Running: urban life and the ‘active’ use of public space

By Jack Layton

• “There are few more delightful urban pleasures than walking along the south bank of the [River] Seine … and somehow luxurious to follow the flow of joggers, cyclists and idle wanderers” (Hollis, 2013: 289)

• “If only these deprived children can be gotten off the street into parks and playgrounds with equipment on which to exercise, space in which to run, grass to lift their souls!” (Jacobs, 1961: 74)

• “The enthusiasm for running, jogging, bicycling and other active sports has drawn many persons into public spaces … those involved are out in the public sphere and open to public encounters” (Carr, et al. 1993: 41)

Intro

• What it means to live in the city

- Lefebvre and the everyday

• Spatial turn- Lefebvre - Soja- Massey- Amin

• Mobilities turn- Cycling, skateboarding,

walking, parcour, yoga, dancing

RUNNING• Growth in popularity• Olympics• Magazines, blogs, forums,

events

Running moment + lack of academic study = perfect dissertation topic

Theoretical Backdrop

THE CITY• Simmell, Benjamin, Jacobs,

Sennett, Amin • Looking at the link between

diverse use of public space and citizenship

MOBILITIES• Lefebvre & the everyday• De Certeau, Urry, Borden, Middleton,

Spinney, Cook• How individuals experience the city differently

by being mobile

+ limitations of A-N-T

& the aspatial sociology of sport

• What does the individual experience in public space? Does being mobile affect how people perceive the city, society and themselves?

Structure

• The best way to go about exploring these issues is to use an archetypal runner as a straw man from which I can attach my main findings

- Accepted in public space- The self-sufficient (lonely) individual- Mechanized running

Method

• 4 weeks fieldwork• 10 in depth interviews (recorded)• 30 interviews on the move (notes taken after)• 100 miles of participant observation (notes taken after)• 4 different running groups. Numbers ranging from 12 – 200 • Literature review of contemporary running culture• Participatory ethnography

-------

• Transcribing and coding interviews• Cross referenced with field diary • Pick out key themes, topics, discourses that came out

Accepted citizen

Expectations- The conventional use of public

space- Feeling good about using

public parks and facilities- Playing up to the idea of the

healthy citizen - London as a good city for

running

Findingsa) Discourses of reclaiming the

streetsb) Ideas of escapism and

freedomc) Negotiation with other users

-------= situated multiplicity

Not about adhering to norms or being obedient, but about making the city work for the individual. Need to

utilise Lefebvre’s (1991) spatial triad

Lonely individual

Sense of belonging in the city was complex and crossed scales. Cities are not made up of isolated individuals but is

a ‘community of communities’ (Amin, 2007), where the shared experience of space is significant

Expectations- The loneliness of the long

distance runner- Self motivation and self

satisfaction with achievement- Individualization of risk in

contemporary cities- Nike: ‘Just Do It’

Findings- Intricate social relationsa) Community and friendships

through co-production of space

b) Networked communities, shared imagination and spectacle of marathon

c) Virtual communities------= identity politics

Mechanized body

Expectations- Modernization and the

rationalization of space and time

- Bale 2004 on running cultures - Need to run x distance in y

time to achieve z goal- With various technologies it is

possible to treat outside like a treadmill.

- Optimising the body to achieve the best performance

Findings- Complex relationship with

technology - GPS facilitated communication

with self and others- Sense of safety and freedom

in the city-----= The assemblage of technology

and bodies in the city is far more complex than the mechanization of life.

We need a much more nuanced understanding of how humans and technology are assembled in space and the affective relationships that individuals build with technology.

Concs (1)

• What does the individual experience in public space? Does being mobile affect how people perceive the city, society and themselves?

• Public space is not universally experienced but a space of multiple meanings being negotiated by different bodies.

• However the use of public space is important. It allows users to reinterpret the representations of space with their own experiences and meanings

• This production of space occurs in relation to other people, both through the ‘exclusion’ and ‘marginalization’ of some, but through co-construction with others. There is a social dynamic at play

• For runners there is also a public-ness to their identity and the recognition of other ‘runners’ using public space in a similar way.

Concs (2)

Reworking their situation• In each of the themes discussed we see how runners have

reworked their situation to handle the ‘urban condition’.

• People use running as a way of reworking space to fit their needs -> (Lefebvre, 1991)

• as a way of building social relations in the city -> (Sennett, 2012)• Using technology in a more humanistic way

• Running can be used as both a lens to understand what it means to live in the city

• But also as a strategy to cope in urban life, as people ‘active’-ly shape their situation.

Tips for 2nd (&1st) years

• Do something you enjoy• Use social media• Write a blog (www.runners-ramblings.tumblr.com) • People like to talk about their interests• Plan the first few days in the field• Don’t be afraid of theory! • Read some dissertations• Don’t worry about specific questions yet