Throughout history, markets as public spaces have played an important role in the development of cities and communities. With changes in political and economic systems, consumer habits and with the effects of globalization, markets are gradually losing their position as functional central spaces in local communities. One of these such spaces is the 'little market' in the Ivan Cankar City Quarter in Maribor, which is the focus of this study. In the theoretical section, three aspects related to literature are presented: the socio-spatial role of markets, market and food-related revitalizations and the importance of local initiatives as a tool for revitalization. At the forefront of the study is the social component of physical spaces and the importance of simultaneous spatial revitalization of these valuable public spaces. The empirical section focuses on the case study of the activities from a local initiative, implemented to revive the 'little market' in Maribor. The analysis shows the socio-spatial outcomes and whether they could be understood as the initial stage in the market revitalization process. The main aim of this thesis is to present why markets are extremely important and valuable assets of communities, why their revitalization is worthwhile and, particularly in the case of the 'little market', quite necessary.
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