Look Here
Overall Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★
Why this book?
Having seen this book on Twitter, I requested it in from the library and read it over the recent October half term. The ability of Ana Kinsella to notice is inspiring and reminded me of the importance of regularly walking through London without a phone or headphones. As so often, I didn’t read it with the intention of blogging about it or using it for resources yet, whilst I enjoyed the entirety of this book, a couple of sections were particularly thought-provoking and relevant for our teaching of urban environments.
For teachers:
The impact of race, gender and class on people’s exploration of London
In Chapter 4, Ana Kinsella discusses the beauty of ‘Going Time’; the time spent in transit, waiting or moving as part of city life. As the chapter progresses, she begins to reflect on her privileges as a white woman and the reality that there is no such thing as an objective onlooker. When considering life in the city, you bring your own identities and biases and for Kinsella this is her accumulated experiences as ‘an able-bodied and inconspicuous white woman, living in cities that were built for people like her’ (p.52).
What results is a fascinating excerpt touching on the impact of race, gender, class and the legacy of Empire on people’s ability to live and explore in London. Some key quotes are given below:
‘These privileges can dictate everything about how I’m treated in any given location.’ (p.50)
‘To a certain extent, the reason I’m viewed as harmless or part of the background is dependent on my race, my size, my class presentation and my able body.’ (p.51)
‘Whilst a Black shopper may experience racial profiling in a department store, the world tends to turn a blind eye to me, and the city allows me to browse and wander and observe in relative peace.’ (p.51)
‘If I am safe here I know I should be asking: Whose safety is compromised on my behalf? Who is not safe?’ (p.52)
For any teaching about the liveability, equity and safety of cities, I’d highly recommend reading this chapter and building many of the quotes and ideas discussed into your teaching.
The increasing privatisation of public space in London
Chapter 9 begins with the following introduction to the privatisation of public space:
‘There seem to be more of them with every year that passes. Scattered across the city like a patchwork quilt of unusually pristine colour-coded spaces. They seem to be carved out of nothing: what was previously wasteland or some mark on the map that had been deemed unimportant is not organised neatly, branded in friendly colours and shapes on posters. They usually have new names, based on the history of the place where they stand, but often with an aspirational word thrown in- Reach, More, Plaza. When I enter one, I can’t quite tell where I am, or why, and that’s usually when I realise I’ve found one of London’s privately owned public spaces.’ (p.95)
As a Londoner, many examples sprung to mind immediately but so did the power of the quote above in teaching A-Level Regeneration. Kinsella goes on to consider how these spaces are municipal yet don’t quite feel democratic; how they are often rigged with CCTV and facial recognition; how these places offer a filtered, purified version of London. Coal Drops Yard, of the King’s Cross redevelopment, is the area that Kinsella chooses to hone in on and for anyone who teaches this as a case study, it is a chapter well worth reading. Kinsella highlights her immediate awareness that this area is geared towards people like her; encouraging them to spend their time and money is a pre-defined way and advocating organising ‘for-profit leisure’. Links are made to the ideas above of the impact of race and gender in the city.
For many of us, our case studies of regeneration at A-Level are based on the development of these ‘unusually pristine colour-coded spaces’ and the engaging and accessible nature of Ana Kinsella’s writing makes this book a valuable addition to resources to share with students.