Let’s Relax: Britain is being urged to slow down, but is it wise to do so?
This month marks a ten-day festival urging Londoners to relax and take stock. “Slow Down London” is the initiative of the Go Slow movement, that’s encouraging stressed commuters to adopt a more balanced life. The festival is being supported, we’re told, by cultural institutions like the Southbank Centre and the British Museum and, according to organiser Tessa Watt, it’s offering a range of events aimed at inspiring people to “improve their lives by slowing down to do things well, rather than as fast as possible.” Harassed workers, more used to barging their way through train barriers and pushing meanderers out of their way, can opt to take part in a one-hour stroll across Waterloo Bridge, a journey which usually takes a couple of minutes. Or they can take part in a workshop to revive the lost art of letter writing. During the event, which begins on April 24, pedestrians who are deemed to be walking too quickly will be sporadically handed “speeding tickets” to remind them that they’re missing the "enjoyable" environment around them.
Not surprisingly perhaps, the concept of “slow living” originated in Italy, where residents feared their traditional way of life was being eroded. Several movements have now sprung up across Europe, from slow food produced by more traditional means, to slow cities which seek to enhance the quality of life by planting flowers in the street. In Britain, several towns have joined the Cittaslow programme, from Diss in Norfolk, Mold in North Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed in the North.
But all this slow living is at odds with the need to meet deadlines and deliver goods and services on time. In a global economy which has ground to a halt without the urgings of those who seek to meditate or carve out time for lunch al-fresco, it’s still the early bird that catches the worm. And you can bet that even if London’s pedestrians do heed the call to slow down in order to avoid “speeding tickets”, their fingers and thumbs will continue to be wedded to their mobile devices to pick up emails, texts, and phone calls. No-one in a shrunken economy can afford to sit back while the competition profits, and London is in no position to take its eye off the ball.
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