Professor Adams had the same feeling when Federation Square was being built and "everyone hated it" and when council closed Swanston Street to cars and people said it would decimate businesses.

Those projects would later be declared successful.

But the jury is still out on the Queen Victoria Market's $250-million redevelopment.

"I see that as a positive thing because Melburnians care about what happens to the city … but it's a pity in a way that people can't imagine how this change is going to be beneficial," Professor Adams says.

Opposition to the redevelopment of the 138-year market has been gaining momentum, just as the final plans are beginning to fall into place.

"We never asked for it to be redeveloped," says Leah Moore, a jeweller seller at the market.

Ms Moore is following in her father Tim's footsteps as a market stallholder, and hopes that her young son will one day do the same.

"They're going to sterilise it so it won't be like a market, it will be like supermarket," she says.

Faced with losing the public opinion battle, Melbourne City Council is set to offer traders affected by the five-year revamp combined compensation of up to $4 million a year.

But Professor Adams and the market's management also want to explain why the market truly does need an upgrade. Here is the reasoning:

A market at risk of extinction

Professor Adams says if the market was left to continue "business as usual" it would decline over the next 15 years and could eventually fade into oblivion. The renowned urban designer says he understands the fears of traders and customers, but argues the redevelopment would not change the essence of the open-air, heritage institution. "We haven't got some secret plan that they don't know about. We'll work through it over the next five years and at the end of it hopefully we will be standing here and people will say 'We are not quite sure why we were worried'."

Closed for business

The market doesn't open on Monday and late most afternoons you'll find tourists wandering among deserted stalls before being told: "We're closed". At night, the precinct is often dark and desolate. But the revamp is expected to transform the market into an all-hours operation, with restaurants on its fringes and flexible spaces that can host different businesses at different times.

Closed for business. Photo: Pat Scala

A car park within a market

The middle of the market is currently a 700-space car park (there are thought to be thousands of bodies buried underneath the asphalt). Hundreds of trader cars are also parked amongst the stalls. The revamp will see these vehicles relocated underground, along with large storage cupboards for traders. The extra space also means room for about 150 more traders.

Wasted hours

Many traders spend up to four hours each day setting up and packing up their stalls. Revamp supporters say the new storage facilities (including possibly some permanent stalls with drop-down covers) will reduce set-up times.

Spoilt food

During summer traders are lose 30 per cent of their food because of the heat and if it gets beyond 30 degrees, many shops do not open at all. "It's 1960s trading in a 2016 environment," says new Queen Victoria Market chief executive Malcolm McCullough. If the revamp proceeds, there will be new refrigeration facilities underground. Likewise, the fish offal processing facility (which currently backs on to a fruit and vegetable stall) will be relocated.

Pigeons peck at scraps at the market. Photo: Penny Stephens

Dangerous machinery

When we visited the market this week, a couple of fruiterers were busy fixing an awning, which had been struck by an errant forklift. As part of the revamp, much of this heavy machinery will be moved underground. Today, the top end of Queen Street is often bustling with large trucks and forklifts, but by 2021 it is imagined this thoroughfare will be a pedestrian mall as vehicles are largely banished from the market's public spaces.

The day begins at the Queen Victoria Market. Photo: Justin McManus