Walking In The City

Certeau’s “Walking in the City” is intriguing in that it investigates the effects of those who think they determine the city, and the people on the ground who actually makeup the city. Walking through a city really does give a perspective to the city that wouldn’t be seen from the drawing room. It’s the experiences in a city that shape the culture. Though the planning of a city is essential to its livelihood and success as a whole, there is something to be said about the effect the citizens have on a city after the planning has taken place. The tools and plans put forth by the creators of the city become merely the foundation for the city as a whole.

“Walking in the City” got me thinking about the difference between the concept of the city and the experience of the city. So often we conceptualize what it would be like to live somewhere else, or to visit a place we’ve never been. For me, I always thought about living in Paris. I thought about how Paris was supposed to be, how it had been portrayed. I knew about the design of Paris with the arrondissements being organized in the shape of a snail shell, and I knew a few vague descriptions of what some of the major arrondissements were like. However, it wasn’t until I was walking and living within the city that I truly began to conceptualize what each neighborhood was like. The same could be said for my experience in Chicago. There is always the stereotype and plan of what a neighborhood is supposed to be, but it is not until you are out experiencing the neighborhood that it truly becomes what it is meant to be.