tyler Women Walking Manchester: Desire Lines Through The “Original Modern” City By Morag Lillian Rose A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Urban Studies and Planning 2017 P a g e | 2 Acknowledgements The Flâneur is an illusion and so is the notion of a thesis completed in isolation. My heartfelt thanks to all the colleagues, friends and fellow travellers who have inspired, supported and enabled me to produce this work. In particular, I would like to gratefully acknowledge: Everyone in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield who co-create a stimulating, collegial and productive environment. Particular thanks to my Supervisor Professor Rowland Atkinson for critical questions, support and changing my perspective; in short being an excellent supervisor. Thanks also to Dr Tom Moore, Dr Lee Crookes, Dr Steve Connelly, Professor John Flint, Dr Suzi Hall, Clea Carroll, Keely Armitage, all my fellow PGRs for comments, debate and friendship and my thesis mentor Dr Emily Goodall. I will be forever grateful to the wonderful Dr Victoria Henshaw for her belief in me and her suggestion I should do a PhD at Sheffield. Special thanks to all my research participants who shared their time and their stories so generously and who taught me so much. The LRM (Loiterers Resistance Movement) dérive every month in Manchester and I am touched by all who wander and wonder with me on First Sundays and beyond, on the streets and in cyberspace. Thank you all so much. This thesis is a tiny part of an ongoing conversation and tumultuous love affair with the city. In the midst of my PhD we celebrated by creating Loitering With Intent: The Art and Politics of Walking. Cheers to everyone who contributed and to PHM for an extraordinary experience which revived my passion. Many other wise and inspiring people have helped me develop the ideas in my thesis, possibly without even realising it: Thanks to Adrian Doggett, Alan Smith, Alex Bridger, Alison Crush, Alison Lloyd, Andrea Capstick, Blake Morris, Brian Rosa, Bren O’Callaghan, BSNers, Caroline Turner, Clare Qualmann, Craig Almond, Chris Mills, Dale Meakin, Dave Van Derhoven, David Cooper, Eamonn Canniffe, Ealasaid Munro, Eleanor Bullen, Emma Curtin, Friends of Library Walk, Gabriela Ibarra, Gwyneth Lonergan, Hazel Covill, Helen Derby, Jamie Gough, Jane Samuels, Jason Slade, Jenny Pickerill, Jo Norcup, Joan Rutherford, John Piprani, Julian Holloway, Julie Campbell, Kate Pahl, Kiera Chapman, Kerry Burton, Lee Johnson, Living Streets, Lucy Furlong, Luke Bennett, Lynne Pettinger, Manchester Shield, Manchester Women’s Design Group, Marc Hudson, Mark Jayne, Marie Pattison, Marie Trubic, Matthew Gannicliffe, Matt Hill, Matthew Schofield, Maureen Ward, Natalie Bradbury, Natalie Zacek, Nicola Headlam, Nick Dunn, Nigel Clarke, Nora Murphy, OpenSpace Co-operative, Paul Raven, Phil Smith, Richard Phillips, Roy Bayfield, Pool Arts, Saffron Swansborough, Sarah M Hall, Sarah Irving, Sheffield Space and Place Group, Sheffield P a g e | 3 Psychogeography Action, Steve Graby, Steve Millington, Steve Pile, The Basement, The Handsome Family, Tracey Potts, Tim Edensor, Tina Richardson and all the contributors to Walking Inside Out, Victoria Robinson, The Walking Artists Network, WIASN and everyone who contributed to debates at The Supernatural Cities Conference (Plymouth 2015), Mundane Methods (Manchester University 2016), New and Emerging Feminist Geographies (RGS London 2016, 2017), Poet in the City (Manchester, 2016), Walking Women (Edinburgh 2016) Walk On (Sunderland 2013), and the RC21 panel on More Than Pedestrian: Psychogeography, Creative Walking and Spatial Justice (Leeds 2017). Thank you also to the rest of my friends and family, near and far, I love you all and I hope you know who you are. Please forgive any neglect whilst I was focused on this work, you are all very welcome in my Tardis and I look forward to future sparkly shenanigans. Heartfelt thanks to John Hawes for being my psychogeographical compass and so much more. I couldn’t have done this without your support. Here’s to the next chapter: as long as we’ve got rock n roll (and roast potatoes) everything will be alright. This thesis is dedicated to my Grandmother, Lillian May Doggett, the sweetest, strongest and wisest woman I ever walked with. P a g e | 4 Table of Contents ……………………………………. Page List of Plates ………………………………………………………………….. 11 Abstract ………………………………………………….……………………. 13 1 Introduction …………………………………………………… 15 1.1 Overview ……………………………………………………….. 15 1.2 Thesis structure ………………………………………………… 19 1.3 Research questions ……………………………………………. 20 2 Literature Context ……………………………………………. 23 2.1 Introduction …………………………………………………….. 23 2.2 Doreen Massey and space as stories-so-far ……………….. 