Students: Frida Grahn, Milica Zivkovic
Location: Group work in Kolkata
Date: November, 2008
Type: Research project, student work, Bowbazar, Burrobazar and the New Market

Background
Kolkata was founded as the main trading hub for the British Empire. Hence, spaces of trading relink the city to its root and to the foundation of its existence. Previously being the international center of the global jute trade, the city has more recently had to change its focus and sector of commerce. Today, Kolkata is strewn with markets of all sizes, form and character. Apart from the very picturesque and emblematic ‘Flower Market’, the city is for example home to the famed Bowbazar, Burrabazar and the New Market, one of the most daunting interior spaces of the city.

Themes
Markets can be seen as measuring devices for the city. The distribution of goods, the availability of merchandise, the supply and demand, the price level and the spread of certain products reveal an insight knowledge to the city as a whole. Markets can also be seen as the joint between the rural world and the urban world. As much of the commodities come from areas outside of Kolkata, markets link up the inner city environment with the rural context. They are important spaces of communication between these two spheres, just as they are spaces of trade. Visiting the flower market as one example, one is struck by the large population of transitory urban dwellers, coming from Bihar, Orissa or even further afield and living in trucks, temporary constructions or sleeping rough on the streets of Kolkata.

Project
How are the markets connected to the rural environment of West-Bengal and further areas in the country, as well as neighboring countries? Do the markets trigger rural-urban migration, are the traders temporary urban dwellers? What is the typical flow of goods from the place of production into the urban fabric? Where can certain products be obtained? How does the finer distribution function from the wholesale markets to the individual client or customer? Who are the middle-men, what kind of economy is involved? Document the spaces of a chosen market as a specific case-study and show how this market is linked to all other spaces of the city, and what role it plays in the rural - urban dynamics. Show how conflicts of political affiliation, religious alignment and social attachment are played out in market spaces. Demonstrate how markets are measuring devices and litmus tests for the city.