Blogger Interview 5: Fabian Neuhaus (UrbanTick)
This Summer we present a series of short interviews here on Pop-Up City. We invited a number of our favorite bloggers to answer six questions not only about their passion for blogging, but also their city, work experience and inspiration. The result is a collection of stories on blogs and the people behind them. Number 5 in this series is an interview with Fabian Neuhaus, the man behind the London-based blog UrbanTick. UrbanTick is our go-to source for the interactive side of urbanism — where the city gets connected to the Internet and physical and digital environments merge.
When and why did you start blogging?
“UrbanTick started back in late 2008. It was also the beginning of a research project on the city and temporal aspects of space and a blog seemed a good option to bring topcis, content and people together. This has worked out and some really great contacts and connections to other bloggers and researchers have come out of this.”
How would you label yourself?
“Organisation is most of it with a great deal of chaos adjusted, so timing is not relevant.”
What does your typical day look like?
“I am usually writing my posts in the early morning before breakfast around 5.30 am. By 7 they are online. This does work out for the European timezone and the Americas will join in later on. For the rest of the day I am working on other stuff, but am on the look out for new posts content. Usually I have several topics running and collect bits and pieces for it until I finalize it.”
Which spot(s) would you recommend to a first-time visitor of your city?
“Not exactly sure what my city is, I do like many and have lived in some. London is the city I am currently living in and here the top two spot to go to are definitely Primerose Hill and St. Pauls. Primerose Hill is overlooking the city giving a view on to most landmarks from the London Eye to Docklands. The London Zoo with a great collection of buildings is just at the foot of Primerose Hill and also worth a visit and a stroll through Regents Park will bring you in to the city centre. With St. Pauls you can visit the City of London which is not the same as London or Greater London, but is the original London borrow. Besides being a beautifull church, St. Pauls is in the middle or a very interesting urban setting including the linking Millenium Bridge across the Thames River to the Tate Modern. Also it is worth climbing the dome of the cathedral and enjoy another great view across the city.”
What is your top 3 of favorite online sources of inspiration?
“Currently no 1 is my Tumblr feed (if this counts), no 2 is my email inbox and no 3 are the informal chats I have with friends and colleagues during the day.”
What shoes do you wear?
“Either the Specialized BG Sport MTB Shoe, I cycle everywhere and end up wearing them a lot. If not I am wearing Camper or Converse All Star.”