23 2.3 Psychogeography and the Situationist International ………. 26 2.4 Contemporary psychogeography and the dérive ………….. 29 2.5 The Flâneur, the Flânuese and critiques …………………… 31 2.6 Walking as a political act ……………………………………… 35 2.7 Enchantment, imagination and haunting ………………....... 39 2.8 Definitions of public space ………………………………….... 44 2.9 Cosmopolitanism and gentrification ………………………… 46 2.10 The right to the city with soul ………………………………… 49 2.11 Gender and public space …………………………………….. 52 2.12 Women and the built environment ………………………….. 55 2.13 Manchester stories …………………………………………… 57 3 Methodology …………………………………………………. 61 3.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………. 61 3.2 Gender and feminist geography …………………………….. 63 P a g e | 5 3.3 Ethnographies ………………………………………………… 66 3.4 Walking as a research tool …………………………………… 69 3.5 The dérive as method ………………………………………… 71 3.6 Recruitment, participants and pilot interviews 73 3.7 Logistics ……………………………………………………….. 79 3.7.1 Interview starting point ……………………………….. 79 3.7.2 Direction, timing, routes, duration……………………. 82 3.8 Recording and transcribing methods ……………………….. 85 3.9 Data analysis ………………………………………………….. 87 3.10 Ethics …………………………………………………………… 89 3.11 Assessing risk in the research process ……………………… 91 3.12 Emergent ethical issues …………………………………….... 92 3.12.1 Encounters with by-standers ……………………….. 92 3.12.2 Street harassment …………………………………… 93 3.12.3 Sharing sensitive and distressing information …….. 95 3.12.4 Anonymity and confidentiality ……………………….. 95 3.12.5 Environmental hazards ………………………………. 96 3.12.6 Conflicts of interest …………………………………… 97 3.13 Conclusion …………………………………………………….. 98 Drift One St Peters Square to Castlefield: From New Stones to Roman Ruins 101 4 Dirty Old Town: The material of Manchester …………… 105 4.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………. 105 4.2 Favourite places ………………………………………………. 106 4.3 The Northern Quarter ………………………………………… 109 P a g e | 6 4.4 The alternative to alternative ………………………………… 113 4.5 Accessibility and infrastructure ……………………………… 116 4.6 Variable environmental factors ………………………………. 118 4.7 Bad character …………………………………………………. 120 4.8 The Beetham Tower ………………………………………… 123 4.9 Aesthetic concerns …………………………………………… 124 4.10 Piccadilly Gardens ……………………………………………. 125 4.11 Green space and nature in the city …………………………. 132 4.12 Movement through the city: women walking ……………….. 136 4.13 Playful walking ………………………………………………… 139 4.14 Cycling, driving and public transport ………………………… 140 4.15 Conclusions ……………………………………………………. 142 Drift Two Of creeps and canals: from Piccadilly to the Bridgewater Hall …….. 145 5 That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore: Gendered experiences of walking in Manchester city centre…….. 149 5.1 Introduction …………………………………………………….. 149 5.2 Walking as a woman …………………………………………. 151 5.3 The alcohol paradox ………………………………………….. 153 5.4 Coping strategies ……………………………………………… 156 5.5 Perceptions of fear ……………………………………………. 157 5.6 Calculating risk ………………………………………………… 159 5.7 Survivors stories ………………………………………………. 161 5.8 Fearlessness ………………………………………………….. 162 5.9 Intersectionality: age and disability …………………………. 163 P a g e | 7 5.10 Children and families …………………………………………. 164 5.11 Sexuality ……………………………………………………….. 165 5.12 Money, class and occupation ……………………………….. 168 5.13 Manchester Women’s Design Group ……………………….. 169 5.14 Street harassment ……………………………………………. 172 5.15 Flexible sexisms and the built environment ………………… 174 5.16 Interrupting interviews ………………………………………… 176 5.17 Reclaim the night and everyday sexism ……………………. 178 5.18 Conclusion …………………………………………………….. 179 Drift Three A wander around Ancoats and dreams that never came true ………. 181 6 Champagne Supernova: The hipsters dérive ………….. 185 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………. 185 6.2 The Manchester boomtimes …………………………………. 186 6.3 Witnessing change ……………………………………………. 188 6.4 Regeneration ………………………………………………….. 191 6.5 Grimy history ………………………………………………….. 193 6.6 Gentrification ………………………………………………….. 195 6.7 Social cleansing ………………………………………………. 198 6.8 Housing and homelessness …………………………………. 200 6.9 Heritage ………………………………………………………… 203 6.10 The value and loss of public space …………………………. 204 6.11 The role of the university in the city ………………………… 208 6.12 The hipsters dérive …………………………………………… 210 6.13 Conclusions …………………………………………………… 213 P a g e | 8 Drift Four My ghosts of the Northern Quarter ………………………………………. 217 7 Love Will Tear Us Apart Again: Wanders in hipcholic landscapes …………………………………………………… 221 7.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………. 221 7.2 Attachment and community ………………………………….. 223 7.3 Diversity and cosmopolitanism ……………………………… 225 7.4 Queer communities and the pink pound ……………………