Urban Rhythms: Mobilities, Space and Interaction in the Contemporary City will be launched on Tuesday 6th August at Cardiff University.
The book is a Sociological Review Monograph, an edited collection which brings together a range of scholars working in a global range of cities. The chapters of the book, based in cities from Rio through Manchester and Cardiff to Jakarta explore the ways in which city life might be understood, and analysed, as rhythmic.
‘Given that more of the world population is now living in urban areas than not, connecting with alternative ways of approaching cities is more important than ever, ‘ says Dr Robin Smith. ‘And the book really reflects the ways in which this, necessarily, needs to be an multi-disciplinary endeavour.’
He continues, ‘There are chapters here based in architectural theory and planning, social anthropology, human geography and sociology which address common themes. Indeed, in putting the book together, one of the most interesting things was that people working in very different ways, from apparently distinct disciplines and influences, often arrived at very similar conclusions about the current conditions facing the urban citizen and what forms of alternative politics of city space might be observed or imagined.’
‘Certainly in terms of the WISERD research project which features in the book, it was interesting to put this in a much broader global context. As an extension to our three years of field research (as part of WISERD’s research programme: Local Knowledge, Spatial Practice and Urban Patrol Project), Tom Hall and I spent a full twenty-four hours walking the city centre of Cardiff with outreach workers, the police and street sweepers. The chapter in the book describes this twenty-four hours and attempts to draw out some of the complexities and ambiguities of managing, policing and caring for various spaces and publics in Cardiff.’
‘Other chapters deal with railway stations as sonoric scapes, the occupation of the Syntagma Square occupation in Athens, the Rio de Janeiro carnival, heritage and memory in Manchester, everyday life in a street in Lisbon, local market economics and politics in Jakarta, and bus tours in Shanghai. So, I hope, the book as a whole portrays something of life in the contemporary city, the struggles and small triumphs, the spectacles and events, and the varied daily round that is the stuff, and the rhythm, of urban life.’
The book launch will take place at 12pm on Tuesday 6th August in the Committee Rooms, Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University. Click here to register for the SOCSI Book Launch.
Click here to download poster.