Walking In The City Summary

In the reading “Walking in the City”, Michel de Certeau discusses the use of tactics and strategies when creating a city environment. Certeau explains that strategies are for big corporations, architects, and the wealthy and the powerful. These are the people who have a say in building the city. Strategies require urban planning, these people have the power to make these choices. On the other hand, there are certain tactics that civilians living in the city create to ease the difficulties of daily living. The little people, the civilians, or those who have no say, control the tactics according to Certeau. Tactics are created to make the living standards equal in a sense. The strategies and tactics that are used to create a city, play significant role in how the city will function as a whole. In the creation of the city of Philadelphia, there was one substantial problem. The city (or where the city would later be developed), was surrounded by two rivers– the Delaware and Schuylkill. This made for an issue, how would the city grow to be a success with

In the city of Philadelphia the act of getting around is very hard to do, so the tactic of public transportation was created. People use public transportation to cease the vast amounts of traffic that would otherwise be created. Trains and subways running under the city made for a minuscule change of infrastructure while still getting the job done. This tactic was innovative and created a speedy technique to get in and out of the city. Public transportation was also effective because the price of a train ticket or a bus token is so much less than that of a parking spot in downtown Philadelphia. Consumers were outraged by the traffic and the prices of having their own car in the city so they took to another route, public transportation. Tactics are used by individuals (consumers) to challenge those set by higher