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Urban metabolism of asean night markets based on biological principles

Villaseca Maria Rallah

PII: S2590-2520(20)30036-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2020.100055
Reference: CACINT 100055

To appear in: City and Environment Interactions

Received Date: 3 October 2020

Revised Date: 27 December 2020
Accepted Date: 29 December 2020

Please cite this article as: V. Maria Rallah, Urban metabolism of asean night markets based on biological
principles, City and Environment Interactions (2021), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2020.100055

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 1 URBAN METABOLISM OF ASEAN NIGHT MARKETS
2 BASED ON BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
3
4
5
6 ABSTRACT

7 In urban metabolism, attaining sustainability includes viewing urban areas as

8 organisms and manipulating urban stock flows from linear to circular systems to mimic
9 natural ecosystems. Thus, quantitative studies such as material flow analyses are
10 common but criticized as excluding of non-quantifiable factors like culture. This study
11 sees urban areas as biological organisms and aims to defend it through a constructive
12 analysis based on ethnographic data collected. Here, ASEAN Night Markets (ASM)
13 are seen as microcosms of complex urban areas. The concept of urban areas as living
14 organisms is explored by contextualizing stock flows in Night Markets (NM) of Bangkok
15 (Thailand), Davao (Philippines), and Ho Chi Min City (Vietnam) parallel to biological
16 principles of metabolic exchange. In biology, metabolism is the molecular exchange
17 patterns occurring within organisms to sustain life. The discourse includes
18 epistemological correlations of biological macromolecules to urban stocks,
19 comparisons of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production to economic activity in
20 ASMs, and commonalities in factors that sustain the organism and the ASMs. The
21 abduction is that night markets are stem cells of cities, where non-quantifiable factors
22 such as culture and policy are nucleic acids that carry instruction molding its
23 spatiotemporal configurations. The findings expound on the impact of the paradigm to
24 the development of urban areas.
25
26
27 Keywords: Urban ecosystems, Material Flow Analysis, Street Vending, Micro and Small-to-Medium
28 Enterprises, living cities, Industrial Ecology, Environmental Economics,
29
30
31
32
33 INTRODUCTION

34 NMs provide economic opportunities and cultural experience to both sellers and
35 visitors, especially in the ASEAN region. These urban spaces are described as bio-
36 social spheres where cultural identity and sense of place fosters “fulfilling spaces of
37 work, and overall well-being” (Pavo, 2019). However, these positives come with
38 environmental challenges such as traffic jams and sanitation issues that in 1978, the
39 Singapore government suppressed street-selling despite Lee Kwan Yew quoted to
40 thank hawkers for “...goods [brought] to the doorsteps of people beside providing some
41 employment” (Prasad, 2015). The inability to sustain ASMs is recessive to sustainable
42 development in ASEAN which is propelled by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
43 (MSME) (ASEAN, 2018).

44 On one hand, urban metabolism (UM) is a paradigm that inspects resource

45 consumption and waste production patterns of urban areas by understanding
46 metabolic footprints to find resource-draining gaps (linearity) and correct them towards
47 circular patterns (Dinarès, 2014) (Musango, Currie, & Robinson, 2017). Maximizing
48 the connectivity between urban areas of different scales and transforming the flow of
49 its urban stocks towards circular symbioses is an approach towards sustainability
50 (Rapoport, 2011). Thus, urban areas are commonly subject to assessments identifying
51 impediments to this flow. These are commonly approached via accounting
52 perspectives which describe quantities and categories of inbound and outbound flows
53 of urban stocks (Musango J. C., 2017) but is criticized for failing to capture
54 unquantifiable facets of the city like culture (Rapoport, 2011).

55 Parallelly, Patrick Geddes set forth a normative theory of cities as organisms in

56 describing cities as similar to plants in its dependence on physicalism for its evolution
57 (Batty & Marshall, 2009) (Geddes, 1915). The Geddesian triad of work, folk, and place
58 discusses economics, people, and region as interrelated factors that shape a city.
59 Descending from Geddes’ work, urban planner Jaqueline Tyrwhitt is cited in her
60 descriptions of a modern urban planner as one that sees places as something that
61 “came into being” (Shoshkes, 2016). Conversely, biological organisms are defined
62 alive when metabolism occurs and in biology, metabolism is “the sum of the chemical
63 reactions that take place within each cell of a living organism, and provide energy for
64 vital processes [such as] synthesizing new organic material.” (Kornberg, 2019).
65 Through Ekistics, Doxiadis so far as established energy models of settlements based
66 on caloric consumption and the movement of people (Doxiadis, 1970). For both urban
67 areas and organisms, conditions that nurture the synthesis of energy towards growth
68 define its existence. The inference of this study is that its health is its sustainability.

69 This study also infers that in any urban area, its people is a catalyst of both
70 quantifiable and non-quantifiable urban stocks. The aim is to reinforce Geddes’ theory
71 of cities as organisms by inducing similarities between biological and urban metabolic
72 patterns using ethnographic methodology to observe the impact of non-quantifiable
73 factors to the urban stock flow. Through constructive analysis, the study then aligns
74 observations with metabolic exchanges of biological organisms to discuss where the
75 non-quantifiable components may be situated in complex systems of material flows in
76 the urban areas in the context of it being an organism. The study takes geospatial
77 physiography as a baseplate to perform non-participatory observations, thus having
78 observed ASMs like plant cells under a microscope. The bird’s eye data is augmented
79 with participatory observations and interviews to capture ethnographic influence on
80 urban stock flows of ASMs. The larger goal is to explore whether through urban
81 metabolism, cities can be biologically interpreted to establish healthy growth patterns
82 for its sustainability.

