Pathways : walking in a terrain in flux

Abstract

This chapter offers a reflective account of the walking performance project Pathways (2021). The project aimed to explore the ways in which large infrastructural road works impact people's desire to walk. The walking practice took place from February to November 2021 along the lines of a newly built multi-level road junction on the island of Malta. The new road infrastructure on which we focus the project is known as the Marsa Junction. It runs along the edge of Marsa, a town located in the South-eastern region of Malta. Founded along Malta's Grand Harbour, Marsa is adjacent to several other towns. Historically, it has been possible to walk through these towns continuously. One might only notice the passing from one town to the next through subtle changes in architectural and other urban features and the characteristics of the town's inhabitants. The new highway infrastructure of the Marsa Junction was advertised as 12 km of uninterrupted road network connecting the south and north of the country (Infrastructure Malta 2020. Such a proposal begs the question of how this continuous flow of vehicles impacts and changes the historical pedestrian lines connecting towns and communities. It follows that we might ask how changes in pedestrian tracks and lines might affect how humans construct their sense of place and connect with their environment. Thus, we wonder what kind of relationship to the Earth this new urban geography might foster amongst the pedestrians of Malta. We feel that these questions might be answered through procedures of mindful walking. We attempt to do this using an embodied research approach in the Pathways project.