AJLA 09: Designing with Traders - Co-Creation as a Tool for Public Realm Upgrading
Langa’s informal trading spaces and food networks, are a defining feature of the area’s economic and cultural fabric. With a longstanding presence established in the1980s, traders at Langa’s Smiley Market (where sheep heads are prepared and sold) have developed their own spatial systems for workflow, trade and customer engagement—despite lacking formal infrastructure. However, the market faces growing challenges, including waste management issues, inefficient layouts, and a lack of basic services, necessitating an upgrade that ensures traders can operate with dignity and efficiency. Yes& Studio Landscape Architects and Urban Designers has been working alongside partners within the AfriFoodLinks programme, a project that partners municipal representatives, academics, NPOs, consultants, and traders. The programme highlights how bottom-up processes can intersect with formal governance structures to foster more resilient urban food systems.
Conventional design processes often impose solutions that overlook the expertise of those who use these spaces daily. This article examines how co-creation serves as a useful design methodology and set of tools, offering an alternative to top-down upgrades by focusing on traders’ tacit knowledge and lived experience in shaping their own environment.