Start of My thesis

SLOWNESS:

Rethinking Everyday Mobility in the City of Productivity

Every summer, my grandparents stayed with us, filling our home with warmth and stories. Yet, after a few days, I noticed they rarely stepped outside. It wasn’t by choice. They wanted to visit the temple, walk through the market, or sit in a park, but the city made it difficult. They no longer drove, and the streets were too chaotic and unsafe to navigate on foot. Broken footpaths, fast traffic, and the lack of resting spaces meant every outing required assistance.

I realized they weren’t limited by age alone they were limited by the city.

The urban environment that worked for me failed them. It prioritized speed and efficiency, assuming everyone could keep up. But many cannot. Children, caregivers, differently abled individuals, and pregnant women all move at different rhythms, often overlooked in city design.

This led me to question: what if the city adapted to slower paces instead?

This thesis argues for a shift in perception from the city as a system of speed and productivity to the human dimension that is so often overlooked. Mobility, conventionally understood as a network for efficiency, is reframed here as a gateway for inclusion, particularly for the non-normative body. By studying the everyday rhythms of those whose tempos diverge from the fast-paced city elders, children, caregivers, differently abled people, and others the research seeks to identify and explore the spaces and objects that enable acts of slowness. These pause spaces and practices of lingering, far from being impediments, are shown to be essential to urban life. The thesis substantiates the need for slowness as a holistic approach to mobility, one that recognizes varied human rhythms and integrates them into the life of the city.