India, Oct. 3 -- Chandigarh is a city we know through its drawings. Sectors, grids, hierarchies of roads, designated markets, green belts - almost every function was given a place. Yet the recent response to the auction of commercial sites at the new Sector 39 grain and vegetable market raises an interesting question about what happens after those places are assigned.

Of the 23 SCO sites put up for auction, only one received a technical bid. The reasons may be economic or logistical, but the contrast is interesting. Across Chandigarh, commerce routinely appears in places never formally designated for it. A food cart appears outside a busy market at dusk. A fruit seller settles where pedestrians naturally slow down. Buying and selling ext...