Spaces of social representation in the new urban landscape: the case of Kypseli Municipal Market, Athens, Greece

Abstract

While being an indicator of a well-regulated economy, public markets also function as spaces of socialization, cultural representation and a formative factor for community identities. In addition, a new trend in the specific field of study has emerged in the past ten years that approaches the institution of public markets as an expression of informal practices, cooperative economy and resistance to the ongoing commercialization and privatization of urban space. A case as such has been the historic municipal market of Kypseli, one of Athens’ most vibrant and densely populated districts. This paper seeks to explore the different stages of social agency and those public initiatives associated with the communal space of Kypseli Market by addressing the following question: How these forces have attempted to reintroduce the space’s character and functionality as a response to the challenges of privatization, commercialization and social exclusion of underprivileged groups of people, namely refugees, migrants and members of lower class stratification?