The medieval market square
was an early example of an urban social space. Many of the
activities of the market square were incorporated in to the
market hall. In it's earliest manifestations, it served to
consolidate, organise and define standards and prices for a
city’s food supply. The market hall extended a tradition in
which, “in its robust simplicity”, as Fernand Braudel
explained, [it] is the most direct and transparent form of
exchange, the most closely supervised and the least open to
deception.”