ABSTRACT
The foreign exchange dealer reported as having chosen to live on the Isle of Wight and commute to the City of London because he thought his family would be ‘safer on the island (where) the pace of life is slower’ may be unusual, but deciding where to holiday, bring up children or retire because of the pace of a place is not (Griffith, 1995). In the 1960s a Location of Offices Bureau advertised on the London Underground with pictures of fathers playing football with their sons in a ‘new town’ setting – a suggestion that in such places there would be enough time for family life. Since then pace has become a selling point for a number of industries, particularly those like tourism and construction concerned with place, and as I write I have brochures in front of me for holidays in Ireland, Greece and the Isle of Wight respectively which coo: ‘This Autumn we have just the solution for anyone feeling the need for breathable air, miles and miles of unspoiled beaches, stunning landscapes and a pace of life always in tune with your own’, ‘We are the last people to hurry you. After all, we know better than anyone that the real Greece is about relaxing and adapting to a slower pace of life’ and, for an activity holiday company, ‘The pace of life is slow but the outdoor action intense.’
