Discussions around questions of rights, freedom and/or access in relation to urban life, whether in contemporary cities and/or urban agglomerations, are ubiquitous (or perhaps they just appear to be, because it’s something that interests me). It’s not surprising, on any given day, to find something related to these issues being discussed in popular/news media, in the political arena and/or on social media.
For example, in South Africa this week, they are being hard hit by a strike in the transport sector, so there are numerous posts/articles about that, and then (on a more localised level) there are the posts, photos and more that Lorenzo Davids (aka @UrbanLo on twitter) has been sharing about his experiences getting (re)acquainted with using public transport in Cape Town. Nevertheless, I’ve been thinking about a few things lately and I thought I’d share them here.
That said, keep in mind that this is not an attempt at an explicitly academic/intellectual discussion, but rather a personal reflection on recent lived experiences…
In 2018, the United Nations reported that approximately 55% of the world’s population lived in urban areas and projected that by 2050 that figure would be 68%. So, more than half the world’s population lives in cities that are (probably for the most part) densely populated, congested, polluted and/or home to economic extremes (i.e. wealth and/or income). But, I’m rambling…
Having spent the last 3 months in and around Taipei, Taiwan, I couldn’t help being reminded of the interrelated discussions around segregation and access (which are in turn influenced by issues of safety, crime, security, transport and more). The reason that this has been on my mind is that living here in Taipei has reminded me that all too often issues around segregation and/or access in cities are reduced to simplistic, but relevant, discussions focused on how much time and/or money the most segregated spend on transport to and from work every day. But, there’s so much more to consider, so let me use a few recent regular experiences as examples…
I’m living in Ximen (Wikipedia page; Google Maps, Videos), a popular neighbourhood and shopping district in Taipei City, at the moment. Many businesses (shops, restaurants and more) here stay open at least until 22:00, some even later. This is not unique to this neighbourhood, but this is where I am.
Additionally, here and across the city, there are night markets, where you can get food, buy clothes and more (depends on which market) until 23:00 or even 00:00 in the evening. Many people here ride scooters, but many more depend on public transport, including when it comes to getting to and from night markets.
Also, these night markets are part of the fabric of this city. People meet family and/or friends for supper, do some shopping, or just to walk around. When they’ve eaten or shopped etc, they can hop on a bus or the MRT (underground train) and head home – and this is possible until late at night. I’ve even walked about 2km home from a nearby night market at around 22:30, because the weather was great.
So, what’s my point? Night markets and/or shops open late (facilitated to some degree by access to transport etc) means that people are out socialising and experiencing their city at all times of day; some people are spending money, others are making money, and others are earning money. So, even in this simple example, transport is not just an issue of getting to work and back, but having regular and affordable access has broader social, cultural, economic/trade and employment implications.
Additionally, some evenings I’ve just gotten on a bus to head to another neighbourhood I hadn’t seen before, just because I was in the mood. I’ve also occasionally rented a bicycle from a city-wide service (similar to what’s available in the Sea Point area in Cape Town) and rode home, rather than wait for a bus. In fact, even as a new-comer to this city and country, it’s felt so much more welcoming because of the ease with which I can get around.
There’s so much more that can be said on this issue, but I’ll just leave you with these few (somewhat disjointed) thoughts for now…
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