83
84 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

85 Like organisms, cities grow, consume and produce energy, and respond to
86 physical environments. Each operational place in a city involve a continually moving
87 pattern of resource consumption and waste production (Musango, Currie, & Robinson,
88 2017). At the core, urban metabolism asserts that sustainability can be attained by
89 ensuring that patterns of resource consumption are circular rather than linear such
90 that the waste of urban components are the resources of another (Dinarès, 2014)
91 (Rapoport, 2011). Volumes of discussions on urban stocks and flows are usually
92 anchored on quantitative sciences where efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency are

2
 93 defined as the balance between the input and output of resources, the flow of
94 resources with ample room for continuity, and the ability of the flow to recuperate after
95 a disaster (Abel Chavez, 2018). As such, studies in urban metabolism often include:
96 (1) material-flow analysis, which takes accounting principles of material input-and-
97 output analysis; and (2) ecological footprint analysis which takes spatial areas and
98 physical size into account (i.e. the amount of land used to produce a specific amount
99 of rice) (Musango, Currie, & Robinson, 2017). However, much of the criticisms on
100 urban metabolism is in the tendency of the paradigm to be overly concerned in the
101 mechanized flows of quantifiable stocks only. To quote Dinares in their literature
102 review on urban metabolism:
103
104 “It is argued that these predominant conceptions of [Urban Metabolism] depo-
105 liticize the urban sphere, since they are unrelated to social and historical contexts,
106 paying little attention to political changes as well (Gandy, 2004; Monstadt, 2009;
107 Rapoport, 2011; Swyngedouw, 2006)…
108
109 Therefore, as suggested by Martínez-Alier (2010a:153), analysis should focus on “the
110 manner in which human societies organize their growing exchanges of energy and
111 materials with the environment”.” (Dinarès, 2014)
112
113 Every urban area has political and sociocultural parameters that are neglected
114 in typical urban metabolic assessments (Rapoport, 2011). This is problematic in the
115 purview of urban areas as living organisms because while quantitative modes of
116 inquisition measure quantifiable urban stocks, it fails to capture the non-quantifiable
117 aspect of urban areas, which is encompassed within ethnographic activity. Genius loci
118 (spirit of place) perceives spaces as alive on a conceptual level and describes its
119 spirituality as derived from both intangible and tangible values (Vecco, 2020). For
120 ASMs sustained on cultural tourism, its non-quantifiable layer is integral to being alive.
121
122 In biology, an organism is qualified as living based on bio-molecular interactions
123 occurring within it. A living cell rearranges structures of nutrients as macromolecules
124 to sustain its functions. One example occurs in cellular respiration in mammals when
125 erythrocytes in blood vessels diffuse oxygen to other cells in other parts of the body.
126 These reactions feed off four macromolecules, namely (1) lipids, (2) carbohydrates,
127 (3) glucose, and (4) nucleic acids. These are called the main building blocks of the
128 body because the organism builds itself up from the exchanges between these
129 nutrients and its cellular compositions. As an example, the body acquires these
130 nutrients by eating and dispels them in another form through excretion. An urban area
131 as an organism should therefore consume and excrete similarly.
132
133 In one study, Rosado has categorized urban stocks through a Material
134 Categorization Nomenclature (MATCAT nomenclature) that grouped urban materials
135 as (1) fossil fuels, (2) metallic minerals, (3) non-metallic minerals, (4) biomass, (5)
136 chemical and (6) others (Rosado, Niza, & Ferrao, 2013). Each group is composed of
137 different sub-groups shown in Table-1. It is suggested that these materials are exactly
138 the macromolecules of the city and that exchanges respective to each material mimic
139 biological, molecular metabolic exchanges. Thus, the growth of ASMs are drawn from
140 the exchanges of these materials. However, the MATCAT nomenclature is built upon
141 quantifiable urban stocks whereas the study also seeks to understand how non-
142 quantifiable urban stocks are involved in these exchanges to abduct the temporal into
143 the spatio-physical context of the urban metabolism of ASMs.

3
144 Table 1 Nomenclature of Material Categories (MATCAT) in Urban Metabolism (Rosado, Niza, &
145 Ferrao, 2013)

Material Code Description Material Code Description

Category Category
Fossil FF1 Low ash Fuels Biomass BM1 Agricultural Biomass
Fuels (FF) FF2 High ash Fuels (forestry, BM2 Animal Biomass
crops and
FF3 Lubricants and Oils and Solvents animal BM3 Textile Biomass
FF4 Plastics and Rubbers products) BM4 Oils and Fats
(BM)
Metals MM1 Iron, Steel Alloying Metals and BM5 Sugars
(MM) Ferrous Metals
MM2 Light Metals BM6 Wood
MM3 Non-ferrous heavy metals BM8 Non-specified Biomass
MM4 Special metals Chemicals CF1 Alcohols
MM5 Nuclear fuels and Fertilizers CF2 Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals
(CF)
MM6 Precious metals CF3 Fertilizers and Pesticides
Non- NM1 Sand Others (O) O1 Non-specified
metallic NM2 Cement O2 Liquids
minerals
(NM) NM3 Clay
NM4 Stone
NM5 Other (Fibers, Salt, inorganic parts
of animals)
146
147
148 METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

149 Three ASMs from three ASEAN key cities (locations shown on Figure-1) were
150 chosen, namely (1) Khao San Road (Bangkok, Thailand), which was chosen for being
151 dubbed as the “backpacker ghetto” of Asia; (2) Roxas Night Market (Davao City,
152 Philippines), which was chosen for its strict management ---a consequence of it being
153 bombed in 2016 (Pavo, 2019) (MINDANEWS, 2016); and (3) Ben Thanh Night Market,
154 which was chosen for consistently emerging as a top result in internet search engines
155 preliminarily conducted. All ASMs experienced periods of being “formalized” by its
156 respective local governments to address issues like sanitation, traffic, and migration
157 (Hutton, 2019) (Bemma, 2018) (Chu, 2010) (Cudis, 2016).
Figure 1 In orange dots, ASEAN Night Markets of Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand, Ben Thanh
Night Market, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and Roxas Night Market in Davao, Philippines as shown on
ASEAN region in dark gray. (Maps by Esri, annotations by Villaseca, 2020)

