A Sense of Momentum: Mobility practices and dis/embodied landscapes of energy use

This research examines how the commute practices of driving, cycling, and walking shape individuals’ sense of mobility energy use. Some scholars argue that diff erent modes of mobility produce diff erent ways of knowing the world. For instance, automobiles are accused by some of alienating their drivers, whereas others see the human-machine hybrids they create as inherently connecting. This paper is founded upon an epistemological position that sees knowledge as developed through sensual interactions with environments and held, sometimes inexpressibly, within the body. Transportation technologies, both as part of a person’s environment and as an extension of themselves, mediate these interactions. The research draws on in-depth interviews with drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians commuting in the City of Vancouver, and their commute narratives and GPS logs, to compare the sense of energy use between mode users. Participant senses explored include the feeling of momentum, changes in elevation, and stopping. Data analyses reveal active-mode users’ nuanced and sometimes tacit awareness of energy use, and how this embodied knowledge both consciously and unconsciously informs their mobility. The effi ciencies gained through this tacit knowing should be recognized alongside the more common ‘neotechnological’ approaches to transportation energy conservation, and accounted for in planning, public policy, and law

The Environmental Resonance of Daoist Moving Meditations

Rather than focus solely on traditional philosophical categories, as has often beenthe case in the discourse on Daoism and ecology, this paper explores the connections between a Daoist theory of practice, moving meditations of Daoist origin, and environmental resonance. Major themes explored include internalizedaction tradeoffs, preventative and integrated health awareness, alternative epistemologies, and an extemporaneous ethic sensitive to ecological change. It is suggested that collectively, Daoist cultivational practices may contribute toward social behaviour that is at least neutral, if not benevolent, toward the non-humanworld. Autoethnographic journal entries vivify the arguments presented. It ishoped that this practice oriented approach will not only reveal some overlookedconnections between Daoism and ecology worthy of further study, but alsoappreciate the religious heritage of the Daoism to which such practices owe theirnaissance

Speeding Capsules of Alienation: Social (dis)connections amongst drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians in Vancouver, BC

Every commute practice possesses a different degree and quality of technological mediation. Some mobilities scholars suggest that particular types of modal mediation may either alienate the traveller from, or connect them with, their passing environment. This research draws on forty-six in-depth interviews with drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians commuting in the City of Vancouver, and their commute narratives and GPS logs, to compare the relationships that these participants have with their passing social landscapes. The results both support and productively complicate the theories of modally induced alienation and connection with other concepts such as isolation and marginalization. Intermodal empathy, as formed through multi-mode use, offers hope, at least for mobilities interactions. The article concludes with several policy recommendations

The Environmental Resonance of Daoist Moving Meditations

Rather than focus solely on traditional philosophical categories, as has often beenthe case in the discourse on Daoism and ecology, this paper explores the connections between a Daoist theory of practice, moving meditations of Daoist origin, and environmental resonance. Major themes explored include internalizedaction tradeoffs, preventative and integrated health awareness, alternative epistemologies, and an extemporaneous ethic sensitive to ecological change. It is suggested that collectively, Daoist cultivational practices may contribute toward social behaviour that is at least neutral, if not benevolent, toward the non-humanworld. Autoethnographic journal entries vivify the arguments presented. It ishoped that this practice oriented approach will not only reveal some overlookedconnections between Daoism and ecology worthy of further study, but alsoappreciate the religious heritage of the Daoism to which such practices owe theirnaissance

Sensing Commute Spaces and Automobilized Places by Foot, Bike and Car in Vancouver, BC

Some scholars argue that different modes of mobility produce different ways of knowing the world. Automobiles and their associated physical and social constructs are accused by some of alienating their drivers and those outside the car, whereas others see the human-machine hybrids they create as inherently connecting. Bicycling and walking are often seen as providing a more connected experience of places traversed, though the “automobilization” of these environments may conversely alienate cyclists and pedestrians through a host of social and environmental injustices, both local and global. Little empirical research has attended to this debate. This dissertation research is founded upon an epistemological position that sees knowledge (or knowing) as developed through sensual interactions with human and non-human environments and held within the body sometimes beyond words. Applying this perspective to the transportation debate evokes the guiding research question: how do the transportation practices of driving, bicycling, and walking differ in the way they shape an individual’s understanding of their local environments and mobility? This grounded theory research draws on in-depth interviews with, and commute narrative recordings and GPS logs of forty-six drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians commuting in the City of Vancouver. Thematic foci include commuters’ relationship to energy use over urban landscapes, the social and economic value of active transportation labour, and the social alienation, connection, and empathy associated with different modal hybrids. All three papers find different types and degrees of alienation associated with different transportation technologies. In general, increasing degrees of technological mediation may increase alienation, though the nuanced particulars complicate sweeping generalizations. With respect to the three modes explored here, automobility appears to alienate more than do cycling or walking. This research contributes new insights to mobilities, environmental epistemology, technology and society, environmental justice, and transportation and urban planning and policy

Farming in an Agriburban Ecovillage Development

A growing desire for local food systems has increased interest in peri-urban farming, leading to the rise of agriburban landscapes, in which a desire to farm or to be near farmland is a contributing factor to development patterns. Interviews and site visits to the Yarrow Ecovillage near Vancouver, Canada, outline an example of a development that allows new farmers access to land in a setting with few tensions between farming and non-farming residents in a zone on the edge of a protected agricultural region. Although there are limitations to replication of this model, we suggest that intentional settlements with an agricultural element on the rural/urban fringe could buffer traditional tensions between farm usage and residential usage, while allowing small-scale farmers a place to farm in areas with prohibitively high land values

Delineating the Southwest British Columbia Bioregion for Food System Design and Planning: A Practical Approach

In light of climate change, resource depletion and environmental degradation, food system vulnera­bility, and food insecurity, the potential to address issues of food system sustainability on local and regional scales is being increasingly recognized and pursued. Bioregions, generally defined as areas that share similar topography, plant and animal life, and human culture, represent an appropriate and consistently applicable scale and framework for sustainable food system analysis, design, and planning. As such, for a southwest British Columbia (SWBC) bioregion food system design and planning project, our first task was to delineate our bioregion. We report on the process, deliberations, and practical considerations that contributed to the determination of the SWBC bioregion for subsequent study. In addition to a complex biogeographic landscape that includes mountains, a major river system and delta, and a marine ecosystem, SWBC’s multicultural and urban/suburban/rural character is further compounded by its proximity to Vancouver Island, as well as by an international border with the Pacific Northwest United States; all represented important considerations in determining the dimensions of the bioregion. Bioregional-scale food system design and planning brings to the forefront the interdependency between human economy and community and the biophysical landscape with which they interact. In this reflective essay, we share our experience in the hope that it will inform the work of other communities in effectively delineating bioregions for food system design and planning that better align human communities and their economy with their environment. We believe the methodology presented has potential for widespread adaptation