PUTSPACE

Public Transport as Public Space

PUTSPACE Conference in Brussels, Belgium, 20-22 April 2022

The Event

The conference Public Transport as Public Space is organised as part of PUTSPACE, a research project led by academics at Tallinn University, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig, Åbo Akademi University in Turku and Université Libre de Bruxelles. Both the conference and the project explore what makes public transport a type of public space, and for whom.

As public transport continues to be explored primarily by engineers and economists, its publicness remains understudied. Yet, public transport embraces intense and intimate sites for encountering cultural diversity, facilitating social integration and negotiating public space. It reflects political ideologies, social relations and conflicts, allowing for the reproduction or resistance to configurations of power. Put simply, public transport is at the frontline of contesting what is, can be, or should be public in the city.

The conference aims to gather diverse contributions that humanise and politicise knowledge about public transport by exploring narratives, experiences and contestations of public transport.

Practical Information

Fees

The conference is free of charge, and there is no participation fee. Besides the conference activities, the participants are offered free lunch and coffee breaks. However, they need to organise and cover the accommodation and travel on their own.

The organisers offers a number of travel bursaries to help with accommodation and travels. For more information, see tab on the left.

Registration

It is now possible for non-presenting participants to register. To do so, follow this link.

Venue

The conference will take place in Halles Saint Géry in Brussels, located in the very heart of the city. The venue is easily accessible by multiple modes of public transport, including the metro, trams and buses. It is easily reachable from the two airports servicing Brussels (BRU and CRL).

Travel Bursaries

We will provide individual travel bursaries covering accommodation and/or travel expenses up to 250€. To apply for the bursary, please send an email titled “Travel bursary” directly to the event organisers at putspace.conference@gmail.com.

Specify your motivation to obtain the bursary as well as your current work status, as the bursaries are intended for participants with low, precarious or no income.

Program

Wednesday, 20 April

16:00 – 16:30 Registration

16:30 – 17:30 Opening

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Wojciech Kębłowski, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Université Libre de Bruxelles — a word of welcome

Isabelle Vandoorne, Deputy Head of Unit for Innovation and Research, European Commission
Elke Van den Brandt, Brussels Minister for Mobility

Tauri Tuvikene, Tallinn University — Presentation of PUTSPACE results

17:30 – 19:00 Keynote talk

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Prof. Corinne Mulley, Professor of Public Transport, University of Sydney
Public Transport as Public Space

Chair: Wojciech Kębłowski, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Université Libre de Bruxelles

19:00 – 20:00 Drinks

Program

Thursday, 21 April

8:30 – 9:00 Registration and coffee

9.00 – 10.20 Parallel Sessions

Session: Gender issues in public transport (part 1)

Room: Tramway – Ground floor

Convenors
Monika Maciejewska (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Oriol Marquet (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Ferya Ilyas, The New Institute
Mridula Garg, SEEDS
Travelling with insecurities: Gendered experiences in South Asia

Carine Assaf, KU Leuven
Christine Mady, Notre Dame University-Louaize
Dress or trousers? The female practice of using public transport in Beirut and Brussels

Louise Sträuli, Tallinn University and Université Libre de Bruxelles
Experiences and practices of care mobilities in a fare-free public transport system

Morgan Campbell, University of Leeds/Institute for Transport Studies
Change, Please: Exploring the work of women bus conductors in Bengaluru

Pallavi Gupta, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Thinking Beyond Passengers: Women Cleaners in Railway Stations

Session: The Bus as Space of Encounters

Room: Marshrutka – Zenne 23

Convenors
Dag Balkmar (Örebro University)
Malin Henriksson (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute)
Tanja Joelsson (Stockholm University)

Charlotte Veal, University of Newcastle
Consenting To Everyday Propinquities Onboard the Bus during the Covid-19 pandemic

Bradley Rink, University of Western Cape
Sound-tracks on the bus: Listening to bus encounters in Cape Town

Tanja Joelsson, Stockholm University
Dag Balkmar, Örebro University
Malin Henriksson, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute
The bus as stigmatized space

Daniel Muñoz, University of Oxford
The everyday production of mobility justice in Santiago’s public transport system

