First of all I thought this blog would talk about walking inside a city with my tourist eyes and analyzed it then. I started walking into Derby from my accommodation at Sir Peter Hilton, to the Bus Station. I really thought I was going to notice something new as I was in a different country than France. In addition, I live in the countryside in France, so it was definitely a massive change for me. However, when I started walking it wasn’t the fact of being in another country that made me most of a mark on how I moved in the city. Indeed, I noticed that my speed has changed. So I’m going to tell you in this blog, about my experience on my speed, but not just in Derby, because this phenomenon influences me in all the big cities.
Indeed, I’ve been living my whole life in the countryside surrounded by fields, alone without any neighbours. So when I go for a walk in the countryside there is nobody, I don’t rush because I enjoy the landscape, the animals and the moment. But I’ve noticed that even the smallest cites have changed. Moreover, today there are parks, green spaces, sidewalks and more shops in the city centre. I also notice that there are more people walking but, on the other hand, I walk much slower in the countryside because it’s still more rural than Derby for example. When I’m in a city centre in a bigger city the atmosphere is more hectic because of the traffic, pedestrians, bicycles, shops and pubs. There is more industrial life is city while in the countryside it is more a natural life.
When I travelled to London or Liverpool, I felt an urban energy and I was naturally walking faster and hurry. So I started to wonder about this interaction between the structure of the urban environment, with sidewalks, roads, and the way we walk. I have been in England for two months so I had more time to think about it and experienced it.
On this picture, I’m getting closer to the city center of Derby on a Friday afternoon, yet I’m not rushing I have nothing to do instead of walking, but the closer I get to the center, the faster my pace accelerates. I passed through people, I avoided the slowest walkers and felt the weight of the buildings above me, which is kind of oppressing. Indeed, I feel that everybody is walking faster than in the countryside. This phenomenon was the same when I went for a walk in Liverpool or in London, and when I think about it, in all the big cities I’ve already been to.
Every time I walk around a city it happens again. It is therefore not for nothing that it is said that the people of the city are impatient, at least in France. Our environment influences our existence at a given time, with the hustle and bustle around us, buses, cars, taxis, the subway, feel compelled to go fast.
For example if I did not want to miss the bus I had to go fast, if I wanted to cross the road in the allotted time I had to go fast as well. The city is fast because of its urbanization. Personally the fact that the city is noisier due to traffic or even population density affects my speed.
On the other hand, I did not feel this in the whole city of Derby. Indeed, there are more peaceful places in the big cities, in the parks, on the riverside, where there are fewer shops, less traffic. So I notice that my speed slowed down when I was walking near to the Silk Mill park and the Derwent. Seeing animals, and water flowing gently was very relaxing. In fact, the rate of urbanization really has an effect on people’s Walking.
I don’t really know if pollution has an impact on everyone, but for me, as an asthmatic person, I feel the pollution of a city on my breath and I feel obliged to walk faster to enter shops, supermarkets, to avoid outdoor pollution and the urbanization of cities. Even if in Derby it wasn’t really the case because there isn’t a lot of traffic in the city center apart from bus and taxis.
But in the bigger cities, like London or Liverpool, stress and excitement also intervene in the way I walk in a more urban environment. The fact that there is more traffic pedestrians can’t cross the roads as they want. Moreover, for me the city is too noisy, because of its urbanization, traffic, constructions and population density. The noise of cars, motorcycles, buses, oppressed and annoyed me a little. As I was not used to such traffic I felt forced to walk faster than everyone. It makes me maybe unsociable, but I felt obliged to accelerate to avoid this noisy situation. That’s why on the way back when I passed on the Victoria street, in Derby, I was walking even faster to get back to my accommodation.
But I found a solution to successfully enjoy my walks in the big cities, my headphones. I find it very paradoxical because, I flee the noises of the city, but at the same time, I put others sounds in my ears. But at least I like what I listen to. Moreover, I also noticed that my speed changed according to the music that I was listening to. That is to say that, I walked faster when I listened to Beyoncé than to Adele. That shows that human being are very sensitive to what surrounds them and transmit it physically, by walking faster for example.
Louise Fradin
ID: 100527867
Derby Urban Sociology 
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