What are “non-places”? Airports, shopping centres, motorways: here are the characteristics they have

I “not places” they are spaces like airports, shopping center or highways which, despite being frequented by many people, lack identity, relationships and history. Non-places are in fact environments where the individual passes without building lasting bonds, transit places which do not foster a sense of belonging. The concept of “non-place” was defined by the French anthropologist Marc Augé in his book Non-Lieux: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity (1992) and was then developed by himself and other authors. Let’s see the main ones typologies of non-places and theirs characteristics municipalities.

Types of non-places

There are many different types of non-places, but the three most emblematic are airports, shopping centers and motorways. Let’s look at them in a little more detail.

1. Airports: transit par excellence

The airports they are perhaps the most obvious non-places. Every day, thousands of people cross these spaces to move from one point to another in the world. The airport is a functional environment, built to facilitate the movement of people, goods and services, but it is rarely a place where people stay for a long time. Despite its complexity and technological efficiency, the airport has no real “collective memory”: the individual at the airport is more of an anonymous passenger, engaged in practices such as check-in, security checks and waiting, in an impersonal and repetitive routine.

2. Shopping centres: consumer spaces without identity

Another example of non-place is the shopping centera space built around the idea of ​​consumption. Its architectural structure is designed to promote purchasing, creating an artificial environment, often devoid of distinctive local or cultural references. Shopping centers look alike everywhere, just think of the large chain stores, fast food restaurants and neon lights that are repeated everywhere in the world, depriving these spaces of a specific identity.

Again, people move around the mall like consumers rather than as members of a community. The main purpose within them is to shop, walk or simply spend time, but without real emotional or personal involvement.

3. Highways: constant flow and isolation

The highways they are the symbol of modern mobility, but they also represent spaces that do not favor any meaningful interaction between individuals. The primary function is to connect places, allowing an uninterrupted flow of vehicles, but those driving on a highway very rarely establish connections with other motorists. Also the nature of the surrounding environment, characterized by standardized signs, interchanges and petrol stations, helps to create a feeling of alienation and isolation. The highway is the perfect example of a place that you pass through, but that you don’t experience.

The characteristics of non-places

Non-places share some fundamental characteristics:

• Lack of identity: in non-places a sense of belonging is not created and social interaction is reduced to a minimum, often limited to automatic and meaningless gestures.
• Functionality and transience: These spaces exist to facilitate movement or consumption, rather than to create relationships or bonds. People pass through them for a specific purpose (travel, shop, commute), but rarely stay or stop for extended periods.
• Standardization: Whether you are in an airport in Asia or Europe, in a shopping mall in America or Africa, or on a highway in Australia or Germany, the experience of these spaces is surprisingly similar. Globalization has led to a standardization of these places, reducing cultural differences in favor of a uniform and recognizable model.
• Absence of historicity: non-places are rarely associated with stories, do not evoke links with the past and often (but not always) are not part of the construction of a local cultural identity. They exist in a sort of continuous present, functional only to their immediate usefulness.

The Terminalwhen a Non-Place becomes home

Non-places are the result of an increasingly interconnected world, where speed, mobility and consumption are central values. Spaces such as airports and shopping centers satisfy the need for efficiency and practicality, essential for modern life. But in these environments a new dimension also opens up alternative possibility. In fact, quite the movie The Terminalin which Tom Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, shows us that even in spaces designed for transit and consumption, humanity can emerge.

Viktor gets stuck in JFK airport and is forced to stay there for nine months and live in a place that is usually anonymous and impersonal. The airport, the “non-place” par excellence, is thus gradually transformed into a sort of microcosm in which Viktor forms relationships and builds a new everyday life. His story, in fact, invites us to imagine how, even in a world dominated by standardized and transitory spaces, humanity can emerge and transform “non-places” into environments rich in bonds and shared stories.