Introduction 

The  way  people  move  in  the  city defines its character. Cities have always attracted a lot 

of  analysis  and  criticism  for  its  peculiar  pace  of  life  specifically  putting  it  against  its 

rural  counterparts.  The  understanding  is  merely  that  cities  have  a  faster  pace,  because 

it  has  a  lot  more  people,  and  is  more  developed.  But  the  experience  of  living  in  a 

different  city  for a period of six months, made me question this pace. ​Hurriedness ​is the 

constant  need  to  move  and  work  with  an  eager  speed,  under  the  influence  of  various 

work  and  live  conditions  in  the  city.  For  example,  On  the  station  one  dashes  to  get 

aboard  a  local  train,  which  will  be  followed  in  five  minutes  by  another,  small purchases 

are made in haste, mostly using monosyllabic communication.  

work and live conditions 

-​Sprawl(distance between work and live) 

-Primary modes of transport 
-Cost of living in the city 
 

What - Research Question: 

What is the effect of ​hurriedness​ on Space? 

How the fuck do i grt to this questionnnn? 

Where  i  am  right  now is tat i started only saying that it affects space, then why do i even 

need to connect anything to anything??? 

 
What is the effect of ​hurriedness​ on Space? 

Introduction  

People in cities experience ​hurriedness​ and different cities have different level of 

hurriedness​ - the​ c
​ onstant need to move and work with an eager speed, under the 

influence of various work and live conditions. The life of people in cities is dependent 

upon several external agencies ​(What are these external agencies?) a

​ nd the intent 

remains to always function in sync with all of them. The importance given to these 

external agencies generate the urgency to act,  

producing hurriedness in the process. In these processes then the city or the immediate 

environment around is experienced in a very different way as against strolling through 

the same place.​(On what basis ?) 

The automobile driver on the road attempts to “make the next light”, small purchases 

are made in haste mostly using monosyllabic communication. The quick cup of 

coffee/​cutting chai​ is gulped and breakfast is had standing on the road at fast-food stall 

before reporting to work. There is always an urge to reach before time or sharp on time 

so you don't miss the flight/train. On the station one dashes to get aboard a local train 

which will be followed in five minutes by another. These and in several other instances 

the experience of the street, market, food stalls, transport system changes with different 

level of hurriedness in different cities. 

 
Space is created for an individual through his experience of the form and its 

characteristics(container), people and their activities(social) and his own state of mind 

and body(self). Hurriedness of the self or/and social hurriednesses both changes the 

space for an individual. The change is more in the sense of the space (perception), 

which may then cause a change in the physical form of the space in incremental and 

sometimes informal manner. 

Hypothesis 

Different hurriedness in different cities generates different spatial character of the city 

Research Question 

What is the effect of ​hurriedness​ on Space? 

Research Objectives 

To  understand  how  hurriedness  changes  space  for different individual, through a series 

of  interviews  conducted with people who have experienced living in two cities of varying 

hurriedness. 

 
 

Does hurriedness affect space or the sense of space? 

Hurriedness affects sense of space that changes the physical space eventually. 

Does space affect hurriedness? 

-- 

Concepts

Time 

Time as many social theorists have argued, is not just a linear, objective, physical 

dimension, but in the hands of humans, it attains a socio-cultural dimension. Durkheim 

in his ​Elementary Forms of Religious Life​, establishes a social origin to the categories of 

thought - Time, Space, Class, Causality, thus introduces the idea of “Social Time”. Many 

Philosophers from thereon wrote about social time, Wilbert Moore is one such 

Philosopher, who is important to be discussed in this context because in his book ​Man 

time and society​, he introduces the concept of Synchronization in Cities. Moore says 

that the fundamental socio-temporal processes with respect to institutions are 

Synchronization, sequence and rates. The phenomena of rush hours, is the mass 

synchronization of the majority workplaces, that creates this intensified time period, at 

the same time there are complementary processes(the markets, restaurants, and many 

other services) that are off sync with the rush hours. Hasan in his book​ Empires of 

speed ​calls the socio-temporal processes of these institutions as Timescapes, and the 

complex network of these timescapes as the dominating time form of our 

era(Information society), our individual social time today has to be worked around this 
web of timescape of these institutions, and in this constant need for readjusting and 

time-conscious way of living, kills spontaneity and generates a sense of hurriedness in 

the life of the city dweller. This intense networking and the never ending need for 

connections everywhere, to boost trade and increase production, gives great 

importance to one spatial element and that is Circulation, the movement of 

commodities, people, technology, money, becomes of high importance. And one of the 

result of that is the increase in movement spaces in the city. These are places catering 

to high and constant mobility of people and goods, and it is in these spaces that 

traverse time becomes of utmost importance, thus leading to the development of 

spaces that people don't identify with, increasing the unfamiliarity in the city 

Anonymity 

Georg Simmel in ​The Metropolis and Mental Life​, talks about the behavioural changes in 

