Constructing the marketplace: A socio-spatial analysis of past marketplaces of Istanbul

While a growing body of research analyses the changing position of marketplaces as a result of the pervasive neoliberal discourse on urban development and administration, litt le att ention has been devoted in urban planning and design to understanding how marketplaces intervene in the everyday lives of urban inhabitants in establishing community relations. This article explores the social construction of marketplaces and promotes their generative capacity as a spatial expression of intercultural exchange and everyday belonging. These arguments are elaborated through exploratory documentary research of past marketplaces of Istanbul. By approaching the marketplace as a social construct, the article seeks to understand the embedded nature and role of the marketplace in the community. The social construction of the marketplace reveals the nature of community relations, social-spatial diff erentiation, and identifi cation in public spaces as the primary connection between the individual and the city.