Moto-mobilities: geographies of the motorcycle and motorcyclists’

This paper draws upon and seeks to extend accounts of systems of automobility through an examination of geographies of the motorcycle and motorcyclist – or what we term ‘moto-mobilities’. We utilize the figure of the motorcycle to raise the importance of analysing alternative mobilities: to consider how they appeal to different travelling dispositions and emotions; how they have been represented; and how they have been produced, marketed and consumed. The paper first reflects upon the experiences and embodiment of the motorcycle-rider; second, evaluates representations of moto-mobility; and finally attends to the materiality of mobility via an examination of the economy of motorcycle qualities

The German Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) and Urban Regeneration: Lessons from the IBA Emscher Park

URBAN. REGENERATION. Lessons. from. the. IBA. Emscher. Park. Philip Pinch and Neil Adams Summary The German approach of using international building exhibitions (Internationale Bauausstellung) to provide an impetus for innovation ..

Indicators for Spatial Planning and Territorial Cohesion: Stakeholder-Driven Selection Approach for Improving Usability at Regional and Local Levels

© 2015 Regional Studies Association.González A., Daly G., Pinch P., Adams N., Valtenbergs V., Burns M. C. and Johannesson H. Indicators for spatial planning and territorial cohesion: stakeholder-driven selection approach for improving usability at regional and local levels, Regional Studies. Reformed European Union Cohesion Policy aims at delivering a coherent investment policy to achieve the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and to reduce regional disparities. Spatial indicators measure progress towards agreed policy goals and support place-based approaches to policy implementation. Despite the range of indicators available, development of a standardized approach in support of Cohesion Policy has received little empirical attention. A set of key spatial indicators has been identified in a stakeholder-driven process. The methodological approach applied is presented and resulting indicators critically appraised with regards to their applicability and potential for assisting improved integration between Cohesion Policy and spatial planning

Tales of Emergence - Synthetic Biology as a Scientific Community in the Making

International audienceThis article locates the beginnings of a synthetic biology network and thereby probes the formation of a potential disciplinary community. We consider the ways that ideas of community are mobilized, both by scientists and policy-makers in building an agenda for new forms of knowledge work, and by social scientists as an analytical device to understand new formations for knowledge production. As participants in, and analysts of, a network in synthetic biology, we describe our current understanding of synthetic biology by telling four tales of community making. The first tale tells of the mobilization of synthetic biology within a European context. The second tale describes the approach to synthetic biology community formation in the UK. The third narrates the creation of an institutionally based, funded 'network in synthetic biology'. The final tale de-localizes community-making efforts by focussing on 'devices' that make communities. In tying together these tales, our analysis suggests that the potential community can be understood in terms of 'movements'--the (re)orientation and enrolment of people, stories, disciplines and policies; and of 'stickiness'--the objects and glues that begin to bind together the various constitutive elements of community

Waterspace planning and the River Thames in London

London is a city that stands, for many, at the pinnacle of neoliberal global urbanization and market-led residential and commercial property investment. Its iconic River Thames has become a focus for much of this development, particularly of luxury apartments. There has been an emerging sense that the river increasingly has been captured by a specific set of class interests and its edges privatized to the exclusion of other claims on the Thames’ identity, usage and meaning. Although cognizant of the power of private and property interests and the leverage they may exercise through state mechanisms, this paper interprets London's ‘waterspace’ policy and planning in a way that rejects interpretations of the river that simplistically foreground the will of capital and global neoliberalism

MotoGP and heterogeneous design

This chapter takes as its central focus the design of the MotoGP racing motorcycle. Our key aim in scrutinising MotoGP is to conceptualise the location of design and its meaning: to reflect upon where and how design happens; and to enrich understandings of the heterogeneous, networked and distributed character of design. Whilst many consumer objects are mobile, our analysis extends beyond the design of the motorcycle as a single mobile artefact to consider both the motorcycle-rider assemblage (Pinch and Reimer 2012) as well as the complex architecture of design technologies which support MotoGP racing. We stress the agency of material objects and non-material inputs (expressions and emotions) that operate relationally and act upon the MotoGP motorcycle, crucially defining its movement and performance. The chapter emphasises the multifaceted nature of design: it runs through mechanical engineering, the design of electronic control systems, the regulation of international motorcycle racing; and the physical body of the rider

Conclusion

In this conclusion, we identify a range of themes that signpost both the collective contribution of chapters and avenues for further enquiry and exploration. We consider the effects of movement on design as unfinished accomplishments; the role of design techniques and practice in the process of conceiving the mobile subject; and the disciplining effects of design on the mobile subject. The final section highlights the importance of understanding designed objects and designers as moral and political actors

Introduction

The central contribution of this edited collection is to foreground relationships between individual designed objects and wider systems of mobility. In bringing a design perspective to bear on understandings of mobilities, we seek to better understand the tools, assumptions and processes through which the subjects, practices and spaces of mobility are ‘made up’. At the same time, bringing a mobilities perspective (that mobility is meaningful and powerful) to design enables us to understand how shifts in the fluidity and circulation of people, practices and materials are reshaping design practices. In broad terms Mobilising design emphasises the role of design as process, practice and outcome in producing mobility. Together, the book’s contributors develop multi-disciplinary understandings of design, drawing upon diverse literatures including design history, product design, architecture and cultural geography

Legible London: mobilising the pedestrian

This chapter examines the design of the Legible London pedestrian wayfinding system. Overseen by Transport for London (TfL), this innovative scheme for enabling walking has developed from an early prototype study in 2007 to become a key part of transport policy in the UK’s capital city (AIG 2006, 2007; Arquati 2008; TfL 2014). An integrated combination of signs, pedestrian focused mapping and other directional information, Legible London has two complementary aims; to help people plan journeys on foot; and to give people the confidence to walk and explore. The scheme consists of a city-wide, consistent, pedestrian navigation system encompassing on-street wayfinding elements supported by identical information in public transport nodes (e.g. tube stations and bus stops) and paper based products as well as ongoing development of the provision of digital mapping information. The current on-street system is comprised of a mixture of information boards, known as ‘liths’ that come in a standardised range of sizes (see Figure 3.1), directional fingerposts, wall mounted signs and a range of supporting printed maps located in bus stops and inside tube stations. Information on all liths is presented in a hierarchical fashion: a top yellow beacon locates the sign in busy urban environments, directional information is given to nearby points of interest (replicating traditional finger signs), whilst differently scaled ‘planner’ and ‘finder’ maps locate the lith within 15 minute and 5 minute walk scales respectively. A street index also is provided