The city of invisible rivers: investigating practices of urban walking in São Paulo, Brazil

Casanova, Ananda (2017) The city of invisible rivers: investigating practices of urban walking in São Paulo, Brazil. Masters dissertation, University of Cumbria. Item availability may be restricted.

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Abstract

Urban walking has been subject of study in many different fields and there is an increasing interest on it in recent times. Despite this fact, research within this subject is sparse in the field of outdoor education is sparse. This study addresses contemporary practices of urban walking as a participative investigation of social environments and urban nature. Drawing in the concept of psychogeography and in a post-qualitative methodology, it aims to reflect on how outdoor experiences and walking in urban contexts can contribute to address issues of democracy and urbanisation, politics of space, urban nature and social memory. The research took place in São Paulo, Brazil, between March and June of 2016, with a group of 5 participants. We followed 6 underground rivers of the city using audio guides and the psycogeographical dérive. The walks resulted in two walking-based narratives and two interviews, in addition to narratives and photographs from participants, and a personal diary from the researcher. The findings address topics related to embodied perception of landscape, politics of space and the contribution of walking practices for an imaginative exercise about cityscapes. These findings may be useful for further research and practitioners who are interested in investigating walking practices in educational contexts.

Item Type:	Thesis/Dissertation (Masters)
Departments:	Academic Departments > Science, Natural Resources & Outdoor Studies (SNROS) > Outdoor Studies
Additional Information:	Dissertation presented in part fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in Transcultural European Outdoor Studies, University of Cumbria, 2017.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2018 16:09
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2024 16:46
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3938