Urban walking and the pedagogies of the street

Abstract

Drawing upon the extensive literature on urban walking and also on almost 60 years experience of walking the streets, this article argues that there is a pressing need to re-assert the educational value of going for a walk. After a brief discussion of the social significance of the flâneur, the historic pioneer of urban walking, the article proceeds to a consideration of a variety of ways in which the walker engages with society. These are walking for religious reasons, walking as a form of political protest, walking as a shared experience with strangers and walking as a way of understanding the world around us. No attempt is made here to challenge the arguments of those who postulate the physical health benefits of walking. It is argued, however, that even if such benefits do exist, they may well be of secondary importance to the lessons that can be learned from the pedagogies of the street.

Keywords:

• Walking
• Cities
• Flâneurs
• Young people

Notes

1. Founded in 1961 under the auspices of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RSPA), the Tufty Club used anthropomorphic images of animals, including the eponymous Tufty Fluffytail, to give simple road safety messages to British children. The multimedia Green Cross Code campaign was initiated by the RSPA in 1970 and was intended to raise more general awareness of pedestrian road safety in the United Kingdom.