Wakabout, a term in Nigerian Pidgin English, refers to someone who seems to enjoy walking around or moving from place to place, usually in search of something. This project focuses on walking as an essential part of urbanism and the informal economy, in the context of planned cities. Currently, Abuja is the city in focus. 

The question that I am asking in this work is: For someone who is dependent on walking in the city, either as a means of transportation or as a source of livelihood, how easy does the city make it to walk? This is part of a broader question about planned cities and how feasible they are in practice. Especially when these plans, usually imported to cities of the so-called ‘Global South’, do not consider the specificities of these places and the contexts of the lives of the individuals and communities that inhabit them. 

There are currently two elements to the work: a series of photographs and a simple installation.
The photographs are of participants in the informal economy; vendors on foot who have carved spaces for themselves and their goods in and around public spaces in the city. The installation comprises of two lines on the floor; a red line and a yellow line with some space in between them, from which viewers are encouraged to view the work. This is inspired by a policy in Accra, Ghana which confines street vendors using these lines.