CHANGING THE INTERFACE OF SPACES OF CONSUMPTION: A STUDY ON THE IMPACT AND IDENTITY OF THE INFORMAL STREET MARKETS IN THE BORDER CITY OF JOHOR BAHRU

Abstract

Johor Bahru, a border city that has developed alongside Singapore since Malaysia’s independence, has seen much development in its formal commercial spaces. Due to the accelerating development of the city for economic gains, the common assumption is that, along with an increase of formal commercial spaces of consumption, there will be a decline in the informal street markets. However, that is not the case. They are, in fact flourishing in variety of products, numbers of stalls legally or illegally, and causing more crowd and congestion in the city streets. Hence, the hypothesis is that informal street markets are not just complimentary but vital to the city of Johor Bahru. Besides providing affordable daily necessities to the inhabitants, there is a sense of looseness that allows for self‐expression, creating a sense of identity and community, unlike the limitations of formal spaces of consumption. This dissertation aims to investigate the formation, impact and characteristics of three informal markets that have different ethnicity groups being the majority vendors in different areas of Johor Bahru city. The ethnographic fragmentation of the communities living in this city can be seen clearly through the formation of Pasar Malams, which are mostly ground‐up initiatives, unlike the top‐down approach taken by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority on Pasar Tani.