ABSTRACT
A component of the shopping-centre systems of Europe that sets them apart from those of the New World is the traditional market; before proceeding to review selected studies of the American system we will therefore consider briefly the role of the market in the retail systems of Europe, Africa, and Asia. In this sense a market may be defined as a public gathering of buyers and sellers at an appointed place and at regular intervals for the purpose of doing business under specified conditions. In Britain a century ago markets were the main retail outlets for food, as they remain in so much of the developing world. Nowadays however market halls, covered markets, uncovered markets in town squares, and street markets constitute a generally minor element in European retail systems but their importance varies considerably from country to country and from place to place. In Scandinavia and Switzerland they are of very minor consequence but in many countries of western, central, and eastern Europe they retain a distinctive role. Within Europe they reach their greatest significance in the Mediterranean countries where climate, tradition, the degree of urbanisation, and the standard of living all favour their persistence and vigour. Beyond in Africa and Asia the lower levels of a trade-centre hierarchy serving agrarian-based peoples may often be dominated by periodic markets and in more diversified societies by daily markets. In places market dominance may even extend to the intermediate levels of a hierarchy while over large areas markets remain the major components of entire exchange systems.
