‘Stepping in Time’: Walking, Time, and Space in the City

Abstract

There is a well-documented emphasis within transport policy on speed and efficiency, with the benefits of transport schemes frequently assessed in these terms. The focus on reducing journey times is also evident in pedestrian policy, with the ‘time-saving’ attributes of walking often promoted. However, this emphasis on speed within the transport policy arena reflects linear understandings of time as nothing more than ‘clock time’ passing. In contrast, this paper explores the multiple forms of temporality and spatiality that emerge out of and shape urban pedestrian movement. The discussion draws upon in-depth interview and diary data from fieldwork undertaken in London, and in so doing provides a ‘timely’ empirical engagement with theoretical understandings of time and space. Within this examination of the multiple temporalities of urban walking, it is suggested that people become aware of the experiential dimensions of time when they are made to wait. The paper moves on to explore the issues of physical mobility difficulties in the context of highlighting the multiple spatialities of walking, and attention is also drawn to how people use temporal and spatial concerns to frame their identities as to who they are in relation to others. It is suggested that notions of rhythm provide a productive means for engaging with how time, space, and identity interrelate as people walk.

“I'm on Autopilot, I Just Follow the Route”: Exploring the Habits, Routines, and Decision-Making Practices of Everyday Urban Mobilities

“…In so doing, Lefebvre poses the question of the extent to which the urban walker pays attention``except at the moment of crossing the street, when he has to calculate roughly the number of his steps'' (page 28). As noted elsewhere (see Middleton, 2009), despite providing a theoretical departure point, Lefebvre provides little sense of how we might empirically engage with these theoretical concerns. Therefore, in the context of the data being discussed in this paper, we might consider concerns with pedestrian concentration and levels of awareness made relevant both by the theoretical writings of Lefebvre and by the urban pedestrian experiences of those research participants such as Alan.…”

“…A mixed-method approach was adopted that included a postal survey, experiential walking photo diaries, and in-depth interviews. This paper draws upon a range of diary and interview accounts produced by thirty-five participants detailing their urban walking experiences [see Middleton (2009; for further discussion of the research setting and discursive analytic approach].…”

“…It's just not dignified'' (diaryöPaul, Canonbury resident, Islington). Paul's diary entry draws attention to his``sense of timing'' and the durational qualities of his journey on foot in relation to the way time expands and contracts [see Middleton (2009) for more detailed discussion on time, space and rhythm in relation to urban walking]. Paul's diary entry is framed around what he terms his`t raffic light awareness function'' and how it was not working to its``optimal capacity'' after he returned from holidays.…”

Living Absence: The Strange Geographies of Missing People

“…I was able to walk along there for a bit and avoid the crowds" (John, missing sixteen hours). As Middleton (2009) suggests, walking opens up the possibility of doing other things in ways that urban transport does not. Walking, then, for those reported as missing, allowed a performative and perceptual avoidance of policing surveillance; and, as Amanda describes, it also helped in managing conflicting thoughts and emotions:…”

Lift-share using mobile apps in tourism: The role of trust, sense of community and existing lift-share practices

“…Both are important to lift-share contexts as users express concerns about liftoffers being undertaken as agreed (honesty) and that the other party will not exploit the lift-share context (benevolence). Gärling and Axhausen, 2003;Middleton, 2009;Murray and Doughty, 2016). Habit is interpreted in various ways from an automatically elicited behaviour based on repetition to an embodied intelligence that emerges from an interaction of the person with the environment and resources available (Schwanen et al, 2012).…”