ABSTRACT

Existing scholarship on footpaths, sidewalks, streets, and pavements integrates laudable discussions about legal and regulatory concerns alongside debates about safety and place-making. Yet there are fewer debates about diasporic encounters and place-making processes in this everyday space. Accordingly, this paper examines encounters that occur on footpaths and outside adjoining shops by the Sri Lankan diaspora in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. The footpaths fall within the semi-public realm; they are public spaces connected to privately owned shops. I draw from a critical autoethnography and in-depth interviews conducted with Sri Lankans living in Australia to better understand how their place-making processes are entrenched in the semi-public realm. This paper provides a fresh case study to highlight the importance of warm and convivial encounters in everyday spaces that strengthen feelings of familiarity and belonging in host communities.

摘要

现有的关于人行道、人行道、街道和人行道的学术研究将有关法律和监管问题的值得称赞的讨论与有关安全和场所营造的辩论结合起来。然而，关于日常生活空间中的离散遭遇和场所营造过程的争论却很少。因此，本文研究了澳大利亚悉尼和墨尔本的斯里兰卡侨民在人行道和毗邻商店外发生的遭遇。人行道属于半公共领域；它们是与私人商店相连的公共空间。我借鉴了批判性的民族志和对居住在澳大利亚的斯里兰卡人进行的深入采访，以更好地了解他们的场所营造过程如何在半公共领域根深蒂固。