Research Projects

New Markets_New Strategies: The emerging informal city-centres of Eastern Europe.

New Markets_New Strategies was a joint research project of the Institute of Urban Design of TU Vienna and the institute of Contemporary Architecture of the Lviv Polytechnic University.

Brief description of the research-topics: 

A phenomenon of urban development in Eastern Europe that so far has received little attention is the establishment of what are called „New Markets“ and their development into enormous, multi-functional centers of commerce and consumption which function according to the principle of a „city within the city“. The main reason for their creation lies in the years of transformation between  1989 and 1991. During this period of instability and the power vacuum the New Markets met the need for a local supply of goods and food.

Most of these New Markets were located on the periphery of major towns. Nevertheless the geographical location of these markets was shaped by new political situations, the newly drawn borders  or through new trade routes and traffic flows.

The built structure of a New Market initially consisted of simple market stalls or cheap kiosks and offered little in the way of protection from the weather for either customers or retailers. Over the past two decades the economic development process has been accompanied by consolidation of the buildings, although many elements of the originally built structure have still survived. The commercial dynamism is matched by a similar development in the quality of architecture. Consequently most of the markets still display a clearly „informal“ image.

The research project is focusing on the phenomena of selected informal markets in Eastern Europe, their principles in organization and spatial quality and their urbanistic consequences  on their „host cities“.