4
158 The methodology firstly focused on establishing maps based on the physical
159 layers of the ASMs. Open sourced maps from Google Maps, ArcGIS, and Open Street
160 Maps were accessed to visualize the locations of the night market to entry points of
161 the city and its sizes relative to the urbanized areas. Having a base-map allowed
162 observation of urban-stock flows through the ASMs across three scales: (1) within the
163 night market, (2) next to edges of the night market, and (3) beyond the night market.
164 The second component of data collection was done via library research, and direct
165 and participatory observations. Public domain videos on the ASMs allowed for further
166 analysis of its physical compositions including urban-stock flow patterns as well as the
167 visitor experiences collected through vlog reviews. The researcher also mounted
168 cameras to record aerial perspectives of the ASMs, which allowed a closer observation
169 of the stocks, which would have required elaborate tagging if performed using
170 Geospatial Information Systems. Each ASM was observed in three to five days.
171 During this time, the author also conducted on-site physical interviews together with
172 interpreters. The analysis then focused on comparisons of urban stocks with that of
173 biological macromolecules, based on similarities in characteristics, functions and
174 exchange patterns.

175
176 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

177 To visualize the physical base of the ASMs, Figure-2 shows a closer view of
178 the streets of each ASM with annotation on its access points, where red indicates
179 vehicular access and blue for pedestrian access. It was observed that the components
180 that built up the night market (sellers, carts, visitors, wastes) infiltrated the night market
181 through access points on the roads. The roads function similarly to circulatory systems
182 of biological organisms where nutrients are also carried through. Figure-3 shows the
183 lengths of the streets on which the ASMs appear at 560m, 405m, and 150m plus 140m
184 respectively for Roxas Avenue (Davao Roxas Night Market), Khao San Road, and
185 Phan Chu Trinh and Phau Boi Chau (Ben Thanh Night Market). The yellow line
186 illustrates the political boundaries of districts and cities while the blue-green line shows
187 rivers.
188
189 Figure 2 Closer view of the ASMs, Not Drawn to Exact Scale (Base maps by Google Maps, Open Street
190 Maps, and Esri through ArcGIS, annotations by Villaseca, 2020)

191
192 It was upfront that activity in ASMs is initiated by people. Considering that ports
193 were main access points for migrant sellers and visitors in ASMs, Figure-4 (left
194 column) show radial distances of ASMs to main ports. Sai Gon river port within 1.2km
195 radius is nearest to Ben Thanh Night Market. Bus and train stations were within 11kms
196 to the ASMs whereas airports were from 6km to 28km radius. Khao San Road was
197 farthest to ports and Ben Thanh was nearest. Nonetheless, roads remained the main
198 access for all urban stocks headed towards ASMs.

5
 Figure 3 Lengths of roads for each ASM and sizes relative to urban areas and landmarks (Base
maps by Google Maps and Esri through ArcGIS, annotations by Villaseca, 2020)

Figure 4 ASM Distances to Ports and surrounding land use (Base maps from Google Maps, Open
Street Maps, and Esri through ArcGIS, annotations by Villaseca, 2020)

199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208

6
209 Figure-4 on (right column) illustrates how, even for Davao City which is
210 the least urbanized of the ASEAN cities observed, the ASMs are situated where
211 urban activity is notably dense. The coverage was measured by approximating
212 a 1-km walking distance to the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western sides
213 of the ASMs. A radius was drawn from an arbitrary center to create the
214 circumferences. The land use for each block was approximated firstly through
215 public street views and map labels and later verified upon actual site visit. Blue
216 blocks indicate institutional use assigned due to the presence of religious sites,
217 public libraries, and government offices. Red indicates commercial blocks
218 whereas yellow indicates residential blocks. When blocks are in orange, this
219 means a significant mix of residential and commercial activities was observed.
220 It is presumed that these land-use conditions sustain the ASMs for the type of
221 visitors it attracts.
222
223 In Khao San Road, a lady in her thirties decided to open a coffee cart after
224 losing her job during the Asian Financial Crisis. For over ten years, she and her
225 family lived in an apartment next to Khao San Road, where her mother had since
226 owned an ice cream cart. She decided to expand with a coffee cart in the last
227 three years as a response to what she described as an influx of Asian tourists,
228 which increased demand for food rather than retail items. Khao San Road is
229 situated at the heart of tourist spots in Bangkok. The same is applicable for Ben
230 Thanh Night Market, which attracts more shoppers. Tourists from Cebu,
231 Philippines said they came to shop particularly for knock-offs. Another group of
232 three Filipina women in their sixties were exasperated for not getting the
233 expected shopping experience because the official Ben Thanh Night Market was
234 closed for Lunar new year (Tet). Both Khao San Road and Ben Thanh Night
235 Market is surrounded by commercial land use, whereas only Davao Roxas Night
236 Market (known to locals as “Roxas”) has a bulk of residential land-use around
237 it. The crowd in Roxas is mainly composed of locals: residents, students, and
238 workers looking for affordable meals and budget shopping, and saw fewer
239 tourists. (Philippine News Agency, 2019).
240
241
242 The physical components of the ASMs in relation to biological organisms
243
244 It is reiterated that ASMs manifest on circulatory networks surrounded by
245 institutional, residential, and commercial conditions. Figure-5, photo-2 shows
246 collapsible tables as designated dining areas for food carts on the sidewalks of Khao
247 San Road at its peak hours (Figure-5 inset). Buildings adjacent to the road are either
248 pubs, clubs, accommodations, convenience stores, or spas that expand services to
249 the street once it opens. Essentially, the stocks that make up the ASMs are people,
250 stalls, and goods. These manifest on the ASM for an allowed duration. Thus, the
251 physical baseplate of the ASMs are the roads and the infrastructure surrounding it.
252 Table-2 compares generic parts of all living cells: membrane, cytoplasm, and genetic
253 material to components of ASMs. Permanent infrastructure is likened to membranes.
254 Stocks that pass through are cytoplasm. Intangible information, experience, and
255 policies are genetic material.
256
257 Prior to elaborating on intangible information as genetic material, it is important
258 to note that as generic parts of living cells are composed of macromolecules, the

