Urban enshittification

[David M Levinson]

I promise I did not kick these bikes over.

When there's an ad-wrapper on the bus you ride,
so you can’t clearly see outside, that’s enshittification.

When someone leaves a shared e-bike
on the footpath you hike, that’s enshittification.

When a billboard appears
right where you walked freely for years, that’s enshittification.

When the cycle runs so long
the walkers stand till dawn, that’s enshittification.

When a car’s tuned to roar
so the whole block can hear even more, that’s enshittification.

For example, here, is the problem that the council, which does not provide proper bike parking, or Lime, which refuses to enforce proper parking, or the bicyclist, who fails to park their bike in a reasonable place, about 1/2 block from actual bike parking at the train station down the hill?

The 2024 word of the year, coined by Cory Doctorow,1 does not just describe internet platforms, it describes a lot of the erosion and destruction of the commons we face in urban environments, destruction at the hands of international corporations, local governments without much sense, state traffic engineers maximising vehicle throughput, or just your local neighbourhood assholes.

This is why we have to have rules and regulations and laws backed by police with guns, because too many people are selfish jerks without either any concept that what they are doing is a problem, or not caring.

Council officials who fail to do anything are complicit in the enshittification of the pedestrian realm.

All of which is to say: Operations (which deals with today’s people moving on today’s network) is more important than Planning (which deals with a small increment of additional imaginary future people moving on imaginary future networks), and we spend relatively little effort on it.


A bus safety campaign bus wrapper which reduces the visibility from inside the bus, discouraging people from taking the bus.

Construction closes sidewalk, pedestrians told to cross street to other side, but walking in the street is highly dangerous and prohibited by law. How do I cross the street without walking on it. One giant leap for mankind I suppose.

It’s Bin Day I guess. Must block the footpath not the taking space for storing cars.

Funny how these advertising billboards don’t appear in the street, just the footpath.

Someone missed the memo on what a “Shared” Zone is.

FIN

1

Ironically I suppose, I am linking to Amazon.

Song lyrics due to:

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that’s amore
When the world seems to shinehttps://genius.com/3902194/Dean-mar...hine-like-youve-had-too-much-wine-thats-amore
Like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore — Dean Martin

A police car and a screaming siren
A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete
A baby wailing and stray dog howling
The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking

That’s entertainment
That’s entertainment

A smash of glass and a rumble of boots
An electric train and a ripped up phone booth
Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat
Lights going out and a kick in the balls

I say, that’s entertainment
That’s entertainment — Paul Weller and The Jam