the city dweller, due to the cities intensification of nervous stimulation. He compares 

the rhythm of life and flows of mental imagery in the rural, as against that in the urban 

cities, where the tempo and multiplicity of economic, occupational and social life sets 

up a deep need for intellectual sophistication(Specialization) that makes the people 

more and more indifferent to genuine individuality, reactions and anything that cannot 

be exhausted with logical operations. In addition to this a city dweller has to adapt to 

constant changing circumstances such that their feelings are never really engaged 

emotionally. This he terms as the “blasé attitude” which he believes grants an individual 

some amount of personal freedom, and anonymity. This freedom and anonymity, 
allows the city dweller to pass through the city, without the need for any interactions 

that are deemed unproductive by the individual, making such behaviour a norm in the 

city where individual privacy is thought of very highly. This also allows city dwellers to 

exist in bodily proximity and narrow space, while still maintaining their freedom, and 

privacy, and be able to get lost in the metropolitan crowd.  

Diversity 

The term diversity refers to any​ attributes​ that make other people perceived as different 
[O'Railly et al, 1998]. 
 
Cultural identity is one of the attributes that are associated with sharing certain norms, 
values, priorities or socio-cultural heritage. 
 
Its primary asset concerns favouring the concentrated diverse admix of human 
preferences, tastes, abilities, know-how, uses, activities​, and so forth. 
 
These differences enable individuals to live and work in constant contact with others. 
 
 
 
 
 

Infrastructural dependency 

Cost of living 

This chapter of the book explores ideas and concepts given by scholars, philosophers, 
sociologists, anthropologists, such as Simmel, Hassan, Wilbert Moore, Jane, David 

Harvey. Their contribution towards the concepts of speed, movement, hurriedness, pace 

of life and its effects and causes within the city are valuable worth reviewing. 

Research Methodology 

Method 1 ​(sense of space) 

Interviews 

To interview 10 people who have travelled/shifted between two cities with seemingly 

different pace of lives, through a common questionnaire, in order to understand if 

there's a change in the sense of space  

To understand Hurriedness as an aspect to evaluate Space and its liveability, its a 

measure (Indicator) 

Questionnaire: 

- TIME(sync, routine, social time. Schedules, sprawl, infrastructure) 

- How many hours in a day do you spend on travelling? 

- What time do you leave you're house and reach back by? 

- Where was it more easier to make changes in your daily routine. 

- ANONYMITY(movement spaces, interaction, familiarity) 

 - Did you know people on your usual travel route ? 

- How easy is it to move through your neighbourhood(1-10)? 

- Which spaces in each city did you find to be the most congested? 

- Cost of Living(jobs, occupation, salaries, cost) 

- Work-hours, job-week?(yours or the working memeber) 

- Earnings/expenditure in each city 

- Infra dependency 

- Which modes of transport do you use in a day? 

- How far from your residence are major nodes of public transport 

Bus stands- 

Train stations- 

Metro- 

- Size of the city. 

- Diversity(options, desires, choices,) 

- How far do you stay from the inner city? 

- What ethnicity are your immediate neighbours? 

Questionnaire​: 

- How many hours in a day do you spend on travelling? 4

​ hours/1 hour 

- What time do you leave you're house and reach back by? 8
​ -10/ 10-9 

- Where was it more easier to make changes in your daily routine. ​Goa 
 

- Did you know people on your usual travel route ? ​No / Kinda 

- How easy​-in what sense- without wasting time on unnecessary interactions-​was 

it to move through your neighbourhood(1-10)? ​4/9 

- Which spaces in each city did you find to be the most congested? L
​ ocal trains, 

station-roads/ Beaches, Market 

- Work-hours, job-week?(yours or the working member) ​14 hour/8 hour 

- Earnings/expenditure in each city 

- Which modes of transport do you use in a day? ​Train, rickshaw/ scooty 

- How far from your residence are major nodes of public transport 

Bus stands- ​1.2/ 2 

Train stations- ​1.5/10 

Metro- ​- 

- Size of the city. ​60/30 

- How far do you stay from the inner city? ​60/5 

- What ethnicity are your immediate neighbours? 

 
Method 2 (physical space) 

Site analysis 

To derive sites from the 10 interviews, that could be intense sites of these hurriedness 

and the effect it has on the physical space around it. 

   
Unstructured Conversation 

1.Shreyank Khemalapure 

Hurriedness

In Second Tier cities the day starts and ends at a different time compared to Mumbai for

example, the breaks and routines are strongly engraved

In a way the economy of that city also plays a strong role in it, in the sense that hurriedness

maybe generated by a thriving economy, or an economy may thrive through hurriedness.

