Walking as urban communication: affordances and agency in public space in a semi-lockdown city

Abstract

While unlimited pedestrian mobility is usually considered a key characteristic of open democracies and healthy urban communication, a global pandemic has re-organised how public space can be used. By analysing places of interaction, infrastructure, and politics and civil society, this article examines walking in the pandemic city as a form of urban communication. The article explores meanings that young adults give to walking in semi-lockdown Helsinki, Finland by employing a qualitative multi-method approach. The findings underline participants’ emotional and social motivations for walking, highlighting the need to plan for local places of connection. The article argues that an individual’s chance to shape affordances of walking relies on their own walking practices and personal resources instead of understanding walking as a point of planning intervention.

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