7
259 physical components of the ASMs is composed of quantifiable urban stocks
260 comparable to Rosado’s MATCAT nomenclature. Permanent infrastructure is made
261 up of a compound of Metals and Non-Metallic minerals (steel and concrete) whereas
262 cytoplasmic stocks are compounds of Non-Metalic Minerals and Biomass Products.
263 Table-3 itemizes Rosado’s MATCAT nomenclature with the presences of the materials
264 described per ASM. The materials are hardly visible as independent components but
265 rather compounded alongside other materials. For example, a food cart is made up of
266 metallic metal for some of its parts (steel frames) and biomass and fossil fuel for the
267 goods sold on it. Surrounding infrastructure is a compound of metallic metal (steel
268 frames) and non-metallic minerals (cement, sand, and stone as concrete). Thus, both
269 membranes and cytoplasmic materials for ASMs are made up of the same urban
270 stocks. The exchanges among these compounded materials therefore require a
271 catalyst. For example, a biomass product like Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) is
272 simultaneously converted into waste and money in the exchange of a tourist buying a
273 sandwich from a food cart seller. Buildings and roads that become membranes are
274 made possible by catalysts such as builders, business owners, and capital. The
275 abduction is that these catalysts are related to the genetic material of the ASMs. Table-
276 2, describes genetic material as information that regulates, controls or directs. It
277 informs the cell to perform a metabolic reaction for muscle movement or hair growth.
278 For ASMs, the spatiotemporal influence of genetic material is akin to the
279 spatiotemporal influence of policies and experiences.
280
281 Figure 5 The main activity of the establishments adjacent to Khao San Road expand to the street
282 carriage during the operational hours of the Khao San night market; photo 1 food dining area, photo 2
283 spas, inset at upper right: bars extending to sidewalks. January 21-25, 2020.

284
285 Table 2 Comparisons of generic components of a living cell and definition of respective functions to
286 urban stocks found in the ASEAN Night market

BASIC COMPOSITION DEFINITION/FUNCTION ASEAN NIGHT MARKET (CONTEXT) AS A CELL

OF ALL BIOLOGICAL
CELLS REGARDLESS
OF TYPES
Cell membrane Pliable mass that regulates Slow moving quantifiable urban stocks, i.e. road
exchange/passage of macromolecules carriages and buildings adjacent to night market
Cytoplasm Viscous (viscosity varies), moves Fast-moving quantifiable urban stocks: materials
structurally, may carry macromolecules, and people (takes into account densities)
including enzymes, may maintain the shape
of a cell, may cause movement in a cell

8
 Genetic material Passes on heritage and information; Non-quantifiable urban stocks, i.e. policies,
Regulates/controls/directs information, experience
287 Table 3 Presence of materials on the night markets. Adapted from (Rosado, Niza, & Ferrao, 2013)

KHAO SAN NIGHT MARKET BEN THANH MARKET DAVAO ROXAS NIGHT
MATERIAL CATEGORIZATION AS MARKET
IDENTIFIED BY ROSADO QTY* DESCRIPTION QTY DESCRIPTION QTY DESCRIPTION
(relative to city
consumption)
Fossil FF1 Low ash Fuels None None none None none None
Fuels (FF)
FF2 High ash Fuels None None none None none None
FF3 Lubricants and Minimal, Residue of Minimal, Residue of Minimal, Residue of
Oils and almost cooking almost cooking almost cooking
Solvents negligible materials negligible materials negligible materials
FF4 Plastics and Noticeably Products for Noticeably Products for Noticeably Products for
Rubbers abundant food abundant food abundant food
packaging packaging packaging
Metals MM1 Iron, Steel Noticeably Stall/ Cart Noticeably Stall/ Cart Noticeably Stall/ Cart
(MM) Alloying Metals abundant materials, abundant materials, abundant materials,
and Ferrous Surrounding Surrounding Surrounding
Metals infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure

MM2 Light Metals Noticeably Stall/ Cart Noticeably Stall/ Cart Noticeably Stall/ Cart
abundant materials abundant materials abundant materials
MM3 Non-ferrous None None none None none None
heavy metals
MM4 Special metals None None none None none None

MM5 Nuclear fuels None None none None none None

MM6 Precious metals Moderate Presence of none None none None

jewelry
stores
Non- NM1 Sand Abundant in Surrounding Abundant in Surrounding Abundant in Surrounding
metallic compounded infrastructure compounded infrastructure compounded infrastructure
minerals forms forms forms.
(NM) NM2 Cement Abundant in Surrounding Abundant in Surrounding Abundant in Surrounding
compounded infrastructure compounded infrastructure compounded infrastructure
forms forms forms
NM3 Clay None None none None none None
NM4 Stone Abundant Surrounding none Abundant Surrounding Abundant
infrastructure infrastructure
NM5 Other (Fibers, Abundant Textile for Abundant Textile for Abundant Textile for
Salt, inorganic RTW RTW RTW
parts of animals)

Biomass BM1 Agricultural Abundant Food carts Abundant Food carts Abundant Food section
(forestry, Biomass and
crops and restaurants
animal BM2 Animal Biomass Abundant Food carts Abundant Food carts Abundant Food section
products) and
(BM) restaurants
BM3 Textile Biomass Abundant Carts and Abundant Food carts Abundant Food section
shops
BM4 Oils and Fats Abundant cooking Abundant cooking Abundant cooking
materials materials materials
BM5 Sugars Abundant cooking Abundant cooking Abundant cooking
materials materials materials
BM6 Wood Abundant Ephemeral Abundant Ephemeral Abundant Delivery carts
carts, carts,
souvenir souvenir
items items
BM8 Non-specified Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally
Biomass left blank left blank left blank left blank left blank left blank
Chemicals CF1 Alcohols Abundant Food and Minimal Food and Minimal Food and
and drinks drinks drinks
Fertilizers CF2 Chemicals and Moderate Drugs on the Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally
(CF) Pharmaceuticals party blocks left blank left blank left blank left blank

