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What about Dublin’s Markets?
If you believe Dublin needs multiple market spaces, please do the following:
Dublin City Markets is a prosocial vision for the revival of Dublin’s derelict spaces to become spaces of connection and community through markets. It aims to create a space for the people, by the people.
There were various surveys, interviews and talks that took place to build a communal image of what the city of Dublin would like to see from these Markets. When asking people’s opinions on whether they would attend an accessible, sheltered third space in Dublin’s city centre, 94.7% said they would. An overwhelming majority added they would be highly interested in seeing
Fresh Produce
Fresh cooked food
Arts and crafts
At such markets, with many 80% saying they would like to deepen their connection to their community.
“It will draw in people to community spaces, build relationships and there is a positive for this and all”
By encouraging prosocial spaces that cater for a variety of age ranges, we can begin to build a stronger, safer Dublin and combat the rise of anti-social behaviour in the city centre. With increased public infrastructure to strengthen our community we can begin to combat anti-social problems while providing vendors safer workplaces and increasing jobs.
There are
barriers
barriers
Many public concerns surround affordability, in a cost of living crises we can’t always afford to support local and community based sellers. However, having a reliable and available market space with steady flows of foot traffic makes it increasingly easier to. With a majority stating they would visit between 2pm - 9pm on weekends, however many noted they would be highly interested in attending during lunch breaks or after work, but ensuring the reliability of these markets is key.
“They have to feel like a secure place to purchase from and not like they won’t be there tomorrow”
The public did cited 77.8% how they felt more rewarded and a deeper sense of connection and community when buying from local vendors, so increasing this ease of access and convenience for the public and strengthen both this and our local businesses.
“I love supporting a small business where I know the money really matters”
Understanding government subsiding and policy to help lessen the impact of vendor costs such as rent is key, while keeping quality control in check so that these markets can not only compete against retailers but encourage them to outpace them entirely. With lower costs for selling, it is key that costs should be lower, communicating this expectation to these vendors is essential.
When asked what buildings they would like to see these markets in, the buildings chosen were
The Iveagh Market, Francis Street
St Andrews Church, Suffolk Street
The Independent House, Abbey Street
All are highly accessible, have steady foot traffic and have excellent public transport links. By having multiple locations, we can diffuse the impact of gentrification while accounting for concerned specialities within each market space (having a focus on clothes, food etc).
When asked about faculties they would like to see the top considerations were
Pushing for the inclusion of these considerations is key. Though we do recently have a market space being built, the considerations above have not been fully accounted for with public infrastructure frequently lacking suitable bathrooms, shelter against Irish weather and cleanliness.
“Seating and shelter for sure… make it feel more chill to just wander around or hang out there for a bit”
Other amenities with the arts such as live music could be worked in, to increase relevance and draw people in. Similarly, a smaller selection business plans that offer semi-permanent stalls at discounted prices to vendors would allow for the markets to remain relevant and interesting and increase in public presence due to virality and turnover that keeps the market up to date with trends.
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In order to make these market spaces for communities, barriers like these need to be addressed by planners, architects and city managers. However, there is a clear market for markets as seen through the opinions, thoughts and answers from the people of Dublin. Investing in our communal future benefits our connections to each other while promoting locality, and a more circular economy by nature. When we talk, laugh and play in these spaces together, we deepen our contemporary cultural space and connections to each other.