How Much Can A Street Corner Market Stall Skew A City’s Future?

A street intersection cluttered with market stalls and shoppers, with old buildings forming a backdrop
South America Trip 793 photo by Powhusku is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Is this South American clutter of old buildings, market stalls and perambulating customers a suitable model for the future development of the City of London? Could be.

If you live in a large city anywhere, it’s not hard to put eyes on the dominating concept for the municipal change: “top down” city development. Just gaze on the horizon for signs of construction cranes and the big shiny high rise buildings complexes that are forging skyward beneath them.

“Bottom up” grow-like-topsy development is surely a thing of the past. Or is it? A victory for the little guys against a major “top down” developer in London, one of the world’s premier cities, has breathed new life into the idea of community driven, “bottom up” municipal change.

Read more in The Guardian: A community in the heart of Tottenham has shown how to fight the developers – and win

Here also is a story about street vendors in Corona Plaza in Queens, New York. They have different struggles with the City administration than in London, but there’s the same bottom up “we can make this work” spirit. Read more in NEXT CITY: Once Upon a Pandemic, NYC Stopped Antagonizing Street Vendors