CF3 Fertilizers and None N/a none N/a none N/a

Pesticides
Others (O) O1 Non-specified Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally Intentionally
left blank left blank left blank left blank left blank left blank
O2 Liquids Abundant Food and Abundant Food and Abundant Food and
drinks drinks drinks

9
288
289 Non-quantifiable stocks as genetic material
290
291 Genetic material is arguably more spatiotemporal as opposed to non-
292 quantifiable urban stocks like music but both carry information that shape the organism
293 and the ASMs. For the ASMs, this information is captured in the experiences of its
294 visitors and sellers as well as policies that control its manifestations and thereby non-
295 quantifiable urban stocks are genetic material.
296
297 To elucidate, a Thai local in his twenties described the ASM as a “cheaper”
298 party place for dance music and meeting foreigners. If one is looking for acoustic
299 music, he recommended Soi Rambutri, the next street parallel to Khao San Road. A
300 German tourist exclaimed that she frequents Khao San Road for its “vibe”. Beginning
301 10:00 (P.M.), restaurants adjacent to the road start to blast different party music. At
302 Ben Thanh Night Market, the shopping experience is a more notable motivation than
303 that of partying. Malou, an overseas Filipino worker in HCMC for six years, cautioned
304 against shopping at Ben Thanh Night Market because of the price. To Malou, nearby
305 Coop Marts are cheaper. A woman in her thirties from Davao, Philippines and vocalist
306 at Bui Vien Street explained she doesn’t shop at Ben Thanh either. Chi Nguyen,
307 interpreter and ten-year resident of HCMC, also doesn’t shop at Ben Thanh night
308 market for the same reason. In Roxas, activity was most notably motivated by food. A
309 domestic tourist staying at a nearby hotel explained that he walked to the night market
310 to eat Tuna-Panga (collar bone). For many vloggers and locals, Roxas is for good,
311 cheap food (The Juicy Vlog, 2019) (Strictly Dumpling, 2019), where meals can be sold
312 for under 1 USD. Ready-to-wear (RTW) items, imported from China and “ukay-ukay”
313 (pre-loved clothing) from Japan and Korea, can also be sold under 1 USD per piece.
314 It is immediately apparent that experiences of sellers and visitors for the ASMs
315 influence both spatially and temporally.
316
317 Policy is also a notable non-quantifiable stock that shaped ASMs. At Khao San
318 Road, failure to comply with results on waste management may result in eviction of
319 cart sellers. In August 2016, the local government of Davao City closed the ASM
320 despite having earned over 10-million pesos in profit since 2014 because of the
321 “unruliness” of sellers (Cudis, 2016). Minor and first violations like selling outside the
322 designated spot, mishandling of waste, failure to wear prescribed uniforms (color
323 coded shirts per type of goods sold, and hair nets and face masks for food sections)
324 are penalized by suspension (days) depending on the violation. Policy at Roxas also
325 require sellers to use transparent roofing to facilitate aerial security monitoring.
326
327 At Ben Thanh Night Market, the road carriage is for rent to a list of sellers
328 approved by the People’s City Committee. A fruit vendor, who has sold at the ASM for
329 more than sixteen years, lamented that only the elite and “connected” were prioritized
330 in this list. Another woman at the intersections of Le Than Ton and Duong Thu Khoa
331 Hua was selling Banh Mi. Asked if this was her regular spot, she answered only
332 because it was Tet Season. She wouldn’t be there when the official night market was
333 operational because she “would be caught”. She has been selling Banh Mi for over
334 ten years but in different locations. A man that was selling scarves on Phan Chu Trinh
335 also declared that the spot he was selling on wasn’t his and that he’d sell the scarves
336 for a much lower price since “Tet is almost over”.

10
337 Urban stocks as macromolecules

338 To expound on the parallels of urban and biological metabolism through urban
339 stocks and macromolecules, Table-4 compares urban stocks to the four main
340 macromolecules recalled as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates. In
341 Table-4, urban stocks are categorized firstly into two components: (1) slow-moving,
342 where movement and interchange of stocks occur beyond 24-hours, and (2) fast-
343 moving, where movement and interchange of stocks occur within 24-hours, which was
344 the window of observation set arbitrarily as one complete cycle for each ASM. Urban
345 stocks are then classified as quantifiable and non-quantifiable. Policy and capital are
346 slow-moving, non-quantifiable stocks because its inter-reactions occur beyond 24-
347 hours. Experience and music are fast-moving, non-quantifiable stocks as both decline
348 and incline in presence in ASMs within 24-hours. Capital is identified as non-
349 quantifiable considering raw labor commonly utilized by MSMEs. Quantifiable fast-
350 moving stocks are people, ephemeral stalls, goods for sale, surface runoff, etc. and
351 quantifiable slow-moving stocks are physical infrastructure.
352
353 Table 4 Comparison of biological macromolecules to urban stocks in ASM

