Public transport as public space in European cities: Narrating, experiencing, contesting


Project Summary

Public transport research remains dominated by economistic and technocratic readings and remains peripheral in the humanities literature. Yet, public transport embraces intense and intimate sites for encountering cultural diversity, facilitating social integration and negotiating public space.

In this project, ‘Public Transport as Public Space in European Cities: Narrating, Experiencing, Contesting’ (PUTSPACE), we aim to humanise transport research by studying diverse narratives, experiences and contestations of public transport, as they have been unfolding in cities across Europe since the late nineteenth century. The project places public transport at the frontline of contesting what is, can be, or should be public in the city.

PUTSPACE examines public transport as one type of public space, challenging existing definitions of public space. The project will explore how public transport confronts citizens with social diversity, speaks of different types of ownership, surveillance, subversion, interaction and transformation of social norms. We articulate this conceptualisation through four objectives:

  1. to critically conceptualise and analyse what kind of public space public transport is;
  2. to understand urban transformations of public space in European cities – leading to increased social diversity and polarisation, liberalisation, privatisation and securitisation – by attending to public transport as particularly intense and contentious set of public spaces;
  3. to offer a located and historicised perspective on the transformation of public space by examining narratives, experiences and contestations connected with public transport in different European cities; and
  4. to contribute to public transport-related research, as well as to intervene in civic mobilising, planning and policy via a humanities-led analysis and conceptualisation of public transport.
    The project brings researchers from across Europe together with transport practitioners, enthusiasts, civil activists and curators, benefiting from a strong involvement of Associated Partners. In so doing, the project aims to have an impact that is both academic and societal, humanising public transport research and practice.

The project brings researchers from across Europe together with transport practitioners, enthusiasts, civil activists and curators, benefiting from a strong involvement of Associated Partners. In so doing, the project aims to have an impact that is both academic and societal, humanising public transport research and practice.

Dr Tauri Tuvikene

Project Leader

Tallinn University
Estonia


Project Partners

Dr Tauri Tuvikene

Project Leader

Tallinn University
Estonia

Email

Dr Frédéric Dobruszkes

Université libre de Bruxelles
Belgium

Email

Dr Wladimir Sgibnev

Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography
Germany

Email

Dr Jason Finch

Åbo Akademi University
Finland

Email

  • Tallinn University

    Tallinn University

  • Université libre de Bruxelles

    Université libre de Bruxelles

  • Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography

    Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography

  • Åbo Akademi University

    Åbo Akademi University

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