Rafiazka Hilman, Delft university of Technology
Portraying Bus Service as Multidimensional Social Contact

Session: Representations of tram closures (part 1)

Room: Metro – La cave

Convenors
Adam Borch (Åbo Akademi University)
Silja Laine (Åbo Akademi University)
Jason Finch (Åbo Akademi University)

Wladimir Sgibnev, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography
Lela Rekhviashvili, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography
Last trams of post-Soviet cities: how narratives of trams closures shape activists’ political engagement

Lyubomir Pozharliev, Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography
Tensions on tracks: The closure of the old tramline routes in the course of the opening of the Subway in Sofia, Bulgaria

Silja Laine, Åbo Akademi University
History, Memory and the Travelling Images of the Turku Tram closures

Laura Kemmer, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Present in absence: The collectivizing force of Rio de Janeiro’s last tramway

10.20 – 10.50 Coffee break

10.50 – 12.10 Parallel Sessions

Session: Gender issues in public transport (part 2)

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Convenors
Monika Maciejewska (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Oriol Marquet (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Sonja Ruud, The Graduate Institute of Geneva
Navigating professional responsibility and personal risk: experiences and perceptions of safety among female railway personnel

Anna Plyushteva, University of Oxford
Sherin Francis, Jacobs*
Feminist transport appraisal?

Sandra La Rota, University of Antwerp
Reflections of a short documentary competition: “Between the countryside and the city: stories of rural women’s transport”

Irene Lofthouse, LJM and Hull Universities (UK)
Murder, mothering and mobility: gendered private emotions disrupt voyages

Session: Representations of tram closures (part 2)

Room: Metro – La cave

Convenors
Adam Borch (Åbo Akademi University)
Silja Laine (Åbo Akademi University)
Jason Finch (Åbo Akademi University)

Iuliia Eremenko, University of Bamberg
The lost “tram capital”: the tram system in St. Petersburg

Adam Borch, Åbo Akademi University
Peter Dürrfeld’s Linie 4 og andre noveller (1984) and Memories of the Copenhagen Tram

Jason Finch, Åbo Akademi University
A Number 9 Demonstrates Why Trams Would Not Survive’: How Public Transport Closure Representations Serve Political Ends

Session: Public transport as public space (part 1)

Room: Marshrutka – Zenne 23

Convenors
PUTSPACE team
Chair: Tonio Weicker (Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography)

Egor Muleev, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography
The role of passengers in mobility transitions: the case of trolleybuses in Ulyanovsk between 1990 and 2022.

Bermet Borubaeva, Independent analysist, The Bishkek School of Contemporary Art
Trolley Encounters in Frunze – a city that we lost

Siying Wu, University of Edinburgh
Mobile Lives Underground: Mundane Passengering and Everyday Urban Encounters in Guangzhou Metro, China

Nils van der Wildt*, University of Groningen
Tauri Tuvikene, Tallinn University
Social interactions on public transport: Observations from the public transportation network in Tallinn, Estonia

12.10 – 13.10 Lunch

13.10 – 14.10 Keynote talk

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Prof. Ajay Bailey, Chair in Social Urban Transitions, Utrecht University; together with EQUIMOB team
Ageing, mobilities and access to public transport in India and Bangladesh

Chair: Louise Sträuli (Tallinn University and Université Libre de Bruxelles)

14.10 – 14.40 Coffee break

14.40 – 16.00 Parallel Sessions

Session: Surveillance, Public Space and Public Transport

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Convenors
Merlin Gillard (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research / Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Corentin Debailleul (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Nicolas Bocquet (Université Catholique de Louvain / Université de Genève)

Corentin Debailleul, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Nicolas Bocquet, Université Catholique de Louvain / Université de Genève
Surveillance in Brussels public transport: an exploratory assessment

Merlin Gillard, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research / Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Policing Fare-Free Public Transport spaces in Luxembourg: exploring policies and discourses

Ferya Ilyas, The New Institute
Mridula Garg, SEEDS
From Gaze to CCTV Camera: Public Transportation Surveillance in South Asia

Helena Atteneder*, University of Tübingen, Institute of Media Studies
Bernhard Collini-Nocker*, University of Salzburg
Tracking (on) the train – the surveillance logic of commuters in public transport – perception, normalisation practices and adaptation

Workshop: The pandemic resilience of public transport – clash of realities?

