Cars And Everyday Life

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Cars and Driving in Everyday Life Cars and driving are fundamental elements of everyday life. Over 1 billion cars were manufactured in the twentieth century, effectively changing “the fabric of society and the cultural values that operated in everyday life” (Inglis, 2005:50). Through an exploration of the rationalization of cities, highways and drive-ins, the way in which cars blur private and public space and enforce class and create identity important insights into everyday life can be gleaned. Cars and driving demonstrate the rationalization of space by society. This is clearly evident in the organization of cities, highways and drive-ins. The rationalization of space in urban cities centres on the tension between the desire for smooth traffic flow and the value placed on maintaining a pleasant urban environment with minimal traffic, noise and pollution. Sociologist Jean Baudrillard illustrates the impact of the mass consumption of cars on the evolution of city planning. Historically, roads were built around the city where as now cities are being built around roads. French sociologist Henri Lefebvre asserts that car culture led to the reduction of green environments and emphasis on nature. In the rationalization of city space efficiency has triumphed over aesthetics (Ignis, 2005). Highways are another example of the rationalization of space. Marc Auge describes how they are designed to be completely devoid of contact with cities, bypassing them for the sake of efficiency. Consequently, drivers experience a lack of engagement with passing towns and cities, they simply become simply along a highway. Lefebvre suggests that this lack of engagement with spaces and places leads to a less rich experience of the world (Ignis, 2005). Drivers experiences are limited to sight, other sensory experiences - the sounds, smells and tastes involved with new places are diluted
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