In this post we want to talk about the zone, how we experienced and walked through it. Walking on its form connects an inhabitant to its land. Passing through it gives the chance to engage with the land and with one another, following each other’s steps. In modern life one can walk on a sidewalk which is a generator of activity and life among what we may call a growingly passive setting. If we were to think of an ideal city, I’d think of how pedestrianised the roads would be or the domination of active transport which in our case was the topic of our observations.
Where do we walk? Where do we stand? Where this zone is located is a dense area in population and buildings. Being a city with over 1 million citizens it is during most times loud and lively. One good thing about this is that the sidewalk is accompanied by storefronts, bars and shops; walking on these streets you can see your neighbour buying vegetables and have to do the small talk thing or you can get yourself distracted by the boutique, so you are never bored or dulled. Being so tight and at a small scale (or even in cases where bars set their tables next to the sidewalk) make the pedestrian not at competition with the surrounding but rather feel welcomed. Narrow sidewalks can trigger some people but also can bring people closer to each other and this is another positive fact. We have our own stools and sit on the sidewalk and play on the road too. Having little open space has made the locals have their chill spots on the sidewalk, giving it a new value: to make a neighbourhood feel like a neighbourhood. Although it should be mentioned that in our interviews we found that there were residents who did mind and felt uneasy having people stand on the street.
We do feel the need to keep the people that are here, stay here, and we do need to go out more, and maybe a good sidewalk ( and a bicycle lane please) is what we need.
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