Room: Metro – La cave

Organisers
Marissa Reiserer (University of Kassel)
Natalie Schneider (University of Kassel)
Tauri Tuvikene (Tallinn University / PUTSPACE)
Louise Sträuli (Tallinn University and Université Libre de Bruxelles / PUTSPACE)
Tonio Weicker (Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig / PUTSPACE)

Session: Public Transport Meets Autonomous, Connected, Cooperative Mobilities

Room: Marshrutka – Zenne 23

Convenors
Andrei Kuznetsov* (European University at Saint Petersburg)
Nikolay Rudenko* (European University at Saint Petersburg)
Chair: Adam Borch (Åbo Akademi University)

Fei Yu, Centre for Mobilities Research, Lancaster University
Autonomobility justice in China: A mixed methods study of how autonomous vehicles could shape future mobility systems

William Riggs*, University of San Francisco School of Management
Developing Sustainable, Cooperative and Just Business Models for Autonomous Public Transport and Urban Mobility

Thomas Vanoutrive, Urban Studies Institute, University of Antwerp
Visualizing the irony of mobility as a shared, autonomous and smart service

Liliia Zemnukhova*, European university at St. Petersburg, Sociological Institute of the FCTAS RAS
How to make autonomous vehicles publicly accepted? Discussion of the ethical issues

Nikolay Rudenko*, European University at Saint Petersburg
Denis Kvasniuk*, European University at Saint Petersburg
Precise nature of Autonomous vehicles and the changes of the public transportation

16.00 – 16.30 Coffee break

16.30 – 17:40 Exhibition opening & panel discussion

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

18:00 – 20:00 Informal evening programme

Room: Tramway — Ground floor

Board games, light dinner and drinks.

Program

Friday, 22 April

9.00 – 10.20 Parallel Sessions

Session: Art and Research on Public Transport (part 1)

Room: Tramway – Ground floor

Convenors
Aleksandra Ianchenko (Tallinn University and Åbo Akademi University)
Anton Polsky (Partizaning)

Giada Peterle, DiSSGeA, University of Padua
Graphic (im)mobilities: moving with comics as a research practice

Natalia Irina Roman, Bauhaus University Weimar
Along the Lines: A self made art residency and art research with the German Railway

Anton Polsky, Partizaning
Urban Interventions as a Research Method

Michael Zinganel, Tracing Spaces
Michael Hieslmair*, Tracing Spaces
Exhibiting Nodes and Vehicles of Long Distance Public Transport: Mobile Research, relational tools and assemblages of artifacts and art works

Session: Public transport as public space (part 2)

Room: Marshrutka – Zenne 23

Convenors
PUTSPACE team

Chair: Louise Sträuli (Tallinn University and Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Samuel Mutter, Aberystwyth University
Felt Spaces of Logistification: An Auto-Ethnography of Technology, Aesthetics and Affect in the London Underground

Laura Kemmer, Humboldt University of Berlin
Wladimir Sgibnev, Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography
Tonio Weicker, Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography
Maxwell Woods*, Universidad Adolfo Ibañéz in Viña del Mar
Spaces of exposure: Re-thinking ‘publicness’ through public transport

Rania Dawood, University of Nottingham
How can we Improve the Train Station Experience in Suburban Locations? Saving Time while Enhancing the Experience of Time

Christoph Schimkovsky, University of Sheffield
Passenger etiquette, customer experience, and the management of conduct on Tokyo’s commuter
railway network

Session: Postcolonial Representations of Public Transport

Room: Metro – La cave

Convenors
Anna-Leena Toivanen (University of Eastern Finland)
Sandra García-Corte

Mordjana Haddad, University of Oum El-Bouaghi
Means of Transportation; or, Vehicles of Spatial Division, Corruption, and Crime in Lagos Noir (2018)

Alicia Barnes, University of Surrey
The Indian Eye on Railway Life: British Railway Space and Ethnographic Surveying, c.1860-1900

