A democratization of urban space: Gender and ethnicity in the Whitechapel Market

Abstract

This article examines how the replication of familial, communal patterns from the home country is shaping public space. Combining the synergetic aspects of subjective experience with the objective measurements of the space, we study Whitechapel Market in the East End of London. We shed new light on the term public sphere, revealing two socio-spatial mechanisms: the first is an adaptation of the spatial structure—a way of the local community to create separation between females and males in the heterogeneous western public space. The second is the “invisible hands” of the females: the unobservable force that contributes to the community’s wealth and cohesion. Our findings show the capacity of a given urban form for adaptation—it creates a new public sphere, partly democratized, but still segregated. A sphere, that from one hand provides traditional gendered roles, and from another a fertile environment for social and economic prosperity.

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