Prof Bradley Rink with VREF project team members and Cape Town peer researchers. Image: Supplied

A new international study led by Prof Bradley Rink, Prof Gina Porter, Mr Bulelani Maskiti, Mr Sam Clark and Ms Caroline Barber, together with peer researchers from Cape Town and London, reveals how young men in low-income communities navigate the city on foot, challenging long-held assumptions about mobility, safety and masculinity.

The project, funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), explored walking not as a mundane act, but as a daily negotiation shaped by risk, vulnerability, joy, and urban inequality. By placing peer researchers - young men aged 18 to 35 who live in the communities being studied - at the centre of the process, the team “writes research differently”, foregrounding lived experiences as a critical source of knowledge.

Walking in precarious urban realities for many young men in Cape Town and London, is not a choice but a necessity. It is the first and last mile of every journey, whether to work, school or transport hubs. Yet, the study shows that walking is deeply shaped by precarity: crime, violence, darkness, poor infrastructure and past trauma. Peer researchers describe navigating early-morning streets during load-shedding in Cape Town, or adjusting their routes after being mugged in London.

The findings disrupt stereotypes that young men are invulnerable pedestrians. Instead, their stories highlight constant risk assessment, choosing safer routes, modifying dress, avoiding certain streets and, at times, using subtle tactics like pausing to “tie a shoelace” to avoid confrontation.

Image: Supplied

Walking as sociality, care and everyday joy, despite danger, remains a deeply social practice. Peer researchers recount escorting family members home, greeting neighbours and moving through vibrant community spaces. They also describe moments of joy: music from a street performer, the scent of breakfast drifting from a window, children playing, or the simple mental relief of being outdoors.

Walking emerges as a source of wellbeing, supporting fitness, mental clarity and connection to place.

Co-creating knowledge for policy change through the peer research method moves beyond traditional research. The curated walk narrated through the project’s recent output guides peer researchers from their homes on the urban periphery to the metaphorical centre of power of city officials, transport authorities and policymakers. Through stakeholder workshops in Cape Town and London, peer researchers shared their lived realities directly with decision-makers, influencing discussions on safety, infrastructure and mobility justice.

This process not only elevated community voices but also provided participants with valuable training, recognition and a sense of empowerment.

While policy change unfolds slowly, the study demonstrates how collaborative, community-led research can illuminate overlooked mobility experiences and reshape approaches to urban planning and governance. By “walking-with” peer researchers, the team presents a powerful model for producing socially engaged, impactful scholarship.

The curated walk stands as both a methodology and a metaphorical journey from marginalised neighbourhoods to places of influence, bridging lived experience with the potential for long-term, meaningful transformation.

TO READ THE FULL PUBLICATION:  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/ijcre.v18i1.9217