Public Policies and Local Market Transformation: An Institutional and Socioeconomic Analysis of the Santander Market Square in Quilichao, Cauca, Colombia

María Elvira Arboleda Castro, Alba Lucía Cifuentes González, Steev Romero Agredo

Abstract

The local market of Santander de Quilichao, located in the Cauca Department of Colombia, represents a complex social, economic, and cultural space shaped by multiple public policies related to urban management and local development. This study examines the marketplace as a site where tensions emerge between institutional modernization initiatives and the preservation of traditional, community-based dynamics characteristic of popular markets. The research aims to assess how public policies related to urban renewal and land-use planning have influenced the market’s physical layout, functional organization, symbolic meaning, commercial practices, spatial appropriation, and the sustainability of local entrepreneurship. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach, combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and photographic documentation with an analysis of development plans and territorial planning instruments. Findings reveal that, despite institutional efforts toward modernization-primarily focused on infrastructure and sanitary improvements-significant gaps remain in the design and implementation of comprehensive public policies capable of aligning economic development with the protection of the market’s social and cultural identity. As an original contribution, this research provides field-based empirical evidence from a marketplace in a non-capital intermediate municipality, a context rarely explored in the literature on public policy and traditional markets. Its novelty lies in the integrated analysis of local public policies, popular entrepreneurship, and sustainability, grounded in the lived experiences of market vendors. The results offer valuable insights for designing territorial public policies that promote the sustainable and inclusive transformation of local markets while preserving their social and cultural significance.

 

Keywords: Public policy; local entrepreneurship; market vendors; traditional markets; cultural heritage.

 

DOI https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.53.1.8


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