. With new
post-independence planning of cities, and with the emergence of neighbourhood came the
concept of corner- shops. As the configuration of cities changed and expanded ,
decentralization of provisions became important. The outcome of this is the corner-shop
typology, associated with neighbourhoods.
The typology of a street is
ubiquitous.
Referring
to
examples of markets of Isfahan
and Chwari Bazaar of Delhi, a
street is a part of the larger
Figure 3 Bazaar as a street
human network formed through an economic
layer. Street can be composed of random combinations of smaller units or organized
combination of uniform units.
When a number of streets combine to form larger logical
assemblage, it is in the form of streets and nodes- a physical
network of spaces, predominantly linear in character.
Morphologically, it is network of closely associated open and
built spaces. Locational aspect of such a network is an
important factor to be considered- as space occupancy creates
competition of self-promotion on the macro and micro scale.
The degrees of modus operandi exhibit the levels of
interaction in daily life of a city. As each context in India is
unique, so the daily life of every city is also determined by the cultural content- thus
accounting for pluralism in Indian cities.
Figure 4 Bazaar as a
network
Spatial Character
User- Buyer
Interface
and
Vertical Surface
Articulation
Spatial Character- Juxtaposition of the U- shaped planes (Ching, 1996) create spatial
expansions and contractions- a resultant of organic structure.
User- buyer interface- The typologies of interfaces help define the degree of
seamlessness and transition in turn helping in defining personalization of spaces.
Territoriality (Habraken, 1998) - It is the behavioral pattern of seller and buyers exhibiting
fluidity and flexibility. Territoriality is resultant of externalized spaces- which give
opportunities of control as opposed to internalized spaces which have imposed control.
Enclosures & Vertical Surface Articulation- The third dimension is defined through
degrees of opacity and porosity. The physical elements impact the experience. Surfaces are
personal canvases in random combinations which result into graft (Fenton, 1985).
Spatial
Character
User- Buyer
Interface
Territoriality
Enclosure and
Vertical Surface
Articulation
Forms of
Internalization
Forms of
Externalization
The spatial seamlessness as concluded from spatial and territorial studies accounts for the
externalization. . The built environment , when analyzed through spatial typologies
suggests that the physical spaces are open and porous, and there are less physical edges
w.r.t. approachability into the built , then the domains of public and private overlap creating
seamlessness. The built environment in turn induces formation of a strong human network of
local actors without global agent. When the network is a local one, it has more power to
accommodate actors and activities. Once, the code of interaction and transactions become
global supplemented with global agent, then the realm tends to become exclusive in terms
of level of approachability and participation. This can be observed in case of malls, where, as
mentioned before, the built environment is highly regularized as the actors are global in
nature and hence they require standardization of forms and codes. The human network is
indirect through global agents. Hence the possibility of personal human relationships is
negated as the channels of communication have a hierarchical path.
The advantage of externalization is that it can be identified with structures of communitiessocial hamlets with inherent ecologies of sustainability. As studies in modus operandi of
commerce in Indian markets, the externalized forms provide ample spatial opportunities for
livelihood. Although complex due to the degrees of operation, the system has ramifications
into the social and cultural dimension of the human network. This is an added advantage for
sustainability as the externalized form is a part of a larger socio- economic system with
overlapping support systems.
Graft- The notion of Graft (Fenton, 1985) has been understood through the study of human
tendency of control and the consequent nature
of built environment that is the seamlessness.
Seamlessness refers to the inter-flow of spaces
and hence can be understood as the
negative void in which the matter occurs.
Complementary to seamlessness, graft is the
positive matter which fills the negative void in
random combinations. This is apparent not
only in the physical order of Indian market
places but also in the visual culture that is
practices. The graft exists in a degree in any
type of market. The process of grafting can be
comprehended as a stage in between the
perfect order and perfect chaos. Refereeing to
the graphical representation of the concept,
the perfect order is through- space of
confinement in which the distance between
actors are by principles- the global codes that
are inevitably followed to maintain the order.
