Informal imitation, not official decree, often created specialized public spaces

Evidence

The designation of certain public spaces as being appropriate for certain activities was not, however, always so formal a matter. In London, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, certain areas within the parks managed to get themselves defined as appropriate spots for the manly art of duelling, quite unassisted by royal proclamation (Larwood, 1881:81, 291). Imitation generally seemed sufficient for the creation of specialized public space, as in London, again, where during the 1700s, St. James Park became the setting for a whole series of highly improbable foot races. One of these-a typical example -took place in February of 1747 between one Williams, a cook in Pall Mall remarkable for the bulk of his body, and a footman, who was to carry weight in order to make him as heavy as the cook. They had to run a hundred yards, the footman having a hundred and ten pounds fixed upon his body. Unfortunately he fell down, and some of the weights came off, whilst the fat cook in the meantime sped on to the goal and won without difficulty. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 281

Categorization

• CANDY: The 1747 fat-cook-versus-weighted-footman park race is a delightfully absurd, tweetable bit of London street history.
• SEED: The idea that repeated use alone can informally consecrate public space as ‘duelling ground’ or ‘racecourse’ supports an essay angle on emergent, unplanned place-making vs. top-down urban design.
• XREF: connects to: Everyday informal spaces set the stage for larger political shifts. — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in…, 230