Spi-fi

The city needs spiritual spaces, quiet spaces, places of rest for the stressed. Somewhere to go for half an hour after a morning of meetings, to recharge in a different frame of values. I envisage soft furnishings, the chance to lie on the floor, ambient music or silence, warmth, soft lighting. Free entry, unobstrusive assistance, unlimited time.

Such places need not be churches, of course. What matters is that they achieve certain levels of ambience and facility, are not dirty or uncomfortable or cold. Some of these spaces would be new and purpose-built, but many would be existing spaces brought within the scheme, with such upgrades as might be necessary. There would be a system of certification or branding, unannounced visits by the spiritual version of restaurant critics.

If the city has spiritual spaces, we need to know where they are. This means a map, or signage ['you are 15 minutes from the nearest space'], or text message, or moblog [left, above]. Or the spaces themselves could broadcast their presence to your phone, could guide you in [right, above]. And if you haven't time, there could be downloads such as rituals, prayers. So you have a choice, to download as you pass within range, or to visit. The downloads could be unique to each space. The spiritual 'presence' extends for a block or two around the actual space.

The map of spiritual spaces is a counter-map to the transport map - a 'rest' map interlaced with the 'busy' map:

The placing of a square in the map could be proportional to the distance from surrounding tube stations. It could be a statement of ambition, to achieve a square in every white space in the urban net.