ABSTRACT
Mobile situation: on the south edge of the tunnel, Aalborg East, Denmark [28 June 2012] Along their daily walk home from school, two girls pass through a pedestrian and bicyclist tunnel. The tunnel is 42 metres long and facilitates the crossing between a large road and the district’s main pathway, segregating the incongruent movements of the smooth, ruled and fast traffic of the insulated ‘iron cages’ (Urry 2007) from the more vulnerable and slower movements of pedestrians, bicyclists and moped drivers. The two schoolgirls approach the tunnel from the south side of the pathway. Above the south entrance of the tunnel, there is a small strip of grass. Here, the girls sometimes hang out with their friends after school. To reach this upper edge of the tunnel, they climb the steep but short dirt slope, a result of the vertical traffic segregation. On this edge, they sit down and chat. Sometimes they eat snacks bought en route. This place is not designated for breaks; it is simply an excess area in between the road and the path, and the girls have plenty of more formal opportunities for lingering in the local area. However, they like this particular place. It invites spontaneity and allows them to be high above ground and to swing their legs freely. It is a good place for ‘just sitting’, talking and greeting acquaintances and strangers who pass by, they say. Looking at the affordances of that strip of grass, we might get a hint of the material conditions that stage the mobile situation and invite the girls to engage with this place: it faces south and is often blessed with afternoon sunshine. It is not pre-programmed with any activities but provides an informal setting for them to sit down, appreciate the view of people passing by and be seen themselves, while enjoying the sun on their backs. At the tunnel, when kids climb the steep verge to the strip of grass above the tunnel entrance, they get a rare opportunity to grab the long grass with their hands to propel themselves upwards. This situation seems laden with an atmosphere of youthful fun, spontaneity and togetherness, which works as an attraction to the girls.
