PhD Oral Exam - Judy Chen, Geography, Urban, and Environmental Studies

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Public markets serve as critical infrastructure for social integration, yet their role as urban public spaces that cultivate public life remains under-examined. Public life enables a cosmopolitan coexistence among strangers; however, the micro-urban mechanisms that facilitate these everyday encounters remain poorly understood. This research addresses this gap by investigating the socio-spatial dynamics of public markets in the city of Montréal.

This research examines the marketplace as a complex communicative ecosystem, analysing how public life is structured not only through spoken words and visual signs, but also through bodily encounters, spatial distance, and sensory cues. While existing studies on public markets often centres on vendor economics, community organisational efforts, and municipal governance, the perspectives of the people who use these spaces are less addressed. Drawing attention to market-goers as critical agent of public life, this research investigates how marketplace afford sociability through sensory experience.

Through conducting fieldwork on Montréal’s public markets—the Atwater, Jean-Talon, and Maisonneuve Market—the study critically analyses how everyday rhythms, sensory experiences, spatial practices, and social interactions collectively shape the production of public space and public life. Utilising an embedded multiple-case study design, this research employs a mixed-methods approach integrating behavioural mapping, participant observation, surveys, interviews, spatial analysis, and performative projects. This triangulation of methods yields a robust understanding of public markets by bridging quantitative spatial and behavioural data with qualitative human perspectives.

The findings demonstrate that markets are far more than sites of economic exchange; they operate as rhythmic, sensorial, and performative urban environments where public life is continuously produced through embodied everyday practices. Specifically, the study highlights how market rhythms and performatives influence patterns of sociability, while sensory atmospheres contribute directly to place attachment and fluid social interactions. Furthermore, the research emphasises the importance of scale, materiality, and the surrounding urban context in shaping the intensity of these rhythms. By proposing sociability-centred market design features and examining broader planning considerations, this research highlights the critical implications of urban design and planning for fostering vibrant, meaningful, and civil public spaces. Markets are a language that enables us to understand and structure public spaces and public life.