Romanian anthropologist Andrei Bălan has published a new book, *Antropologia transportului în comun*, in which he treats the city’s trams and buses as a living laboratory for urban coexistence. By observing the unwritten rules that govern seat‑sharing, phone‑use and personal space on a two‑year field study in Bucharest, Bălan shows how the public‑transport environment exposes the psychological tension of living in a densely populated city. He argues that people are still adapting to the rapid, anonymous interactions of city life, leading to hyper‑vigilance, isolation behind screens and a constant negotiation of personal space. The book is intended to shed light on Romanian urban behaviour and the broader human need to find meaning even in the most ordinary of transit spaces.
Original article can be found here.