impressions - bowmanville psyhogeography walk - june 3, 2006
bowmanville is secluded, even a hidden place. last 13 years I was wondering in a circle of 400 km around toronto and I never passed trough the bowmanville? first impression on this rainy saturday morning was sense of being somewhere else almost like stepping out of this time. immediately sense of not belonging here also developed. I have visited over one hundred cities with more than one million inhabitants and countless smaller cities and towns in four different continents. in most of them you have something in common with the place, something you can connect to. in bowmanville it was just like being in the museum with some unreal people (wax museum?).
I still tried to use my usual way of observation and analysis in order to interpret urban language of the place. results you can see in this PDf document (http://www.urbansquares.com/images/recources/bowmanville.pdf), but somehow I have a feeling that I am missing something that in this situation I do not understand it. is there some other dialect used here. even in small towns in england (I have visited couple of them), where I had similar feeling of not belonging, there was something to connect to: pubs, friendly people, historic architecture, tradition, understanding of tourist needs and curiosity, appreciation for our money etc. in bowmanville whole atmosphere is aiming towards isolation and distance from the surrounding world, they do not envision newcomers or tourists as a potential. according to the new study published for biennale of architecture in rotterdam, holland, july 2005, tourism is the biggest and fastest growing industry. socio-cultural and direct economic impact of tourism can be the only available way to preserve existing historic neighbourhoods.
based on a past as a reference point and inspiration, the only way to look at the future (in my modest opinion) is to keep city as alive as possible. way to do it is to use existing urban texture and ambiance, past experiences and observations to encourage and orchestrate development of urban society.
one can compare city to the living organism and best way to keep it healthy is to treat it like one. there is an issue of connectivity and identity. how does the downtown drift into the neighborhoods? where is the centre - heart of the city. redevelop old market square in the case of bowmanville. sociability is the basis of many of the activities and events that make social life on the square joyful and meaningful. in these sociable interactions people do not encounter each other in terms of specific roles, as for instance employer-employee, or cashier-customer, but as complete human beings. the status of each, their social or economic position, knowledge or fame is not as important as personal qualities. in this sense sociability makes for more democratic relations.
if these important social functions of the square are not understood, and if mechanisms are not found to protect the traditional multi-functional character of the square, a powerful context for socialization, acculturation, and democratization of society will be lost. respecting the principles of sustainability, democracy and social justice is essential for city’s livability factor.
how to achieve all of this, well, I am leaving that for some other interested people, I am just the urban enthusiast, observer and psychogeograhy walker.
a.j. toronto, august 2006.
ps. observation of one other participant of this walk that bowmanville is not actually the city or town, that it is more like urban setting or field is one of the possible explanation for unique atmosphere within this place?
I still tried to use my usual way of observation and analysis in order to interpret urban language of the place. results you can see in this PDf document (http://www.urbansquares.com/images/recources/bowmanville.pdf), but somehow I have a feeling that I am missing something that in this situation I do not understand it. is there some other dialect used here. even in small towns in england (I have visited couple of them), where I had similar feeling of not belonging, there was something to connect to: pubs, friendly people, historic architecture, tradition, understanding of tourist needs and curiosity, appreciation for our money etc. in bowmanville whole atmosphere is aiming towards isolation and distance from the surrounding world, they do not envision newcomers or tourists as a potential. according to the new study published for biennale of architecture in rotterdam, holland, july 2005, tourism is the biggest and fastest growing industry. socio-cultural and direct economic impact of tourism can be the only available way to preserve existing historic neighbourhoods.
based on a past as a reference point and inspiration, the only way to look at the future (in my modest opinion) is to keep city as alive as possible. way to do it is to use existing urban texture and ambiance, past experiences and observations to encourage and orchestrate development of urban society.
one can compare city to the living organism and best way to keep it healthy is to treat it like one. there is an issue of connectivity and identity. how does the downtown drift into the neighborhoods? where is the centre - heart of the city. redevelop old market square in the case of bowmanville. sociability is the basis of many of the activities and events that make social life on the square joyful and meaningful. in these sociable interactions people do not encounter each other in terms of specific roles, as for instance employer-employee, or cashier-customer, but as complete human beings. the status of each, their social or economic position, knowledge or fame is not as important as personal qualities. in this sense sociability makes for more democratic relations.
if these important social functions of the square are not understood, and if mechanisms are not found to protect the traditional multi-functional character of the square, a powerful context for socialization, acculturation, and democratization of society will be lost. respecting the principles of sustainability, democracy and social justice is essential for city’s livability factor.
how to achieve all of this, well, I am leaving that for some other interested people, I am just the urban enthusiast, observer and psychogeograhy walker.
a.j. toronto, august 2006.
ps. observation of one other participant of this walk that bowmanville is not actually the city or town, that it is more like urban setting or field is one of the possible explanation for unique atmosphere within this place?
posted by public squares at 8:38 AM
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