Public Markets in the central area of Belo Horizonte: transformations, resistances, tensions

Abstract

Nowadays, in transformation processes of large cities, public markets have been one of the spatial targets that induce changes in social practices and their users' and consumers' profiles. In Belo Horizonte, “Mercado Central” and “Mercado Novo” reveal these trends and become privileged objects of a case study. This research, carried out between 2017 and 2019, searched for transformations, resistances, and tensions taking place in these traditional commercial facilities. The analyses sought to go beyond a simplistic or generalistic perspective of gentrification, scrutinizing logics of a segregationist nature and the changes of social, economic, and cultural practices, due to quite earlier processes, such as those of patrimonialization, gourmetization, and touristification, characterized by the exploitation of cultural activities aimed at a solvent and rotating public. Using ethnographic observations, interviews, and documents, the close study considered how dimensions of history, relationship, and identity are configured daily. This research shows how identity process and sense of belonging are different in each space. In Mercado Central their traditional patterns of individual ownership have been preserved as well as the longevity of stores. While the "Velho Mercado Novo" initiative seeks for“calculated authenticity” and indiscriminately reinforces the consumption perspective of the place.

Keywords:
Public Market; Gentrification; Gourmetization; Patrimonialization; Touristification