The publicness of transit spaces : waiting practices and everyday sociality at Malmö's bus stops
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Recent urban studies have increasingly recognized public transport and transit spaces as important public spaces, yet the specific nature of their publicness remains underexplored. This paper examines bus stops in Malmö, Sweden, focusing on how their function as waiting spaces intersects with their role in urban public life. Through ethnographic observations, travel diaries, and interviews, the study investigates waiting as a social activity and the dynamics it generates. Findings show that waiting at bus stops involves a subtle negotiation between privacy and collectivity, especially in diverse and spatially constrained settings. Individuals employ tacit strategies, such as strategic placement, temporary withdrawal, and selective interaction, to manage their presence among others. The sociality of bus stops is marked not by overt interaction but by a shared experience, an ‘indifferent togetherness’ that reflects the nuanced relationality of public space. Encounters with non-transit users, including marginalized individuals, further contribute to the publicness of bus stops by fostering awareness of urban diversity. These fleeting interactions expand the social scope of transit spaces, highlighting their role in everyday enactments of publicness. The study contributes to ongoing debates about the social life of transit environments and their significance in contemporary urban settings.