"smokers are “purveyors of sensory pollution” – creating a scent that, like all odors, can invade and take over. When that space is public, the impact can be immense, segregating and stratifying public spaces…The influence of smell…is perhaps one of the strongest determinants of how people interact with or avoid one another in the public sphere – whether it’s cigarette smoke, days without a shower or the undeniable stench of vagrancy. How exactly cigarette smells shape the use of public space is likely different from place to place. But this research argues that smell and personal habits can be a major force in shaping city life."
Fascinating read, as is this follow-up comment in The American Conservative: ‘the stigmatization of smoking, and its retreat from public life, has been one of the better social changes in my lifetime’
#culture
#society
#urbanism
#public spaces
#smoking
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