Introduction

During the conceptualisation of this book I held an academic post at Coventry University, England. Given the multiple roles the contemporary academic must fulfil, mundane tasks become opportunities for thinking, reflection and planning. It was a deliberate merging of a mundane task with intellectual work to use my time spent travelling to Coventry in the mornings as a kind of mental space for me to think about this book. Perhaps that’s how the two became connected. In any case, I shall explain. The commute to work each day required crossing what is referred to as a ‘shared space’. This is essentially an intersection but with a difference. Coventry City Council has adopted a European model of traffic management in which the travels of various forms of transport are encouraged to ‘flow’ alongside one another. Encouraging the ‘flow’ of traffic involves the removal of traditional traffic rules (Chris Young, pers. comm. 18 June 2012). Thus, there are no markings on this particular intersection, nor are there any traffic lights.