Skateboarding in Umeå : Thoughts and dreams of the city

Abstract

Skaters occupy spaces around the city, and they navigate their surroundings with an analysing gaze that differs from the average person’s perception of the city. They see possibilities in ordinary objects such as a curb, bike rack or planting pot and give these objects a new purpose and meaning. In this essay I aim to investigate and describe how the skaters of Umeå view their city. What are the places they prefer, and how do they value their surroundings. By interviewing skaters and observing the places they roam their experiences as skateboarders and active utilizers of the city will be put into the perspective of public space and the purpose of it as a whole. Can providing skateboarders with environments they enjoy be used as a tool to activate public spaces in the city and thus create more including spaces? The result shows that skaters are deeply investigated into the urban fabric of their city and that there are several places around Umeå in which they enjoy dwelling. It reveals that beyond the physical design and architecture of skatespots, the social structures and the senses of place are values that skaters highly regard. However, some of Umeå’s more central public spaces doesn’t provide the conditions that skateboarders crave, and they give their opinion on how these public spaces can better suit skateboarding. Keywords: Skateboarding, public space, urban architecture, including desig