The Accidental Youth Club: Skateboarding in Newcastle-Gateshead

Abstract

Skateboarders re-invent and interrogate the physical structure of cityscapes as they use spaces, buildings and objects for skating. However, skaters are routinely regarded by the civic and business interests who dominate city centre planning and regeneration as, at best, a nuisance and at worst an unruly and dangerous blight. This paper reports findings from a research project involving skaters which begins to unpick this stereotype. A participatory methodology combining mapping, interviews and observation was used to identify spots used by skaters in Newcastle and Gateshead (North East England). The key spots were characterized using four criteria: trickability, accessibility, sociability and compatibility. Findings reveal that two further factors temporal and relational dimensions are crucial to the journeys skaters embark on. Sociability was the one constant factor defining favoured spots. The study revealed a sociable, entrepreneurial, creative skate scene. Far from being a problem the skaters add to the social capital of the cityscape. The findings suggest that rather than designing out skaters from the city the civic authorities should work with skaters to sustain their scene as a positive benefit to city regeneration.

Acknowledgements

The playspace project was only possible due to the sustained encouragement of Jackie at Native Skates, and the involvement of Bish, Kate, Jamie Adair, Adam Bell, James Coyle, Johnny Haynes, Ben Larthe, Adam Thirtle, Matty Smith and Adam Stitt. Leyla Asadi, Clare Byrnes, James Froment, Helen Green and Adam Widdrington at Dance City and Carol Botten and Kate Percival at Northern Architecture got the idea immediately and provided massive support throughout. Tyneside's skaters proved remarkably tolerant of and were interested in being researched. The majority of their maps can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/groups/playspacenewcastle/

Notes

1. Radgie is a widely used Tyneside word for someone who is angry, aggressive, troublesome.

2. ‘Chav’ is a derogatory term used throughout the UK, primarily to describe youths perceived as a kind of aggressive, anti-social underclass. The term is used here because the skaters did, as indicated by inverted commas.