Hurriedness simply can be seen as the compression or expansion of ones time, to Produce

So production becomes an important aspect in the understanding of hurriedness, along with

Time and Space

Time - space - production

As three coordinates to look at hurriedness , the relation of these three aspects could define

hurriedness in a space

Speed and politics -​Paul Verillio

In different cities different kind of work brings with it a different sense of time, like with the

coming of the mills, it became this idea of shifts, today maybe with the rise in New

Entrepreneurs in the city, Time may be of different value, or maybe the hurriedness may have

shifted from the movement of body in space(distance) in a given time to say, movement of

emails, orders, data through the virtual in a given time.

Cities of different nature generates different level of hurriedness, but also hurriedness gives rise

to a certain kind of urbanity/urban form.

For eg. Markets from Municipal markets, shift onto the streets with the most foot fall, as a

response to hurriedness, hence ideas of temporality, fragmentation, decentralization start

shaping the character of the city

Interviews-

Street Vendor

Entrepreneur

Tarishe(Dehradun) and Saloni(Amravati)

Planning of day schedule, 

Size of the city is smaller, hence all places fall in convenient distances for travelling 

through private vehicles,  

Bigger size, with a diverse range of alternatives spread across the city, induce 

hurriedness while travelling to these places.   

This happens usually outside the everyday routine, of institutions 

Places to go in a day within A , is smaller in size, so it's easier to traverse, while here in 

Mumbai the distances to travel is high because the size, but diversity creates these 

options and alternatives, spread across the city Swhich makes you travel to much 

farther location and hence, increasing the hurriedness,+ the need to schedule. 
But mostly it's for leisure or things outside the routine zone, unscheduled things to do is 

what requires these kind of planning, which creates the hurriedness for making the plan 

as well as doing things generates hurriedness  

So in the beginning when you're not aware of the diversity in the city it's easier to travel 

or stroll, without hurriedness. 

The markets are the municipal markets and it's informal spillovers, or old trade centers 

and their respective markets.  

The markets emerge where the footfall is high, making them inescapable and right 

there. This is the response of the urban to the hurriedness of the city. 

Markets or places of density 

The density is in the formal constructed markets or it's immediate spillovers, or the old 

trade center markets and it's adjoining roads,  

While in Mumbai you encounter street markets on everyday commute, or the markets 

establishes or spills onto the street where the footfall are high, rather then consolidated 

municipal market, so one is these kind of exchange happens on the very route of people, 

that increases hurriedness, and it's more of the citys response to the hurriedness. 

Not as many popup of new street markets, and marker streets. 

The experience of density in both of the city is different 

In (Amravati/Dehradun) the density of people is felt differently because passing through 

it without having to interact with people, is much more difficult then in Mumbai. Where 
spatial proximity is extremely easy to negotiate through anonymity that the city 

provides. 

The experience of density in not the places is not the same, 

Example in a market in B, the ease with which you can buy stuff and leave through a 

very dense market, is not really the same as in city A where you would end up 

interacting,wearing with many people. 

Even just moving through spaces, is much more difficult or obstructed then in city B 

then the anonymity. 

Economy: 

In cities B, the connectivity, the ancillary resources increase the expectation in jobs, 

hence more hurriedness 

Nature of job, if it's entrepreneur or businesses then it's different then in city B where 

there are so many different services and other jobs that will be hurried 

Production is higher if there is more hurriedness and vice versa. 

Certain economies depending upon what form of occupation dominates it, will have a 

certain level of hurriedness(nature of job)  

Smaller nuclear families, all working people, make things more hurried, unlike in joint 

family  

More unemployment in cities A then in cities more to do with the familiarity in their 

respective community, which somehow inhibits people in doing certain starts and 

options of jobs, which migrants can. 

Familiarity in a given community cuts off a large chunk of options of employment from 

the available​The idea of private property is high but privacy is low, in city B you share a 

lot of spaces on a daily basis, but still able to have privacy through this unspoken norm, 

of not interfering with other people and not having people interfer with your life. 

Cities AD has ample space to create private bounded spaces, but still with almost no 

privacy all. 

Mumbai, in even the apartments, where mostly all the spaces other then the room is 

shared, it still provides for much more privacy. Anonymity​ creates issues of safety in 

city B where you don't know anything about these people.  

Cities that  

4 Key Points

1. Keeping Functional Dimension and Density Similar in 4 cases- A, B,

C, D. The ​experience differs​ in each of the spaces

2. Keeping Functional Dimension and Density Similar The ​experience

differs​ in different formall configuration

3. These Differences are​ through​ the experience of​ Hurriedness.

4. There is a ​relation​ between Space and Hurriedness, which is

1, 2, 3, 4

5. Hurriedness is higher ​if​ …….

6. This Hurriedness generates/perpetuates/creates a specific

Urbanity/Urban Form​.
Slowness by Milan Kundera