SOCIABILITY AND WALKABILITY ON URBAN PATHS

Abstract

This work is about the choices of urban routes, about the everyday encounters and mismatches in the act of walking, about the way of experiencing the city. The central question is: How are the relationships of sociability with the other (citizen) and the interaction with the city configured in the urban routes of bus passengers from the act of walking? The answer to this question is important to understand not only the interrelation between walkability (the act of walking) and bus transportation, but also the social relations that this form of mobility provides for urban vitality. The general objective is to analyze the routes of urban bus passengers in Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ, observing the existing walkability and social interactions. To achieve the goal a field research is proposed through observation from the concepts of "floating observation" (PETTONE), "tracking" (GEHL and SVARRE) and the perspective "up close and inside" (MAGNANI). Through the field research, different pathways were ascertained, as well as the different dynamics that enhance and or inhibit walking these pathways. It is expected that the research, by gathering a variety of paths, can identify these different paths, ways of walking and socialization in the public space of the street. This may contribute to the discussion of public policies for urban mobility, especially walking and its integration with public transportation.