By Andy Wiley-Schwartz and Benjamin Fried

Washington Market occupied a portion of the World Trade Center site for more than 150 years. As politicians, planners, and the public ponder the future of Lower Manhattan, the best place to look for inspiration might be the past.

Most New Yorkers are largely unaware of the remarkable buildings that occupied the area on and around the Twin Towers from the early 1800s until the 1960s. Unlike Pennsylvania Station, which disappeared physically but remains firmly etched in New York's conscience, the colorful marketplaces that stood on the World Trade Center site have seeped out of the city's collective memory.

A portion of the World Trade Center site hosted various incarnations of the Washington Market for the better part of two centuries. At its peak, the Market was a magnificent commercial hall rivaling Spitalfield's and Covent Garden in London and Les Halles in Paris, but it has been forgotten over time. Fortunately, if an initiative of the New York City Council is carried to fruition, the city may recover from this bout of amnesia.

The public market can be a tribute to the diversity of cultures and countries that the victims of the WTC attack represented.

In its report, Building a Better New York, the Council called for the development of a public market: a space for vendors, events, and civic engagement. The Council also set down a mandate in this far-reaching document: "Plan the memorial and public spaces first because public spaces are the center of city life and should dictate how the rest of downtown is redeveloped." These two pieces of the Council's plan complement each other nicely, and could signal a new prominence in the emergence of public markets across the U.S.

Markets such as Pike Place Market in Seattle are making a comeback across the U.S.

Until recently a tradition in decline, public markets have made a comeback across the country over the past 20 years, as existing markets have been revitalized and new markets established in world-class cities around the globe. This revitalization is taking place because city leaders have realized that a public market can be a catalyst for the kind of "vibrant, mixed use community" that the Council is encouraging for Lower Manhattan. As public spaces, markets make cities diverse and exciting, drawing residents and visitors, and also offer opportunities to promote and encourage independent businesses.

A public market on Lower Manhattan's west side can certainly help bring needed economic and social activity to the neighborhoods around the World Trade Center site. It would serve as a significant amenity, not only for local residents and workers, but for the millions of visitors expected in the area. Moreover, as a form of world trade itself, a market can be a tribute to the diversity of cultures and countries that the victims of September 11th represented.

Public markets create anchors for economic activity that go far beyond the typical shopping mall or tourist destination.

Unlike your average retail/entertainment complex, and quite distinct from the "festival marketplaces" built in many urban centers over the past 25 years, a public market is a civic amenity with public goals. A true public market is carefully managed to provide both a variety of local, culturally significant goods and experiences, and public spaces where a mix of ages, classes, and ethnic groups enjoy the city.

Thanks to public markets, farmers and independent vendors alike have reliable venues for selling all kinds of food products directly to customers - from produce to baked goods to meat and fish to prepared and ethnic foods. Portions of public markets can serve as outlets for local artists and artisans as well.

What's more, public markets create anchors for economic activity that go far beyond the typical shopping mall or tourist destination. A successful market acts as a destination for a wide variety of people - residents, office workers, and tourists - and throws off economic activity to surrounding areas. Granville Island, a market district in Vancouver, British Columbia, supports over 260 businesses, studios, and facilities, including theater groups, performers, and marinas.

A market is also an incubator for small businesses, in particular women- and minority-owned operations. For example, 90% of the businesses at New York's popular Union Square Holiday Market are owned by women or minorities, although no specific recruiting or leasing practices encouraged this.

Public markets are particularly good at encouraging small businesses and helping them thrive because it takes relatively little startup capital to open a business in a public market, and because stalls or shops are small and manageable. What better way to represent New York's global community than the stunning variety of small, local providers that would anchor a new Lower Manhattan market?

Nothing animates a place like a great market.

Of course, you can't overlook the effect a great market has on a public space. Food is always a magnet for people, and public markets are indeed powerful attractions, drawing people of all income levels, ages, and ethnicities. Nothing animates a place like a great market: some of the great public spaces of the world are inseparable from the markets they host.

With the right plan, business mix, and management, a public market can enliven public space, help revitalize neighborhoods, create business opportunities, and provide needed services for residents, workers and visitors. In Lower Manhattan, a great market could shine as a significant new cultural institution and spark the re-emergence of public markets across the country.