BIOLOGI FUNCTION ASEAN NIGHT MARKET CONTEXTUAL EQUIVALENCE BASED ONNFUNCTION

CAL
MACRO- SLOW-MOVING STOCKS FAST-MOVING STOCKS
MOLECU
LES
QUANTIFIABLE NON- QUANTIFIABLE NON-
QUANTIFI QUANTIFIA
ABLE BLE
Proteins Provide cell Long-term Policy; Registered Ephemeral stalls;
structure, send Infrastructure i.e. Culture Electricity Consumption;
chemical signals, buildings adjacent to Potable Water Supply;
speed up chemical the night market, Surface Water Runoff;
reactions, etc roads, and sidewalks Profit;
(Metallic Materials,
Non-Metallic
materials)
Lipids Provide cells with Long-term Capital; None classified.
long-term energy, Infrastructure i.e.
make up biological buildings adjacent to
membranes the night market,
roads, and sidewalks
Nucleic Store and pass on Organizations i.e. Policy; People (sellers) Experience
Acid genetic local government, People (consumers) Music
information task forces, councils,
committees
Carbohydr Provide cells with Long-term None Informal ephemeral sellers; Services
ates quick/short-term Infrastructure i.e. classified. People (consumers); offered for a
energy, buildings adjacent to Urban stocks sold, i.e. whole food, fee i.e.
the night market, drinks, souvenir items, ready-to- spas;
roads, and sidewalks wear clothes; Mobile utilities i.e.
water, portable fuel canisters,
garbage; Cash; weather
354
355 It is important to note that urban stocks as macromolecules directly supports
356 Rosado’s MATCAT Nomenclature although its categorizations need further academic
357 inspection. For example, parts of living organisms like membrane are also composed
358 of and responsive to macromolecules. Hence, urban stocks are the macromolecules
359 that compound to make up the physiography of ASMs as organisms. Lipids and
360 carbohydrates both store energy although lipids do so in longer terms, and so are
361 related to building infrastructure which are compounds of slow, quantifiable stocks that
362 may also store energy like electricity which stalls on the streets may access. Like other
363 compounds of infrastructure like steel or glass, proteins are also commonly used for

11
364 structural build-up of the body of the organism like hair growth. Nucleic acid is for
365 information transfer, much like policy, and experience, and is thus also likened to
366 genetic material. Interestingly, the cytoplasm itself is a plethora of macromolecular
367 compounds, including carbohydrates and genetic material that also passes through
368 the circulatory system of the organism. With these interpretations of urban stocks as
369 macromolecules that compound to compose the ASM and urban metabolism as the
370 inter-reactions among the stocks, we must then look closer into how the exchanges
371 occur.
372
373
374 Currencies of urban and biological metabolism, transformations of ASMs
375
376 Biological metabolic inter-reactions occur through enzymes, which function like
377 codes that determine the transformation of molecular components. For organisms to
378 utilize carbohydrates, enzymes like amylase bind to the carbohydrate molecule,
379 allowing the organism to break it down (catabolic) or build it up (anabolic) and to leave
380 the organism with by-products for is sustenance. Conversely, the totality of an
381 ephemeral stall in ASMs was induced as a complex compound of urban stocks. Its
382 seller, the products or services sold, the cart, its portable resources, and its potential
383 wastes are all stocks that move through the ASMs. Whether a cart is broken down or
384 built-up, or if a building next to the ASM is renovated or torn down are examples of its
385 catabolic or anabolic transformations. The inter-reactions through these urban stocks
386 is urban metabolism embodied. This also brings us back to the role of catalysts in the
387 urban metabolism of ASMs.
388
389 In biology, cellular respiration is an example of a metabolic pathway influenced
390 by enzymes. It is made up of four key processes: glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, the
391 Kreb’s cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Its inter-reactions occur with
392 a by-product: adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is an organic compound that
393 transforms to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or adenosine monophosphate (AMP),
394 depending on metabolic pathways taken. As such, biologists refer to ATP as molecular
395 currency since the absorption and release of phosphate molecules propel the transfer,
396 diffusion, or absorption of particular molecules as needed by systems in the organism.
397 More ATP in the organism, more molecular inter-reactions can occur. As organisms,
398 the urban metabolism of ASMs therefore requires the assignment of an urban stock
399 equivalent to ATP and that is cash. Cash behaves like ATP by facilitating exchange
400 between seller and consumer and allows the interchanges of urban stocks.
401
402 In Table-5, the four processes of cellular respiration are compared to the
403 collapse and expansion of ASMs. This is shown on the scale of the stall and the ASM.
404 Glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose complex) is likened to the dismantling of stalls;
405 pyruvate oxidation and Kreb’s cycle (production of small amounts of ATP) are likened
406 to illegal “parking” of ephemeral carts on sidewalks, arrangement of cart components
407 for display, and sales in small values; and ATP production during OXPHOS is likened
408 to cash production peaking during official operational hours of the ASMs. During
409 cellular respiration, the highest production of ATP for one cell occurs during OXPHOS.
410 The cycles of activities within the ASM are shown in Table-6, where the horizontal axis
411 or columns depict time and the yellow marker indicates the operational hours of the
412 night market. The columns and rows contain photos and observations of night markets
413 at specific periods. All photos are taken from 2:00-12:00, 12:00 -16:00, 16:00-22:00,

12
414 and 22:00-2:00. In ASMs, cash output is highest during operational hours, with
415 exception of Khao San Road which has a higher metabolic activity when alcoholic
416 drinks are sold (22:00 to 2:00). In Phan Chu Trinh, Ben Thanh Night Market during
417 Tet, rise in metabolic activity manifests within the 18:00 to 23:00 which are the opening
418 hours of the official Ben Thanh Night Market. At Roxas, sellers begin parking their
419 carts under trees by 14:00 to unpack when the night market task force closes off the
420 roads around 18:00, then re-opened at 23:00. Both Ben Thanh Night Market and Khao
421 San Road conduct discreet sales on the non-operational hours of the night markets
422 despite closure.
423
424 Table 5 Comparison of ATP production to cash production in ASM

STAGES OF DEFINITION/ PARAMETERS ASEAN NIGHT MARKET CONTEXT

CELLULAR (24-Hour Observation Window)
RESPIRATION
SCALE OF THE SCALE OF THE ENTIRE
EPHEMERAL STALL ASM
Glycolysis Sugar molecule is split, breaks down A packed ephemeral stall is Stalls are dismantled,
the glucose complex into pyruvates in dismantled to produce situated on the sidewalk;
preparation for the next stage; absorbs different components of the fees may be paid to allow
2 ATP, produces 4 (catabolic) stall for assembly into a sale
different form.
Pyruvate The state of two pyruvates The state of dismantled stall The state of dismantled
oxidation components stall components; minor
Kreb’s cycle Completely breaks down all six Assembled ephemeral stall sales from passers-by
molecules of glucose away from the now displaying stocks for sale,
Carbon spine, produces additional 2 i.e. food and drinks
ATP, total to 4 ATP
Oxidative Production of energy through electron Cash is acquired by seller and Official operational hours of
Phosphorylation transport chain, high production of ATP lost by consumer in exchange the night market generating
(additional 34, total 38) for goods and services a high rate of cash
425
426
427 Table 6 Activities in ASMs within a 24-hour cycle

