Bungacast /418/ The Expressway World ft. Richard Williams
Oct 7, 2025
Richard J Williams, a Professor of contemporary visual cultures at the University of Edinburgh, discusses his new book, The Expressway World. He explores how expressways influenced urban life, revealing why many despise them while others admire their utilitarian beauty. The conversation delves into class struggles, the tension between ecological initiatives and gentrified public spaces, and how expressways can reflect social inequalities. Williams highlights the complexity of these infrastructures, urging a nuanced understanding of modern cities.
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Expressways Prioritize Speed Over City Life
- Expressways are engineered for speed and limited access, not for local urban life.
- That design produces noise, severance, and exclusion for non-drivers who make up much of cities.
Childhood Memory: Mancunian Way
- Richard remembers childhood walks around Manchester's Mancunian Way and enjoying riding on it in cars.
- He later saw the surrounding low-rise landscape replaced by high-rise towers that made the road feel more coherent.
M8: Grandeur And Dysfunction
- Glasgow's M8 is both loathed and admired for its scale, grandeur and dysfunction.
- Its contradictions make it a useful case to think about expressway legacies and urban politics.
