The Familiar Stranger

“Smile at strangers and you just might change a life.” 
― Steve Maraboli

I stumbled across one of the most fascinating articles titled "The Familiar Stranger: comfort, anxiety and play in public places" when trying to find inspiration for my blog post. This was a concept that I always thought about so i was greatly excited to see it as published research. The familiar stranger is defined by psychologist Stanley Milgram as individuals we often observe but don't interact with. Urban living and public spaces are filled with familiar strangers! Think of all the faces we see day to day, it is almost impossible to remember them all, but yet there are those that stand out, due to a particular quirk or the simple fact of repetitive meetings with no direct interaction. 
There are countless familiar strangers that pop into my mind and they are mostly colorful characters, road side vendors, or even common passerbys. According to Paulos and Goodman (authors of the article) the fixed place strangers are the ones who's absence we note along our urban day to day living.
Another interesting feature of the research was the idea that the further away from our routine we encounter our familiar stranger, the more likely we are to acknowledge them and treat them as a close friend. For example if we were to have an encounter with the lady we see selling pies on the street corner in a place far removed from our routine, such as a vacation abroad, it would be typical to break the no interaction barrier and treat her as a friend by engaging in conversation.

Places we meet Familiar Strangers

This picture to me represents the essence of familiar strangers. Travelling day to day is extremely routine and mindless to many. High traffic urban streets, crosswalks, intersections are all places that we utilize and sometimes see that familiar face of a person we do not know. Public spaces and urban life go hand in hand with familiar strangers.


The article also offers insight to the anxiety that urban public places breed as well as how city planning and public spaces can foster unity among familiar strangers, making them less strange. I would give it a read. 
http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1213&context=hcii

All throughout this post I couldn't get two songs out of my mind so here they are, aptly titled and all. Both teaching lessons of strangers becoming friends.

Trying to keep my post short and sweet
Sharifa













“There's an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It's when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar.” 
― Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

The Importance of Public Space

PUBLIC SPACES: AN EXPLORATION

This blog has been forsaken for quite some time, due to me always forgetting my camera at home at the most perfect times. Instead i would wonder through various urban places and contemplate what this entire blog journey really meant to me. Then i thought to myself EUREKA!! Why not examine the very same urban spaces that i travel through aimlessly each day. Why not make sense of my surroundings and the things i took for granted each day. So there began my journey. I took all my pictures and made notes on them yet failed to publish them..... until today.

Men playing Chess on the Brian Lara Promenade.

This is a pretty mundane activity that I would normally pass by at any given time of day on my way to City Gate in order to get to school but i put on my Geographical lenses and only then did I truly appreciate its sociological meaning.

“Cultures and climates differ all over the world,” notes architect Jan Gehl , “but people are the same. They will gather in public if you give them a good place to do it." 

Old man relaxing on the promenade while others gather to watch chess match

Public space can be simply defined as a social space, generally open and accessible to people, examples include :sidewalks, roads, parks, squares, beaches, public thoroughfares and public libraries. The importance of these such spaces is generally lost, under/unappreciated. The question I asked myself is "Why are Public Spaces important"? The picture begins to answer this, later post will discuss it further.

According to Jay Walljasper, public spaces are the starting point for all community,commerce and democracy. Public spaces are important because they give the ordinary person a sense of belonging. They provide a place to sit,talk, meet, relax, read and my favorite of all people watch, or in the case of elderly men a place to gather and play chess. Although their activity looks restricted to chess playing, as evidence of the photo there are more spectators than players and when questioned most of the men agreed that they enjoyed meeting up with lifelong friends, making new ones, discussing matters of the day and just having something to do in their retirement.

The points highlighted to me as to why these men came to watch and play chess religiously also sparked a light bulb in my mind. Later on I found a pattern when taking my pictures, that those persons who frequented public spaces were generally of an older age and more typically male. All of which would be discussed in further posts.

Helpful Resources

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/18-2

http://cairobserver.com/post/27620273940/jan-gehl-on-the-need-for-public-space#.UWyDWaJwqSp

Stay tuned for more of my Urban Public Spaces Chronicles

Sharifa 

Welcome

Welcome to my Urban Geography Blog,

Palm Trees in the heart of the city

The smallest patch of green to arrest the monotony of asphalt and concrete is as important to the value of real estate as streets, sewers and convenient shopping

(James Felt)

This blog will focus mainly on urban public spaces, what they are, what they mean and their importance. 
Public Space is simply defined as any space open and accessible to all people.The above quote and photograph represent the greatness, beauty and value of public space. They both offer a slight peek into what is to come.

Stay tuned......