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Sitting outside Rishbeth and Rogaly Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.pdf (800.58 kB)

Sitting outside: conviviality, self-care and the design of benches in urban public space

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posted on 2023-06-09, 07:40 authored by Clare Rishbeth, Ben RogalyBen Rogaly
The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social serendipity and problematized with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this paper we explore embodied practices of sitting on benches, within an urban context characterised by corporate-led regeneration and impacted by austerity urbanism, imperial history and ongoing racisms. Our schizocartographic methodology enables us to attend to the differentiated and shifting subjectivities and temporalities of bench users, and to emerging counter histories of space. The research is based on the case study of a central square in Woolwich, south-east London. This involved an eclectic combination of methods, including film-making, ethnography and interviews, and a cross-sectoral team of activists, academics and artist. The paper starts by conceptually framing public space with respect to lived experiences of marginalisation, arguing that architectural design is intrinsic to understanding micro-geographies of conviviality and care. The case study material is used first to provide a visual sketch of sitting and watching others in the square and then to address conviviality and the value of visibility and relative proximity in framing a mostly un-panicked multiculture. Thirdly, we discuss agentic, yet critically aware, acts of self-care. Finally, our focus shifts to the design of the benches and the ‘touching experiences’ of bodies sat in various ways, impacted by structural inequalities, yet differentiated by the particularities of individual or collective priorities. In conclusion we argue that attending to the precision of sitting on a bench can illuminate multiple temporalities of urban change in relation to both individual subjectivities and hegemonic structures. Further, the counter histories that emerge can inform policy and practice for inclusive urban design.

Funding

The Un-Sociable Bench, and other urban micro-territories of encounter and intimidation; G1656; AHRC-ARTS & HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL; AH/M0016107/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

ISSN

0020-2754

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Issue

2

Volume

43

Page range

284-298

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-08-24

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-08-24

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-08-23

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