I took a leisure day today with Julio and Dale. Early in the day I went to the 13th Street market. I didn't buy anything, but I did have a good look at what was being offered, which was EVERYTHING! There were mostly fruit and veg a good selection of meat being sold out of the boots of old cars. There were also goods such as children's clothes, pots and pans and some prepared food like fried chicken and sandwiches. The regular juice wagon was not in use but a few similar ones were were operating along the strip. This market takes place weekly and is governed by two main principles: buyer beware and first come, first serve. Sellers arrive to claim their spots early, about 4 am. Wise buyers arrive early to get their pick at about 7 am. Julio says after 9:30 am it gets too packed and the best produce is gone. The market ends at 3 pm and all the rubbish is cleared from the street by 5 pm. Each municipality in Havana has a similar market, with quality, quantity and price varying. These markets started spontaneously and eventually gained the blessing of the government. Stores here have rigid price controls and have a serious lack of variety. The markets have neither. It would appear to be a cradle of capitalism in a sea of socialism. I would say that this type of affair is where capitalism does shine over the rigid controls of socialism. The reason why it does work so well is that these 'players' are all very evenly matched and create a very stable and competitive market. I would suspect that there is room in the market for operations such as this in the UK, but it would need to be protected from predatory monopolies. I should note that there is a very different feeling from the farmers markets that we have in the UK. The target for these markets are much more expansive.
I think that what Roberto said makes good sense. There is always room in the market for urban agriculture, local markets, etc... I keep this in the back of my mind in the case of the Whitfield Shops back in Dundee. Here is a basically unused building, in an area that needs a market. The income level is below average. The people are bargain hunters. I think that a small market would do wonders for the economy of the other shops there. A 24-hour grocery or even a 24 hour newsagent would also be a good asset.
In the afternoon I checked my email at Dale and Lisa's, then we went to the Marnia Hemmingway. The same band that we (me and Julio) saw play last night was also playing tonight, 'Vertical Dimension'. Mostly covers of 1970s songs. They were better tonight. The atmosphere was much nicer as well. Open air so not as noisy and smokey. I should also write a wee bit on Paladars. These are 'small' restaurants located in personal homes. The two I have frequented are the 'Din-Don' and 'Bon Appitite'. Both are very good hand serve at a reasonable price. They are also from the 'Special Period'. Much like the market they started spontaneously and eventually gained the approval of the government. Even up until quite recently they were not allowed to advertise with a sign. Even know the 'Din Don' does not have a sign. They have excellent food probably because they rely strictly on word of mouth. Service is slow by UK standards, count on at least an hour and a half for a nice meal. Once again these operate within a system of state-controlled food outlets called Cafeterias. These cafeterias have mediocre food at fairly high prices - like most fast food places in the UK. They are however, quick. Paladars are licenced so hygiene standards are in place t a much greater extent than seen at the street markets [I will note in here I did watch the chef cook my meal with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth]. Once again we see the blending of commercial/residential in a very smooth manner. Often this type of footfall near a paladar gives the neighbourhood a lively character and the parking attendant/doorman adds a higher level of security to the neighbours for free.
Application of this practise in the UK would not be 'cut and paste', but it goes to strengthen the argument for mixed-use planning [and an argument against planning itself]. It also adds some 'spruce' to the local economic landscape, which seems to be increasingly bland. There are certainly parallels to be drawn with the bland state-controlled market of the pre-1990s Cuba [and the monopolised food market in the UK]. Two different political/economic systems suffering from similar problems of concentration of power and centralisation in the name of efficiencies.
Efficiencies of scale need to be re-though in terms of a sustainable economy. Efficiencies of networks may be a concept worth delving in to. In fact I need to look at this as another evaluative tool for my kit - regarding systems. there needs to be a way of measuring the interconnectedness of a system, but not just the number of connections but in what sense the units are connected. Parallels needs to be made with natural systems. Cells in an organism are nearly automatons but yet rely heavily on the network they are part of on both micro and macro levels. Something else to think about...
Destructive networks also exist. There needs to be differentiation. I would think that salutogenic systems are not destructive [at least not at macro level]. What is a pathogenic systems?
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