How to park a car? Immobility and the temporal organization of parking practices

Abstract

The article explores the temporal organisation of social practices by using the example of car parking in cities. Parking is a dynamic practice dependent on materiality and oriented towards immobility. Drawing on the research on urban neighbourhoods in Poland, the article investigates coordination and synchronisation of people’s practices in temporally and spatially regulated situations. In so doing, it shows the emergence of normativity in car parking practices, which rely on ‘public familiarity’ and efficient use of urban spaces. The argumentation pulls together discussions about temporality, materiality, ordering and scalability of social practices. The article contributes to the understanding of cars in society by arguing for more attention to their immobility and consequences of parking for everyday life in cities. By looking at how cars are made stationary, both in action and with the assistance of temporal and material arrangements, the article engages the notion of infrastructuring to exemplify the practical normativity of temporal and spatial changes. The reinterpretation of infrastructuring helps to highlight its informal, situational and provisional aspects of infrastructure and practices that create and maintain it.

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