One of the things I find interesting is how the same space can have dramatically different meanings to different people.
Take a city street.
For people who live on the street, it’s home. It’s where they spend their time off work, where they catch the bus or subway to work, where they shop, grab a coffee or have a meal out at their local cafe or a drink in their local pub.
For someone else, the same street could be where their shop is. For them, the people who walk by are their potential and actual customers. They might view some of their neighbours as friends or acquaintances while others might be competitors, customers or just that guy they dread coming in because he upsets the staff.
Another person might work on the street itself as a traffic warden, police officer or street cleaner. For them, the street is their workplace. Their job may be to separate good citizens from bad, nice people from trouble makers, law breakers or litter bugs. They may see the street as simply the place they spend their days and their connection to it may be as positive or negative as those that live or work alongside it.
A homeless person who sleeps rough on the street sees it different again. The people they identify as helpful or dangerous would depend on who helps or hinders their life. The street for them may be a collection of places to sleep, spend time or find food or hang out with friends.
Kids living in the neighbourhood might see it as their playground. They know where it’s safe to have a soccer match, where the playgrounds and parks are, where their friends live and which places they’re welcome and moved off from when then linger.
Criminals may view the street in terms of potential victims and hiding places. Maybe they visit the street only at night and so their view of it is a world full of shadows and dark corners. The shopkeepers and police are their nemesises. They may avoid the locals and seek out the visitors to the area.
Young adults may use the same street as their pub crawl area or perhaps it’s just the street they walk down to get to their favourite club and walk back along to get home. For them, the street might be a barrier or path–just a place they navigate when going to or from fun.
You could go on and on. Each person having a different use and viewpoint of the same space. We all do this–going in some places and avoiding others. Using some streets only as pass through points and others as end points in our journeys–places we actually spend our time.
It’s just a fascinating slice of life that we can all view the same space in so many different ways.