Walking city streets: Spatial qualities, spatial justice, and democratising impulses

Abstract

Walking fosters self‐efficacy, empathy, and connection, and large and small democratic actions. Such capacity seems especially the case when walking is attended by certain spatial qualities that engender, for instance, physical accessibility, a capacity to socialise, a sense of safety, or a pleasing aesthetic. Sometimes, adverse spatial alternatives dominate and then – at very least – indifference seems to loom large and spatial injustices prevail. And in the worst conditions, indifference and injustice tip over into fear and danger. This paper's orientation is towards optimism, however. Our conceptual focus is on the relationship of walking to geography and philosophical pragmatism, and on small and effective antidotes to indifference and injustice. Our empirical contributions come from a qualitative research project in Wollongong, Australia, and specifically from conversations with 25 adult residents who shared with us their experiences of regular walks in the city centre. We interpret those experiences in pragmatic terms as transactions – or experiments in what to do and how – in relation to self, others, and environs. We show how participants are affected by walks and the transactional spaces created by them, and consider how they come to care for things that might not directly concern or affect them. In the process, we discern that they experience how their actions shape and can enrich life in the city – findings that have wider salience for those interested in spatial qualities, spatial justice, and democratising impulses.

Early Career Stage Academics and Their Expatriation Destination: What Drives Their City Choice in Enhancing Regional Sustainability?

“…One of the significant characteristics of a city is its physical features; they contribute to making a city more visible to individuals [47,48]. Our respondents described how they used the prevalence of museums and recreational spaces as cues to make sense of what living in Amsterdam looks like: "In Copenhagen, I imagined that I would have the option to go to museums and to have the option to go to nice restaurants and cafes.…”

Psychogeography: Walking through strategy, nature and narrative

“…Others connect with wider cultural, social and political geographies of walking (e.g. Mason 2020; Phelan and Philo, 2020; Stratford et al, 2020) and thence to what Lorimer (2010) called ‘an eclectic array’ of walking studies. The best-known geographical writing on rural walking draws on a phenomenological approach (Wylie, 2002, 2005) that does not situate itself as psychogeography.…”

A relational approach to walking: Methodology, metalanguage, and power relations

“…But so what? In our estimation, being open to the metalanguage of walking assemblages may help researchers to identify the walking types, walking assemblages, interseriality, objects of passage, and boundary objects that foster more in the way of walkability per se (Forsyth, 2015; Gilderbloom et al, 2015; Kerr et al, 2016; Stratford et al, 2020; Waitt et al, 2019). Beyond any intrinsic interest a metalanguage for walking has, it appeals because it points to larger questions and possibilities.…”

“…Our interest in such matters stems from a project funded over 2015–2016 that was based in Wollongong, Australia. We asked about what makes for liveliness in regional city centres subject to revitalisation policies and processes, including those to enhance walkability (Stratford et al, 2020; Waitt et al, 2019; see also Dovey & Pafka, 2019). One of the chief suppositions of that project was that anyone who walks regularly around the city centre will have complex understanding of their walking habits, practices, and engagements and will have a desire to see walkability enhanced to improve liveability.…”