ABSTRACT
Based on the theory of the power of weak ties (Granovetter 1973), where weak ties are viewed as an indispensable bridging mechanism between individuals and groups of diverse social groups, in this chapter, I examine the social practices of everyday commercial workings and transactions, leisure, meetings, negotiations and the like, and the ensuing social cohesion on a pan-cultural and ubiquitous public space, the street. I contrast the streets of the Global South using the commercial streets of a neighbourhood in New Delhi, India, with the commercial streets of the Global North using examples of neighbourhoods in Cambridge, MA and Cincinnati, OH in the United States to explore the significance of the street as a meaningful place for interaction and contact among diverse individuals and groups. The purpose of comparing the streets in the Global South with those in the Global North is threefold. First, as has been extensively discussed in the literature on public space, is to briefly highlight the limitations of the over-structured and measured quality of the street in the Global North. The second is to provide some lessons and takeaways from the street in the Global South to explore the possibilities of the neighbourhood commercial street of the Global North as a space of social cohesion that is in contrast to the highly commodified and institutionalized streets and spaces of the downtowns of most cities. And finally, to suggest some lessons from the largely rationally ordered streets in the Global North to benefit the street of the Global South.
