Photo from the book New City Spacesguybabineau.com
home / about / channel surfing in the sea of happiness / contact
Flirting in the city: the social life of public spaces by Guy Babineau
It was the most bizarre example of bad urban planning Jan Gehl’s students had seen. Partway through a tour of cities along North America’s West Coast, all they could do was laugh and roll their eyes. The seven-storey parking garage topped by a three-storey fitness centre in downtown San Francisco was absurd. At the same time, it was a sobering reminder of how the car dominates civic life in most North America municipalities, separating people from the environment and, consequently, each other.
Last April, Gehl spoke as a guest of the Planning Institute of British Columbia. He is an architect and senior lecturer in urban design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and has taught at universities around the world. He is also the author of several books including New City Spaces, which examines a number of world cities, none Canadian, that have improved social well-being through strategic traffic management and the innovative use of public spaces. Gehl’s talk took a unique turn. Discussions about the negative affect of the automobile usually centre on environmental pollution and physical health. But what about it’s affect on how people connect and socialize?
Gehl’s students came from Copenhagen. Not one of them owned a car. Since the early 1960s, automobile traffic has been gradually reduced so that now 80% of the city’s downtown is car free. Pedestrian traffic has risen by 400% and the once dour Danes have become insatiable socializers, prompted by a combination of more meeting places and a less hectic pace. Today Coppenhagers take full advantage of the short Scandinavian summers. They hang out and chat for hours on end, as often as not with total strangers. This newfound sociability has made them happier, friendlier and even more romantic. They jokingly call themselves northern Italians. What’s stopping us from doing the same?
The problem isn’t the car itself. The problem is our dependence on it. Years ago the big three auto manufacturers (Ford, GM, Chrysler) prevented the construction of a good public transit system in Detroit – because in Motor City everyone should own a car – setting a precedent that led to the widespread corrosion of public spaces across the continent, and contributing to urban loneliness and violence. If we’re not physically cut off from other people by our computer or TV screens, we’re cut off by the windows of our vehicles. Seen from the air, the continent is one enormous grid system, straight lines propelling people forever forward, a metaphor for our collective obsession with getting ahead instead of taking some time to enjoy where we are, what we have, and the others around us.
Fly over much of Europe where culture and community are higher priorities than here, or much of Asia where public life is more valued, and you’ll see a pattern of circles and swirls. Vancouver’s dichotomy – the oft-discussed conflict between business and pleasure – is articulated by a grid system of roads imposed upon an undulating topography wrapped around mountains and ocean. A much-used seawall, which is a great place to meet people, snakes around our downtown’s perimeter while rigid traffic strangles the city’s heart and people sit in their cars honking their horns and glowering.
Interesting things start to happen when the grid breaks down. Under more relaxed circumstances we become comparatively lighthearted. Even, according to Gehl, flirtatious. He was talking about something quite different from the kind of flirtation we associate with pushy creeps in pickup bars or cocktail-soaked one night stands. Sometimes we forget that life isn’t just about getting from point A to point B. How often do we go shopping downtown and wonder where the time has gone? Between stores, we’ve come across a bench in a park or by the beach, an outdoor café, a sunlit sweep of steps outside a public building or a gurgling fountain on a plaza with greenery and art, and just hung out doing what seems like absolutely nothing though plenty’s going on beneath the surface. Maybe we’ve exchanged glances and pleasantries with someone else or perhaps we’ve simply just enjoyed people-watching, smiling effortlessly at the occasional passer-by. Somehow it seems easier, more natural, to meet people in the democratic environment created by public spaces outdoors than within the walls of clubs and bars or at parties catering to specific groups, where certain expectations exist.
It is only since the sexual revolution of the ‘60s that we’ve considered flirting solely as means of negotiating sex. It is also a social grace that can bridge socio-economic and ethnic differences, enabling us to better appreciate the differences among people. The word flirt first appeared in the 16th century and is believed to come from the old French word fleurter, to flower. Babies are the best flirts of all and most dictionary definitions of flirting contain the word playful. Flirting is, in fact, a built-in primate response that overcomes the “fight or flight” impulse when encountering strangers or new situations. It is a useful skill in all areas of life, from love and friendship to politics to business.
Flirting depends on liberty and leisure. One thing Gehl found in common with the cities he researched for New City Spaces was the heightened camaraderie and flirtation among citizens spontaneously brought together by well thought-out public spaces. They were encouraged to stick around by a number of factors including the strategic use of natural light and shadow, height variances to create mezzanines and inviting nooks and crannies, fountains, greenery, public art and most important of all, car alternatives.
Gehl’s hometown, Copenhagen, provides free bicycles. There are hundreds of bicycle racks all over the city. You drop a coin in a slot and claim your bicycle. When you return it to any of the racks in the city, you get your money back. In Strasbourg, Austria, cars have been replaced by modern trolleys that are completely transparent to build a visual bridge between commuters and street pedestrians. Car pooling to stations outside the downtown area is encouraged. All the people in your car, whether two or twenty, get onto the trolley for a flat fee covering everyone. In Cordoba, Argentina, a city with a grid system, older public squares which were turned into parking lots have been reclaimed. Graphic, to-scale outlines of the surrounding traditional buildings have been painted onto the pavement’s surface, creating an appealing architectural interplay.
Unfortunately, Gehl’s cities are anomalies. The flirtatious French of people-watching Paris are losing the amorous ambiance to a cancer of traffic. Naples, Italy has become a parking lot, curtailing the winks and come-ons of its infamous Latin lovers. Asia’s cities are flirting with disaster due to massive growth spurts and the increasing affordability of automobiles. Vancouver’s natural setting, especially in summer, makes it a potential flirter’s paradise. But if we don’t stop pussyfooting around about transit solutions to alleviate the car problem, and put pedestrians (and bikes) first with great public spaces, we stand to become SUV Lonelyhearts staring past the windshield while we’re stuck in traffic, pining away for what might have been.
Flirting Tips
Who can flirt? Anyone. Single, coupled, gay or straight, of any age. Flirting is harmless and playful. There doesn’t have to be a payoff but there can be.
Where? Good streets and public spaces for flirting in Vancouver are: the seawall, the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, the steps of the downtown Vancouver public library, Granville Island, Kits Beach and Vanier Point, Sunset Beach and English Bay, the intersection of Robson and Thurlow, Davie btwn Burrard and Bute, The Drive, Denman btwn Davie and Georgia, Yew btwn First and Cornwall
Opening Lines The best opening line, according to a survey of Texas college women, is “Hi.” The worst opening line? “Your place or mine?”
Eye Contact Establish eye contact before speaking. But don’t stare, unless you’re a lech or a maniac. Then it’s okay.
Conversation There’s an old Chinese proverb, “Three days without reading and talk becomes flavourless.” Magnetic wit and sparkling conversation are the products of an informed mind. Try to keep topics lighthearted. Don’t talk too much about yourself. Be fascinated by the other person. Unless they’re boring, in which case get rid of them by yawning, letting your eyes drift or telling them you make your living as a mime.
Props Some romance experts suggest carrying a prop such as a much-talked-about bestseller, a pet or a large, jewel- encrusted codpiece. Or think of something unusual.
Most Important Thing to Remember Relax. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.
Originally published in The Georgia Straight, Canada's largest independent weekly © Guy Babineau 2003
< home