Wladimir Sgibnev, Tonio Weicker
Tallinn University, School of Humanities, Estonia; Åbo Akademi University, Finland; Free University of Brussels, Belgium
05/2019 – 04/2022
Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), Programm "Public Spaces: Culture and Integration in Europe"; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
Dr. Wladimir Sgibnev
Tel. +49 341 500 55-161
W_Sgibnev(at)leibniz-ifl.de
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 the 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:
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.
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