The city caught up in its own game

Preferring public spaces to skateparks, urban skateboarders are taking over the city, hijacking street furniture as they perform their tricks. The city stands to gain from this enhanced experience of the body in the urban environment.

Skate parks have done nothing. Skateboard and BMX enthusiasts continue to slide along benches and staircase ramps. "The attempt by public authorities in the 1990s to confine these activities to dedicated areas, as is the case for all sports (stadiums, swimming pools), has never prevented riders from continuing to practice in public spaces. This stems from a misunderstanding of the importance of the urban experience in this practice", explains Thomas Riffaud, sociologist at the Santesih laboratory.¹ laboratory at the University of Montpellier. " Hijacking urban furniture, creating figures in spaces that aren't there to welcome us, playing with the gaze of passers-by - all these things contribute to the adventure of urban gliding," says the man who has long surfed on sidewalks.

"This practice reconnects us with the city".

Investing the city as a playground is also a form of resistance to the norm of urban management that focuses on flow efficiency. Riders disrupt the planning of people and transport. By taking over public spaces for the duration of a ride, they even challenge the French idea of a public space that belongs to no-one, according to Thomas Riffaud: "skateboarders tell us, on the contrary, that public space belongs to everyone, including themselves. It's a vision that revitalizes public spaces, which are becoming increasingly deserted, precisely because fewer and fewer people are making them their own. This approach is also shared by graffiti artists.

"As far as the body is concerned, this practice reconnects us with the city, as it is accompanied by a very precise knowledge of the urban environment", emphasizes the researcher, who claims to be able to recognize the Albert 1er or Comé- die squares in Montpellier by the distinct noise made by the skates in these two spaces. His sociological surveys of riders show how, in their choice of location, all the senses are involved: sight for the shape and potential of the figures, but also touch for the glide, and even smell to assess whether the interest of the experience justifies putting up with the stench, for example... "Adapting to an urban environment that can sometimes be a challenge," he explains. Adapting to a sometimes hostile urban environment offers an intimate relationship with the city, a real affection for the place where you live", he comments.

History proves skateboarders right

Rather than a political demand for public space, Thomas Riffaud prefers to describe riders' opposition to the established urban order as an " intuition ". "The point is also to take a positive look at the conflicting relationships between skateboarders and other local residents: mixed use of public space creates friction, but it's precisely there that we learn to live together. And history is proving the skateboarders right. More and more skate-friendly cities are using these activities to revitalize deserted public spaces. While this movement is most visible in Northern Europe and Australia, it is gradually making inroads in France. In Bordeaux in particular, where - after negotiations with local residents - downtown squares are open to riders at dedicated times. " Street furniture specifications are starting to take this dimension into account: benches not only have to accommodate passers-by, but also have to be strong enough to support sliding! Not forgetting that some municipalities continue to ban skateboarders with fines and deliberately hostile urban equipment: spikes and notches installed along surfaces suitable for sliding.

"In a country that encourages people to do more and more sport, and where the population has never been so urban, it's obvious to make room for physical activities in the city", concludes Thomas Riffaud, who also points out that skateboarders contribute to a good image: "The beautiful photo - a beautiful figure in a beautiful place - is the trophy sought by skateboarders. And with the advent of social networks, skateboarders are making a major contribution to the enhanced image of the body in urban space.

1. Santesih (UM)
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