“Asgard is not a place; it is a people.” — Thor: Ragnarok (2017). The moment I like to share. And I got 3.576/6 this week.
This is the phrase from the film that the entire planet was destroyed at the end; however, most population could escape. According to the reading, we may correct it into “Asgard is not a space, it is a place in our hearts.” The new verse will illustrate and distinguish the meaningfulness of home not as “space” — geographic location, infrastructures, buildings, or what is portrayed in a map, but as “place” — socially and emotionally affection, memories, bonding, the impact they have (assumed that those gods are human 😅)
I have noticed that talking about places is always about our personal experiences with the self and others there. Thus a sense of place is related to a sense of community — like my feeling toward my aunt’s shop (even though she has passed away. My opinion is congruent to the reading and psychological facts that a healthy life is involved with good social and psychological health. Good environment and neighborhood, as a result, are factors people consider when they decide where to live.
However, we could not turn a blind eye to something bigger than our home and village. I also believe that good cities should be taken care of from an economic perspective, and their citizens’ quality of life and happiness which transportation and people’s power of come and go are vital.
I usually question my country, Thailand, whether it was designed to be undeveloped land. Talking only about the transportation system, people have been struggling with traffic jams and danger. Not speaking of thieves and crime, you may have already died twice a day by accidents thanks to low-quality footpaths. Public transportation is far worse. There is almost no sufficient public transportation except in Bangkok, the capital. Even so, they are unsynchronized and segregated in all steps — bus, BTS on the Skyrail, MRT underground rail, train, or else — and its service cost is too high to afford, considered by people’s average income.
Mobility as well is another topic I would like to discuss. It should be an opportunity for people from all walks of life to enrich the lives they want to live. Satisfied socioeconomic status people should be able to appreciate their free will to go, hang out, party, or whatever activities they want to have wherever in the city (back to transportation issue 😢) while struggling people should have chances to grab the opportunity of go work even though it might be far from their home’ location. Good cities should not limit people’s free will to live and provide a variety of opportunities, diversity, and supporting systems.
If there was no words limit, I would like to discuss nonplaceness, individuality, sense of identity, and real estate business as well as Future of Living: work from anywhere & multigeneration living & work-life integration. I hope we can discuss this in class, or I may share it in my following reflections.