02:00 – 12:00 12:00 – 16:00 16:00 – 22:00 22:00 – 2:00

KHAO SAN ROAD NIGHT MARKET, BANGKOK, THAILAND

AERIAL PHOTOS

Four-wheeled vehicles and Peddlers of non-food and non- Expansion of food carts and Alcoholic drinks are sold
motorcycles are allowed into Khao alcoholic drinks are expanding ephemeral dining areas to road through coolers positioned at
GENERAL NOTES

San Road; road carriage and
sidewalks are free of ephemeral
hawkers
to the road carriage. Sidewalks
are occupied by food hawkers
with ephemeral dining areas.
carriage; absence of entry of
vehicles
near equidistance; return of
vehicle access; loud music is
blasted from club; garbage
trucks and street sweepers
begin work

NON-EXISTENT LOW HIGH HIGHEST

RATE OF

DUCTION
CASH
PRO-

13
 02:00 – 12:00 12:00 – 16:00 16:00 – 22:00 22:00 – 2:00

BEN THANH NIGHT MARKET (PHAN CHU TRINH), HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM
AERIAL PHOTOS
AERIAL PHOTOS
AERIAL PHOTOS
AERIAL PHOTOS

From dawn to early morning,
activities are limited to street clean
up. Fruit vendors sell 24-hours
round the clock.
GENERAL NOTES
Presence of 4-wheeled Increase of the activities on Food sellers on the east side
vehicles are gradually replaced the east side of the road close up by 23:00. There is
by unpacking food carts. The carriage, which is immediately little activity on Phan Chu
activities are saturated on the adjacent to the day time Trinh in these hours.

western side of the road market. Activities on the east

carriage potentially due to side are often food related on
shadowing. the southern end while
souvenir items are sold at the
northern end.

NON-EXISTENT LOW HIGHEST LOW

RATE OF

DUCTION
CASH
PRO-

DAVAO ROXAS NIGHT MARKET, DAVAO, PHILIPPINES

AERIAL PHOTOS
AERIAL PHOTOS
AERIAL PHOTOS

14
 02:00 – 12:00 12:00 – 16:00 16:00 – 22:00 22:00 – 2:00
AERIAL PHOTOS

Both lanes of Roxas avenue are
passable at this time. Structures
adjacent to the night market have
minimal impact on activities on the
GENERAL NOTES
Set ups start as early as 14:00 Western lane of Roxas avenue Sellers shut off electricity
when sellers slowly park their is closed for night market supplies as they close off their
carts on the sidewalk. By 16:00 activities. Pedestrian traffic stalls for the night.
road closure is official as sellers vary but doesn’t peak to

road carriage. start to unpack. The road crowded levels. Smooth flow of
carriage is evenly distributed people is observed.
with an approximately 4m
setback from the sidewalk to
make way for the service and
emergency lane.
NON-EXISTENT
LOW HIGH HIGH
RATE OF

DUCTION
CASH
PRO-

428

429 ASM MSMEs as stem cells of the urban areas

430
431 In biology, stem cells are extensively explored to attain cure via precision
432 medicine, where enzymes and metabolites are used to manipulate metabolic inter-
433 reactions. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that become any type of somatic cell
434 when activated by information carried by niche cells (yourgenome.org, 2017)
435 (NobelPRizell, 2017) (Sive, 2011). Environmental conditions prompt niche cells to
436 send information to stem cells such that when the organism is bleeding, stem cells
437 may differentiate into erythrocytes to replenish lost blood. Organisms therefore rely on
438 stem cells to sustain its health. Infants have more stem cells than senior adults.
439 Scientists attempt to produce stem cells and influence its differentiation through
440 environmental conditions in order to have more tools for healing or sustaining the
441 organism. Just like stem cells, ASMs essentially emerge on the roads through MSMEs.
442 We can presume that MSMEs manifesting on ASMs through streets could be the
443 organism’s attempt to address its financial needs. We do however, need a bigger
444 picture on what causes ASMs to manifest in these areas. As far as commonalities
445 observed among ASMs in this study, physically, they are (1) embedded within roads
446 in the middle of the city, (2) near to rivers, and (3) surrounded by institutional
447 residential, and commercially-used urban blocks. Temporally, it is apparent that the
448 visitors are looking for a particular experience whereas the sellers are motivated to
449 manifest in the ASMs for financial gain. Many of the carts in Khao San Road and Ben
450 Than Night market were owned by middle-class entrepreneurs, who commonly employ
451 migrants as sellers. At Khao San, one Pad-Thai noodle seller declined interview for
452 being a migrant from Myanmar. His Thai colleagues are also migrants from Northern
453 Thailand. There were also employed Filipina sellers at Ben Thanh Night Market. Roxas
454 remains an exemption due to its policy to prioritize locals. A representative of the multi-
455 sectoral “Night Market Management Team” explained that acquiring a permit to sell at
456 Roxas require applicants to prove their residency in Davao City, their status of
457 indigence, and attend briefing and informational campaigns.
458
459 With this purview, we can explore ways for the sustainability of urban areas in
460 the same way we explore medicine to aid biology by understanding the exact role of
461 night markets to greater systems of the city. Therefrom, it is abducted that inasmuch

15
462 as genetic material determines the make of organisms, policy on MSMEs and ASMs
463 affect the physical configurations of the night markets and thereby, the types of
464 economic and metabolic exchanges in these regions. Therefore, policies for MSMEs
465 in ASEAN night markets are highly potent tools toward attaining ASEAN sustainability.
466
467
468 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

