Mercado sobreruedas
An informal market
A particular characteristic of these markets is that most of them are administrated by either one of two large unions that, besides other smaller unions, specifically operate in these markets. One is the ALOP, also known as the union of Doña Chui, and the other is the Margarita Maza de Juarez Union. All these unions where formed during a long history of struggle and popular movements, which are also responsible for some of the informally established slums in the city (Valenzuela 1988).
In each market, the streets are divided between the unions. These divisions can be recognized by the different colors used by each union for the covers of the stalls. While the ALOP has red tents, the Margarita Maza de Juarez Union has blue yellow striped tents. Don Esteban, a vendor who works with the Margarita Maza de Juarez Union, told me that most of the time the relation between the unions is peaceful. Problems arise when a vendor from one union tries to set up stall in another union’ s territory. An intrusion which the colors of the tents would immediately flag up.
The unions that control the markets act as a bridge between the vendors and the state. Their organizations intervene in decisions whether new markets can be created or whether a current market can expand, and they also control the distribution of new spots. In the markets the unions assign one vendor for every street as a coordinator who also organizes the installation of the stalls in the morning.
In general, there are two types of vendors. For some vendors, working in the market is their main business, often involving the whole family. These vendors usually work in the markets most days of the week and are members of a union. For other vendors, who often have formal jobs, working in the market is primarily a way of gaining some extra income. They only work one or two days during the week, and in many cases they don’t belong to any of the unions operating in the markets. These vendors work informally outside of the unions’ structure and protection, setting up their stalls on streets running parallel to the ones under the control of the unions. They often get harassed by inspectors from the mayor’s office, and sometimes they form an agreement with the union for protection, usually by paying a commission to the union which gets passed on as a bribe to the inspectors for turning a blind eye.
There are around three hundred markets installed on the streets of the various neighborhoods and slums of Tijuana. When a vendor belongs to a union he or she has the right to choose between the different markets that this union controls for different days of the week. It is thus common to see vendors in one market on a Monday and find them again at a different market on another day. While from Monday to Friday numerous smaller markets take place throughout the city that occupy at least one block and can extend up to 10 or 15 blocks, there are fewer but bigger markets on weekends whose size can range from 10 up to 30 or even more blocks.
Studies
A massive open market exists underneath the Superhighway between Shenzhen and Guangzhou
read more...
read more...
Elastic borders at the Dominican ‘International Fairs’
read more...
read more...
in the Tri-Border Area of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina
read more...
read more...
Occupying the derelict remains of a once popular resort area on the fringes of Buenos Aires
read more...
read more...
The body as a commercial vehicle
Case studies from Lima, Peru and Tijuana, México
read more...
read more...
Rom-Hoob market runs about 500 meters along both sides of the Mae Klong railway in Samut Songkhram.
read more...
read more...
A container market located outside of Odessa, at the ‘7th Kilometre’, claims to be the largest market in Europe.
read more...
read more...
as a liberated archive
read more...
read more...
Vietnamese markets sprawl on former no-man's-land along the Iron Curtain
read more...
read more...
In the border town of Tijuana more than 300 street markets provide a much needed common sphere
read more...
read more...
Four Tigers Market is a major node of the East Asian migrant community in Budapest.
read more...
read more...
A game of masquerades, Moscow's Cherkizovsky market occupies a 1980s Olympics site.
read more...
read more...
At Arizona Market in Bosnia and Herzegovina informal urbanisation intersects with post-war peacekeeping.
read more...
read more...
High-contrast developments take place just outside Istanbul's Byzantine city walls.
read more...
read more...