Creating Ordinary Places: Slow Cities in a Fast World

Knox, Paul

doi:10.1080/13574800500062221

Cited by 266 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…31 Current urban societies have developed an obsession with getting things done quickly, which means that there is a psychological focus on the future: the next task is always perceived as being more important than the present. 1 This leads to a sense of always feeling rushed and not being able to enjoy the moment.…”

Section: How Time Pressure Is a Health Hazardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speed Kills: The Complex Links Between Transport, Lack of Time and Urban Health

Tranter

2010

J Urban Health

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Road safety experts understand the contribution of speed to the severity and frequency of road crashes. Yet, the impact of speed on health is far more subtle and pervasive than simply its effect on road safety. The emphasis in urban areas on increasing the speed and volume of car traffic contributes to ill-health through its impacts on local air pollution, greenhouse gas production, inactivity, obesity and social isolation. In addition to these impacts, a heavy reliance on cars as a supposedly 'fast' mode of transport consumes more time and money than a reliance on supposedly slower modes of transport (walking, cycling and public transport). Lack of time is a major reason why people do not engage in healthy behaviours. Using the concept of 'effective speed', this paper demonstrates that any attempt to 'save time' through increasing the speed of motorists is ultimately futile. Paradoxically, if planners wish to provide urban residents with more time for healthy behaviours (such as exercise and preparing healthy food), then, support for the 'slower' active modes of transport should be encouraged. INTRODUCTIONDecreasing the speed of urban transport can have positive impacts on the economy, the environment and health. This paper outlines the main themes of existing research on these impacts and then explores the possibility that there is a more subtle, but no less important, link between speed and health. The paper argues that speed has a cost that can be measured in money and in time. This can produce a paradox whereby 'faster' modes of transport lead to a loss of time. Lack of time, or time pressure, has been identified as an important factor in urban health, due to its negative impact on mental health but also due to its impact on the ability or willingness of people to engage in physical exercise or to avoid fast (junk) food.The arguments about the health impacts of speed apply most clearly to the use of private motor vehicles, and this paper focuses on the health impacts of increasing the speed of cars. However, some of the arguments are also relevant to other highspeed modes. For example, high-speed trains can encourage urban sprawl, the complex negative health impacts of which are outlined below.Tranter is with the School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, UNSW@ADFA, Canberra, ACT, Australia.Correspondence: Paul Joseph Tranter, PhD, School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, UNSW@ADFA, Canberra, ACT, Australia. (E-mail: paul.tranter@adfa.edu.au) EXISTING UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE LINKS BETWEEN SPEED AND HEALTHSpeed is most commonly seen as a health issue in relation to road crashes. There are several other ways in which the speed of motorised traffic is linked to factors that have clear negative health impacts. Increasing the speed of motorised traffic increases levels of pollution. 1 High car speeds can affect levels of physical activity through reductions in active transport, including children's independent mobility. Local social interactions are disrupted by high...

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Section: How Time Pressure Is a Health Hazardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speed Kills: The Complex Links Between Transport, Lack of Time and Urban Health

Tranter

2010

J Urban Health

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“…Food can be seen as such a means of setting the tempo of the city. For example, Knox (2005) mentions daily, weekly and seasonal rhythms as the basis for the creation of a sense of place and community. Daily rhythms can be exemplified by the early cup of coffee (Milan), the mid-morning grocery shopping (Paris), a stop for coffee on the way to work, a beer on the way home from work (London), an aperitif before dinner (New York) and so on.…”

Section: Sensory Branding Through Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These networks that are stemming from a grassroots response to globalization are in favour of 'local, traditional cultures, a relaxed pace of life and conviviality' (Knox, 2005).…”

Section: Food-branding Places -A Sensory Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Food-branding places – A sensory perspective

Berg

Sevón

2014

Place Brand Public Dipl

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This article takes as its starting point the observation that food, meals and gastronomy are frequently used in the branding of places. The knowledge of how and why this takes place is, however, rather limited, and the aim of this article is thus to identify and describe the role of food, meals and gastronomy in the direct and indirect branding of places. The article contains three main sections, where the first is a clarification of key concepts and the methodology applied. The second part is an account of the ways in which food is used in branding places, based on the observations we have made as part of a multisite field study of large metropolitan cities. The third part of the article is a tentative and illustrated conceptual framework, based on the assumption that places can be seen as sensescapes. Food, meals and gastronomy contribute to the spatial configuration (sensory topography), time-space flow (orchestration) and iconography (sensory mapping) of these place-sensescapes. The conclusion of the article is that the character of a place does not only affect the experience of food and gastronomy in that place, but also that food and gastronomy is -directly and indirectly -affecting the character of the place and its brand-image.Place Branding and Public Diplomacy (2015) 0, 1-16.

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“…These represent substantial affluence, are typically inhabited by people aware of global trends, and are certainly important. Business growth relies on selling more things and experiences to more people (Castells, 1997;Knox, 2005;Marcuse and van Kempen, 2000). Suburbs are important locations because they are areas where extensive development occurs and dwellings are typically larger than in core cities.…”

Section: Challenges For Suburbsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global suburbia and the transition century: Physical suburbs in the long term

Forsyth

2013

Urban Des Int

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Acknowledgements Background research was funded by the Clarence Stein Memorial Fund and the Lehman Fund for Scholarly Exchange with China. I thank Bonnie O'Neill for research assistance. AbstractOver the current century, when the world's population will grow by some billions, much of the increase in the human population will be housed in suburbs. However, sometime after the middle of this century the world's total population is also likely to level off, increasing in some areas while declining in others, causing new challenges. In this transition century, suburbs are a key technology and setting for managing a number of public concerns and problems: population change, aging, environmental issues, and tensions between continued poverty and expectations of affluence. Suburbs are very diverse internationally but share some common problems and opportunities related to their relative newness and outer location. While planned solutions to suburban growth are important, a great deal of work in the coming century will be retrofitting opportunistic suburban development. A global view of suburban growth is important because physical planning and urban design have long shared ideas internationally, and because of global economic, environmental, and cultural linkages.

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Creating Ordinary Places: Slow Cities in a Fast World

Cited by 266 publications

References 20 publications

Speed Kills: The Complex Links Between Transport, Lack of Time and Urban Health

Speed Kills: The Complex Links Between Transport, Lack of Time and Urban Health

Food-branding places – A sensory perspective

Global suburbia and the transition century: Physical suburbs in the long term

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