Amy Knight-Archer Mobility Blog

 Please see attached my findings for the mobility blog. 

I have decided to base my initial study on the integration of boundaries and how the canal systems became one of the first major forms of mobility in Stoke. 

Amy Knight-Archer

Mobility

My exploration of mobility has been primarily informed by the work of

John Urry. I am currently reading through 'Mobilities' and specific

extracts from 'Mobile Technologies of the City'.

Both of these books focus initially on the more obvious interpretation

of mobility – movement. Urry talks about how mobility has been

integrated into the existing infrastructure to create a '...city in its

very design to function like a healthy body, freely flowing...'. It

suggests that this emphasis on mobility occurred after the cities were

originally built and has gradually developed as our technology has

advanced; Birmingham being quite a good example of this, with many

areas that seem to have been segmented by the introduction of

motorways, train lines, extension of public spaces etc.

Further reading explores how current developments in technology have

led to a shift in what mobility means. No longer does it refer to just

physical movement but also the movement of ideas and information.

Methods such as billboards, posters, leaflets etc have been around for

a long time, but with the movement into the digital age it is easier

than ever to distribute ideas.

'...the new hybrid interchanges of mobility and flow, as ICT's fuse

with, and reconfigure, the other mobility spaces and systems of urban

life, become critical and strategic sites at which the very political

organisation of space and society becomes continually remade.'

Urry suggests that informational and communicational mobility that has

emerged has led to changes in the patterns of movement through cities.

The introduction of Wi-Fi hotspots has meant that transitional spaces

(train stations, bus stations etc) are quickly turning into social hubs

where people can catch up with each other digitally or personally.

Through further studying of 'Mobilities' and 'Mobile Technologies of

the City' I hope to gain a more extensive knowledge of mobility as a

concept so I can apply this to the study of Stoke-on-Trent.

Nick Joyce

Ideas for blog

Hi mike,

I started looking at 'information mobility'.

Libraries have had to evolve with the revolution of the Internet. Storage is now more digital than ever before. Access to the 12 libraries in stoke on Trent is online. The libraries are evenly distributed along the linear city. The local library is more than a 'preservation of knowledge' but a hub for a range of community activities including sing a long creches for city parents.

The cost of technology for information access and storage is ever decreasing and affordability
increasing with examples such as the amazon kindle and apple iPad. Will the library shrink to a mere shelf offering access to digital tablets and will it sustain the community interest as the internet is becoming increasingly economically viable as a home convenience.

'Information mobility' is invisible or driven underground so overhead cables don't impair our landscape. The post industrial era allows work at home opportunities with online markets. Could this replace places like Hanley renowned for it's market history? Supermarkets are now distributing to individual households, reducing individual car journeys to stores effectively selling ecological benefits.

Sent from my iPad at home. Bedminster library 50m down the road has new CCTV signs as it recently suffered a robbery. I can pick up free wi fi from asda just over the road. I'll use the train to get to uni and stoke on trent.

Sui yuk Liu