469 Summarily, the constructive analysis elucidates the potential of urban areas as
470 living organisms by abducting its metabolic processes aligned to that of biological
471 organisms. Rosado’s MATCAT Nomenclature is seen as the quantifiable stocks of the
472 ASMs, which in a biological organism would be the four main macromolecules (lipids,
473 carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids) that would also make up the physiography
474 of the ASMs. The comparison on the general parts of living cells namely membranes,
475 cytoplasm, and genetic material was also aligned with urban stocks of ASMs, where
476 the membranes as permanent infrastructure is composed of slow-moving quantifiable
477 stocks. Non-quantifiable stocks such as experience and policy were likened to nucleic
478 acids and genetic material due to its ability to spatiotemporally configure the ASMs as
479 nucleic acids would in organisms. Thus, both quantifiable and non-quantifiable urban
480 stocks of ASMs are bound to each other as complex compounds whereas, the inter-
481 reactions and interchanges among these compounds are seen exactly as urban
482 metabolic activity, such as the exchange of goods, services, wastes, and cash
483 between seller and consumer in ASMs. These exchanges are directly influenced by
484 non-quantifiable stocks as genetic material. For example, the type of experience
485 sought in ASMs defines what the cash is spent for. Khao San Road is for parties, Ben
486 Thanh Night Market is for shopping, and Roxas Night Market is for food. This also
487 denotes that by a catalyst such as cash (which was compared to ATP), the complex
488 compounds of urban stocks are transformed and reformed. As such, the exact
489 composition of urban stocks as complex compounds must be further studied, including
490 the exact role, types, and ways of urban stocks as catalysts to urban metabolism.
491 While the functions of macromolecules were used as a comparative basepoint, it is
492 apparent that the taxonomy of urban stocks as biological macromolecules require
493 further constructive exploration. There is likely to be more types of metabolic reactions
494 that occur within ASMs on top of parallelisms to cellular respiration.
495
496
497 IMPACT AND FUTURE RESEARCH

498 Enabling environments, activity, and sustenance define the health of

499 organisms. For biological organisms, homeostasis is when environmental conditions
500 work in balance for its health. For urban areas, this is a state of sustainability. If urban
501 areas are indeed living organisms, we must then understand its homeostatic state,
502 which is presumably different depending on its speciation. So rather, it is not just the
503 circularity of the material flows that’s critical, it is also the balance of all material flows
504 such that the urban area is homeostatic. As such, urban planning may be seen as an
505 extension of the medical profession. Urban planners as healers of larger organisms
506 rather than makers of space engulfs several challenges in urban planning especially
507 on the sociological front. Addressing the redevelopment of cities in the paradigm of it
508 being alive reframes how planners should manipulate it. We may be able to find
509 portions of the city that causes disintegration and treat these as illnesses, which may

16
510 be corrected using different approaches, i.e. medication through policies or surgery as
511 major redevelopment projects. This extends the analogy in this study from ASMs, not
512 only to night markets in other regions but also potentially to other types of urban areas
513 in other parts of the world. At that, we must then ask about the relationships of urban
514 areas with the rest of the city just as mitochondria maintains a relationship with the
515 rest of the organism. We must inquire on urban areas for its speciation based on its
516 age, regional location, size---- true to Patrick Geddes’ paradigm. In this era, these
517 studies may be approached with the support of machine learning systems which could
518 interpret patterns of urban metabolic exchange as neural networks. With big data,
519 machine learning should be theoretically capable of collecting information on urban
520 areas as organisms similar to how it is utilized in the field of medicine. This should
521 allow us to improve upon predictive urban forecasting models and edge closer to
522 cultivating urban areas as healthily and sustainably as possible.
523
524
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654 Thanh Night Market: https://youtu.be/X9RV8qJbl3k
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656 https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-a-stem-cell
657 Zakariya, K. (2015). Mapping Kuala Lumpur's Urban Night Markets at Shifting Scales. In C. Evers, & K. Seale,
658 Informal Urban Street Markets: International Perspectives (pp. 124-134). New York: Taylor and
659 Francis.
660
661 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

662 Table 1 Nomenclature of Material Categories (MATCAT) in Urban Metabolism (Rosado, Niza, & Ferrao, 2013)
663 ..................................................................................................................................................................................4
664 Table 2 Comparisons of generic components of a living cell and definition of respective functions to urban
665 stocks found in the ASEAN Night market ...............................................................................................................8
666 Table 3 Presence of materials on the night markets. Adapted from (Rosado, Niza, & Ferrao, 2013).....................9
667 Table 4 Comparison of biological macromolecules to urban stocks in ASM........................................................11
668 Table 5 Comparison of ATP production to cash production in ASM....................................................................13
669 Table 6 Activities in ASMs within a 24-hour cycle...............................................................................................13
670
671 Figure 1 ASEAN Night Markets of Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand, Ben Thanh Night Market, Ho Chi
672 Minh, Vietnam, and Roxas Night Market in Davao, Philippines as shown on ASEAN region in dark gray. (Maps
673 by Esri, Annotations by Villaseca, 2020).................................................................................................................4
674 Figure 2 Closer view of the ASMs Basemaps by Google Maps and Esri, Annotations by Villaseca, 2020)..........5
675 Figure 3 ASM Distances to Ports and surrounding land use (Basemaps from Openmaps and Esri, Villaseca,
676 2020) ........................................................................................................................................................................6
677 Figure 4 Lengths of roads for each ASM and sizes relative to urban areas and landmarks (Basemaps by Google
678 Maps and Esri, Annotations by Villaseca, 2020) ...................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
679 Figure 5 The main activity of the establishments adjacent to Khao San Road expand to the street carriage during
680 the operational hours of the Khao San night market; photo 1 food dining area, photo 2 spas, inset: bars. January
681 21-25, 2020. .............................................................................................................................................................8
682

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