Negotiating the City – talk and discussion at Site Gallery on Thursday 14th November 2019

Dr Dani Abulhawa (Senior Lecturer in Performance, Sheffield Hallam University) is giving a talk alongside Professor Iain Borden (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London) on Thursday 14th November 2019 between 6.30pm-8.30pm at Site Gallery as part of their ‘Spaces for Creation’ programme. They will be discussing the contribution skateboarding/skateboarders make to the concept of more liveable cities.

 

Skateboarders have a unique exploratory perspective when it comes to cityscapes: the surfaces, ledges and rails provided to funnel people through space become challenges and obstacles. Often, neglected pockets of urban space are adopted by this community and assigned new value as a competitive playground.

 

Urban design is welcoming all forms of active travel, with old rail systems being transformed into public walkways such as The High Line in New York, and whole separate traffic systems for cyclists dominating innovative city redevelopments. With skateboarding’s debut at Tokyo 2020 as an official Olympic sport, it heralds a new era for the sport, already experiencing a rise in diversity of participants and a change of social attitude towards an activity once demonised. What can city design learn from the approach of skaters? By making a skate-able city, do we also make a much more live-able city for everyone?

More information about the talk ‘Spaces for Creation: Negotiating the City’ can be found on the webpage here. The talk is free to attend but attendees need to register using the link on the webpage.