Earning your crust

By Andy Marks

As l traverse life’s winding and unpredictable path, in other words get older, I find I can sit down pretty much anywhere and work, regardless of noise levels and activities around me. For years I had a desk in an office, and perhaps wrongly felt that there was a degree of certainty in such a regular set up. I also deplored the idea of listening to music in the workplace.

How things have changed.

Now I regularly work out of five or six different spaces and find it difficult to concentrate without the accompaniment of music. But I also demand a selection of fine hot drinks and yummy treats to constantly graze on throughout the day. A friend recently described me as being a fellow urban nomad armed with laptop, mobile phone, power cables and that day’s newspapers.

I spent a couple of months in Sydney recently, and in my search for great places to work, I realised I had built up a collection of attributes I was seeking. As well as toothsome foodstuffs, I had honed my list of requirements to free wi-fi with a fast connection, good music , comfortable chairs (even better if there are cushions), well lit, generally cheery folk who work there and a good availability of plug sockets.

Which brings me on to MeatSpaces ‘for people with a laptop instead of an office’, a fledgling directory of places to work submitted by fellow urban nomads.

They will go live as soon as they have enough content, so how about sharing your knowledge of where or where not to try and get some work done? They are starting with London but hope to cover the globe, so if you are in another city, you can still sign-up.

Or take a look at another wonderful city directory but with a slightly different focus. The London Review of Breakfasts does what it says on the tin (as long the tin contains baked beans), with reviews by brekky experts such as Malcolm Eggs, Blake Pudding, Kipper Sutherland and Damon Allbran.

If you know of any directories or listings to help people use cities around the world in new ways, let café society know below
 

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

contribute

become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me