FRESH POINTE
ABSTRACT In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
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2.2 What does a Market represent?
A marketplace is a setting where individuals gather daily to trade and purchase
fruits, livestock, and other goods. Markets are everyday events that are
part of the cityscape and a necessary part of daily life for most civilizations.
A market combines all the elements required to excite one’s senses: a plethora
of colors from the fresh products sold by farmers. Therefore, the market is
made of three different layers that, put together, create a unity: the physical
dimension defined by the space in which the main activities are held, the
social size produced by the multitude of people participating in the activities,
and the economic dimension, found in the entire idea of consumption
inside the market (Smith). A marketplace may be referred to as a Souk in Arabic,
Bazaar in Persian, and a Mercado in Spanish. Historically, marketplaces
grew near fortified buildings, such as castles and churches, not only to benefit
from their security but also because large-scale dwellings produced consistent
demand for products. Markets appeared to operate for the benefit of
all, attracting crowds and generating regular earnings, making them appealing
to bureaucrats and rulers, who utilized their ability to generate taxes to
fund the town’s army. Which later introduced set laws and regulations, which
made marketplaces on specific days and locations (Tomlinson and Planas).
Markets are intricate social and commercial areas
that frequently conflict with current public space uses;
they are cultural relics engrained inside the heart of
metropolitan cities such as Dubai. Markets are thriving
establishments instead of static architectural heritage,
but they serve crucial social purposes in the communities
in which they are located. They are spaces
where individuals communicate, places that induce
the senses and most importantly the memory (Smith).
They encourage people to communicate with one
another. Markets tend to have the same social values
as designed public spaces, such as piazzas, but they
also respond to the city’s food demand and create a
community of people formed by the buyers and sellers.
Figure 10: Fruit Market
Figure 11: Jemaa El Fnaa
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