Movement Card – Right to the City

Movement Card – Right to the City

Tue Jan 14 2020By David Banks 3 min read

The Movement Card aims to  educate and inform all who have interactions with people moving in the  public domain. Whether that’s you, your friends, the security guard, or  even a police officer – with a Movement Card, you have an instant educational resource at your fingertips.

The goal is to collaborate with communities to replicate the card in  other countries worldwide, enabling everybody to know their ‘right to  their city’.
It allows those with limited rights to take legislative examples from  other countries for use as a starting point to improve their freedom of  movement.

Traceur Vision

I am a traceur and I’m sure most of you reading this are too. My  vision of the city and how I project myself on it is deeply influenced  by my parkour practice. It affects where I go, how I move, and my hopes for what a city will look like in the future.

This vision of using the city more creatively and staking my claim to  it, however, is not unique. It belongs to a large family teaming with  siblings and it goes back for generations – in it, we have  skateboarders, climbers, bikers, street dancers, rollerbladers and more.

Each discipline has its unique vision but the primary function is the  same – to own the city, or at least prevent the city from owning us.  The Movement Cards benefits are therefor far-reaching and exceed our  bubble.

Who’s city is this?

It’s a question every urban sport/art enthusiast thinks about at some  point. At least, it’s what’s at stake when our communities are  challenged to stop what we are doing. Sometimes they will outline  specific reasons and attempt to quote legislation but more often than  not they are simply having a negative reaction for no sound reason.

The Movement Card attempts to bridge the knowledge gap between  practitioners and members of the public where possible. It is also the  first step in the pursuit of greater global freedoms in regards to  practicing in cities.

Get involved!

The Movement Card project is spearheaded by a collaboration between Ukemi and  Parkour Outreach. Our goal is to collaborate with communities  worldwide, to grow the project and provide the resource for as many  people as possible. We are looking for people to get involved and take a  leadership role in realizing it in their country. We offer support by  providing a step by step roadmap to achieve this as well as design and legislative consultation.

Output

  • Create a pocket-sized right to practice guide for your city.
  • Be added to our online web resource. The Movement Card website.
  • Share physical and digital copies with your community.

Do you want to create a pocket-sized right to movement guide for your city and get involved? Then contact Ukemi or Parkour Outreach or join our Movement Card Discord channel.

The freedom to make and remake our  cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet  most neglected of our human rights. David Harvey (2010). “Social Justice and the City”, p.315, University of Georgia Press