The Department of Geography Speaker Series presents:
Hue-Tam Jamme, Arizona State Univ.
Topic: Space in Motion: Productive Friction and the Making of Urban Life
Abstract: This talk builds on the concept of productive friction: the opportunities for social and economic interaction that arise when movement keeps people connected to the city they pass through. Productive friction is not congestion, but the everyday condition that allows people to stop, notice, exchange, wait, negotiate, and share space with unchosen others. By examining how friction is reduced, displaced, and unevenly distributed in Phoenix, the talk asks what kinds of urban public life are lost in the pursuit of seamless mobility and what it would mean to plan cities that keep public space in motion.
