• Introduction
• the medieval market square
• structures
• market hall as public space
• the city in transition
• the global city
• sites of contestation
• the ailing city
• reflection
• market halls in transition

the market square

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.”