The enormous importance of street markets is often not appreciated. They provide the cheapest food, often the freshest food, social engagement among customers and traders and employ a lot of people. But they have been coming under relentless pressure from developers and often from the councils which manage or regulate them. This conference is supported by Just Space and should help those all over London in the defence of their markets.

Learning from East End Street Markets

1-day conference

Date: Monday 21st August 2023, 10am-5pm

Place: Hason Raja Centre, Whitechapel E1

One-day conference learning from the historic East End Street Markets: the threats, the challenges and what community value means today

The post-Covid 19 cost-of-living crisis has shown the importance of street markets for economic resilience in London’s embedded communities, yet East London’s historic street markets are increasingly under threat due to land speculation, changing public policies and shifts in consumer behaviour.

This conference follows on from June 2019’s ‘The Future of London’s Street Markets’ held in Brixton. We will hear from East London’s longest standing market campaign, the Friends of Queen’s Market (Newham) to identify future threats and key issues facing markets in ‘ethnic majority’ areas of London.

The Just Space Network’s Community-led Recovery Plan and the University of Leeds research findings on the community value of street markets (2022) will set the grounds for afternoon workshops, with input from East End campaigners facing pressures from the financial city and hardline gentrification.

Afternoon group workshops will examine the current position of street markets in understanding the historic East End, its diverse communities and evolving landscape, as places that foster community cohesion to address isolation, provide affordable food for healing and wellbeing and examine the threats to market livelihoods today.

BOOKING: Free to attend. Booking essential. Limited places. Book your place through this Eventbrite link: http://streetmarkets.eventbrite.com and there is a video at