AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

56 SERGIO FERRAGUT
other actors. Experience indicates that facilitation and construction of
structures and spaces for organization and dialogue can be the result of
the initiative of the civil society and NGOs, such is the case of the
“Freehouse Project” in Rotterdam at the “Afriknaanderwijk Market”
(Kaspori, D., Freehouse Project, 2009, first hand interview).
Once at the market, vendors are assigned stalls within the market
space according to the type of products they sell. For instance, all fresh
vegetables go on the same area, all fresh sea food goes into another area,
all clothes for women in another area, etc. (see appendix 1n and 1o).
Within these areas, the best places are assigned to those vendors that
have been at the market for the longest time and so forth.
Most stalls are run by members of the same families, which contributes
to the more relaxed atmosphere in the market than in established
shops in other areas of the city. Families sometimes own more than one
permit on the same market or in markets in different cities. Ruben, a
vendor at the HCM, works half of the week with at the stall owned by
his family in the HCM and the other half of the week at the stall they
own in a street market in Rotterdam (Ruben, Street Vendor, 2009, first
hand interview).
Although many of the vendors at the market come from different
origins, they all communicate in Dutch among each other and with most
of the customers. At the same time, given that vendors from the same
origin usually end up selling the same type of products and hence are
located in the same area of the market, they also use their local languages
to communicate among each other and with members of their communities
that might be visiting the market on that day.
This variation of backgrounds among the vendors results not only in
a wide assortment of products being offered but also in a unique cultural
richness that reflects the spirit and demographic composition of the city.
Customers to the market are not only attracted to it by the products for
sale or the low prices but also for the unique experience of interacting
with so many different people in such a reduced space.
THE CUSTOMERS AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
Each week, more than one hundred and sixty thousand customers visit
the market for different reasons and from different parts of the city and
the country (OASM website, 2009). Many customers choose to shop at
the market because of the variety of products and the prices that are in