Rhythmanalysing the urban runner: Pildammsparken, Malmö

Edensor, T ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4715-6024, Kärrholm, M and Wirdelöv, J (2017) Rhythmanalysing the urban runner: Pildammsparken, Malmö. Applied Mobilities, 3 (2). pp. 97-114. ISSN 2380-0127

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Abstract

In this article we discuss the development of urbanized running culture by exploring how the embodied rhythms of running interact with other urban rhythms in a park. The analysis focuses on the timings, sensations and materialities produced through running, and how the rhythms of running intersect with the materialities and rhythms of others. The investigation draws on interviews, observations and a running diary undertaken at Pildammsparken in central Malmö. Our research shows that while the runner, in endeavouring to align with the rhythms of others, may becoming a more disciplined figure, running in the park is more concerned with practising a sharing of space than moving on auto-pilot. Consequently, running is largely a mobile rhythmic practice that negotiates and adapts to co-produce eurhythmic choreographies in this particular urban location.