But when there is a lack of global code or no
singular governance, what can be conjured is
the diffusion of forms. The territories or
spatial control are extended and hence the
diffusion occurs- actors are local and so is the
phenomenon of extension. Once the
territories are distributed and established, the
spaces have been personalized and there is
Figure 9 -Graft
increased externalization of forms with
apparent seamlessness, a state of graft is
achieved. But this process may continue towards increasing complexity and chaos.
Many built environments in the Indian cities go through this process of getting localized from
being globalized. Many have termed this as glocalization (Jencks, Kozak, Takkanon, 2008).
Indians tend to identify more with the local, since the social structure of Indians has been
that of community living. Indians tend to believe in patterns which have the power to
reorganize themselves and not in set patterns which are inflexible culturally. Graft is thus
an outcome of social practices of Indians- an important factor in understanding the process
of externalization in Indian Urbanism.
life
. The study of Indian market places indicated overlapping of various factors and interrelationships. Hence the conclusion of this research is a combinatorial matrix with indicators
of Indian Urbanism, their inter-relationships with stress on the transformation of built
environment. Transformation of built environment is important as the matrix can be a tool
for Urban Designers to understand urbanism pertaining socio-spatial practices in Indian
urban landscapes. The matrix is an outcome of an empirical study. It helps define the Indian
urban arena and establishes a conceptual relationship between the urban actors creating a
network which shall help in the studies of Indian cities.
The matrix is a feedback mechanism loop, and hence the start and the end are unimportant.
Although it is empirical in nature, one may start with the percentile of organized and
unorganized sector in the following fashion-
This has a direct relation as human network is formed through religious structures
and activities. The congregational aspect of religious places along with their vicinities
to the public realm of market places adds to human interaction.
-
On the application of MatrixThe matrix is based on the feedback mechanism loop system and hence the relevance of
inter-relationships is not unidirectional. The inter-relationships derived from the spatial
studies help decode the Indian urban narrative n a logical manner. The matrix indicates
towards intangible factors that are the undercurrents of the Indian socio-spatial
understanding and asserts the pluralistic nature of Indian cities. It establishes the fact that in
Indian Urbanism, it is the human life (daily life) that shapes and controls the built
environment and as human life is a subject of political, social, economic and religious
factors, the physical configurations of the environment keep changing in tandem with
human configurations. The actor-network relationship defines types of transformations on
the principles of self-organization and characterizes the reality of Indian cities as cities in
transition.
REFERENCES
Adler I. (2011), The Silk Road, Asian Studies, p.270
Bijapurkar R. (2009), We are like that only- Understanding the Logic of Consumer India,
Penguin Portfolio, p.8
Cha T.K., Chung C.J., Gunter J., Herman D., Hodaya H., Leong S.T., Matsuhita K., McMorrough
J., Palop-Casada J., Schafer M., Vinh T., Weiss D.J., Wyman L. (2000), Mutations, Actar
Publishing, p.132
Fenton J. (1985), Pamplet Architecture II- Hybrid Buildings, Princeton Architectural Press
Habraken N.J. (1998), The Structure of the Ordinary, the MIT Press
LIST OF IMAGES
All images have been photographed by the author.
Image 1- Haat, weekly market place
Image 2- Mela
LIST OF FIGURES
All figures have been produced by the author.
Figure 1- Hawkers
Figure 2- Vendors
Figure 3- Bazaar as a street
Figure 4- Bazaar as a network
Figure 5- Location Map- Itwari Market Place
Figure 6- Morphology- Itwari Market Place
Figure 7- Location Map- New Market
Figure 8- Morphology New Market
Figure 9- Graft
Figure 10- Inter-relationship Matrix
LIST OF TABLES
All figures in the tables have been produced by the author.
Table 1- Bazaars along the Silk Route
Table 2- Bazaars in the Colonial and Post-colonial Independent India
Table 3- Spatial Analysis of Itwari Market Place
Table 4- Spatial Analysis of New Market