Zeynep Ceren Henriques Correia, Åbo Akademi University
Ferry timetables: whereabouts and whenabouts public transport emerges as public space

Anna-Leena Toivanen, University of Eastern Finland
Travel by public transport in Afrodiasporic return narratives

10.20 – 10.40 Coffee break

10.40 – 12.20 Keynote talk

Room: Tramway – Ground floor

Chairs: Tauri Tuvikene (Tallinn University) and Wladimir Sgibnev (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography)

30 min
Michael Vogt, Dresden Transport Museum
Shaping Today from Tomorrow – Museums as Public Places for Opinion Making on the Transport Turnaround

Q&A

10 min
Sasha Disko-Schmidt, Deutsches Museum (Munich)
Bettina Gundler*, Deutsches Museum (Munich)
The redesign of the permanent exhibit on urban public transport at the Deutsches Museum, Verkehrszentrum

10 min
Andres Seene, Estonian Road Museum
Enhancing traffic safety in public space through the lessons of history
(Public)transport history as case study method for teaching safer traffic behaviour

Q&A
Discussion on museums’ role in generating public knowledge and interest in the topic of public transport as public space.

12.20 – 13.20 Lunch

13.20 – 14.40 Parallel Sessions

Session: Art and Research on Public Transport (part 2)

Room: Tramway – Ground floor

Convenors
Aleksandra Ianchenko (Tallinn University and Åbo Akademi University)
Anton Polsky (Partizaning)

Joe Rowley, Raumdeuter Radio
Holly O’Brien, Raumdeuter Radio
Tomiwa Folorunso, Raumdeuter Radio
Maria Muehombo, Raumdeuter Radio
Raumdeuter Radio: Reinterpreting the city through sound

Jakob Hüfner, Bauhaus University Weimar
Moving Country – Staging for Passing Trains

Natalia Skobeeva
The Interview with the London Underground Mosquito: Public transport as Space. (presentation-performance)

Aleksandra Ianchenko, Tallinn University and Åbo Akademi University
Guess what I have seen on the tram today!

Session: Public transport as public space (part 3)

Room: Metro – La cave

Convenors
PUTSPACE team
Chair: Tauri Tuvikene (Tallinn University)

Ilya Sogolov, Technische Universität Berlin
Center and Periphery in Paratransit in Bishkek

Erin Cooper, Universiteit Antwerpen
Does MaaS address the challenges of multi-modal families? User perspectives from Brussels, Belgium

Todor Stojanovski, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Bim Kilje, Stockholm University
Mixed (mobi)rea(lity) of standard to automated bus – Physical-virtual morphology of public mobility and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)

Floridea Di Ciommo, cambiaMO
Thais Lamoza, door2door
Martina Schuß, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt
Designing for Gender Safety in Shared Transport Mode

Panel: Fare-free public transport — a panel discussion

Room: Marshrutka – Zenne 23

Chair: Wojciech Kębłowski, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Panelists:
Corinne Mulley. Professor of Public Transport, University of Sydney
Daniel Štraub, Jagiellonian University
Adam Kudełka, municipality of Zielonka, Poland
Adam Borch, Åbo Akademi University

14.40 – 15.10 Coffee break

15.10 – 16.30 PUTSPACE roundtable discussion – Closing the formal part of the conference

Room: Tramway – Ground floor

16:30 – 18:00 PUTSPACE goes underground – a guided walk through the construction site of Metro3

18:30 – 19:15 Informal dinner

Venue: Le DK, rue de Danemarkstraat, 70B, Brussels

19:15 – 22:00 Film screening: What makes public transport public?

Venue: Le DK, rue de Danemarkstraat, 70B, Brussels

Entre deux – Oan Moonens
Un tram dans la vi(ll)e – Sonia Ringoot
Don’t Look Down – Gwenaël Breës, Cédric Castus, Le Copinage, Céline Serrad

All films are subtitled in English.

The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Acknowledgements

The event is organised as part of the PUTSPACE project, which is financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme, co-funded by AKA, BMBF via DLRPT, ETAg, and the European Commission through Horizon 2020.