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Geographies of Hanging Out: Playing, Dwelling and Thinking with the City

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Book cover Learning the City

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Education ((BRIEFSEDUCAT))

Abstract

In this paper, I approach thinking as something that takes place in playful encounters with the city: it is then always connected to doing. New reflection emerges in everyday action with everything that comes together in a given event. This understanding is based on a posthuman acknowledgement of the capacity of the material world to produce effects in human bodies: urban spaces take part in the event of hanging out, that is, they can make things happen. I focus my discussion on the possibilities for experimentation that hanging out in the city opens up. Because hanging out is wonderfully aimless, time and space is cleared for dwelling with the city, and then re-cognizing the world. To deliver my argument, I illustrate vignettes from a study on young people’s hanging out in San Francisco. By presenting the concept of hanging-out-knowing, I draw attention to the importance of young people having the time and space to be with their peers without strict plans and schedules.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In San Francisco, ten girls (12–13 years) took part in the research. The participatory study was conducted through school with the help of their art teacher, but separately from school work. The project started with introduction and a mind mapping session, after which the girls launched for their photo-walks. I then discussed hanging out and urban dwelling with the girls in photo-talks (Pyyry 2015b). De-briefing happened by mental mapping and the girls also put together an inspiring photo-exhibition at school.

  2. 2.

    The Mosquito is an electronic device used to prevent young people from spending time at shopping malls or transport hubs by emitting a high frequency sound that is detectable only by young ears. The sound is highly irritable and forces young people to leave the place.

  3. 3.

    PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is an international OECD test for skills in reading, mathematics and science.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been funded by the Kone Foundation, Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Noora Pyyry

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  1. Noora Pyyry
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Correspondence to Noora Pyyry .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University College Ghent , Gent, Belgium

    Hari Sacré

  2. Fac of Health, Edu & Social Work, University College Ghent Fac of Health, Edu & Social Work, Ghent, Belgium

    Sven De Visscher

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Pyyry, N. (2017). Geographies of Hanging Out: Playing, Dwelling and Thinking with the City. In: Sacré, H., De Visscher, S. (eds) Learning the City. SpringerBriefs in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46230-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46230-1_2

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