“Streets and their sidewalks – the main public places of a city – are its main vital organs.” – Jane Jacobs
The street’s roles could primarily support two alternative functions, movement corridor and a public space. It largely depends upon the primary objective bestowed upon that street. For so long we have been neglecting the role of streets as major public spaces. It has affected the relation between people and public spaces. Gradually, it has led to severe decline in social relations; social activities are a direct measure of a town’s utility and liveability. (Alpana Sivam)
What has been the cause of this? What has led to this gradual but significant decline in social relations?
In the late 1960’s Donald Appleyard stated in a landmark study that people who live on streets with more car traffic have fewer social connections than those who live on streets with lower traffic volumes. There has been a growing body of experts who work towards researching and designing streets safe from vehicles.
Why do we always believe that vehicles will necessarily bring a decline in pedestrian count?
While pedestrian count is non-existent on heavily trafficked roads, even the less populated roads can be equally uninviting to people. There have been numerous studies taken up on streets. The basic idea of them either revolves around the pedestrianisation of streets or provides a grade separation for unrestricted flow of pedestrian movement. But, Can vehicles and pedestrians exist parallely?
“Shared space is aimed at integrating the use of public spaces by removing the traditional segregation of motor vehicles, pedestrians and other road users. Kerbs, lines, signs and signals are replaced with an integrated, people-oriented understanding of public space, such that walking, cycling, shopping, social activities and driving cars take place (Hamilton-Baillie, 2008). Introducing shared spaces have the potential to improve existing land use mix, pedestrian accessibility, aesthetic appeal, and encourage walking within the designated areas (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, 2008). Although there is no comprehensive framework to evaluate these issues within pedestrianisation, ecological models have the potential to provide an ecological/ecosystemic way of understanding health, health and sustainable development, and healthy communities (Hancock, 1993). Of the three ecological models (The ‘Mandala of Health’, as a model of the human ecosystem, the health-environment-economy model, and the health-community model), the health-environment-economy model has the potential to identify interconnecting links between health, social, environmental, and economic well-being, with a focus on two overarching principles, being equity and sustainability” (Leslie Wooller, 2012).
If we look beyond the collective understanding of vehicles as social enemies, we will realise it is not predominantly traffic that makes a street desirable or not.
Everything needs a reason to happen. We cannot expect a community to gather at a barren field everyday. People need a reason to be on the street, there needs to be something to catch their gaze, hold their interest and lure their mind. A great street need not have just great activities and diverse culture to attract people, it should also be welcoming to people.
Great streets are a result of innumerous tiny details that involve the landscape of streets, buildings on the edge, sidewalks and layouts. Detail captures the eye and cultivates interest. Walking on a beautiful street feels like strolling while walking on a terrible street is nothing less than trudging. People are inherently attracted to places that offer interesting features and intricate details. The magnitude of activities makes our street dynamic and diverse.
William Whyte used the term “triangulation” to refer to features and activities that create linkages between people in a public space. In his words, it is “a process by which some external stimulus provides a linkage between people and prompts strangers to talk to other strangers as if they knew each other.” It is interesting to note that none of such theories talk about pedestrianisation directly or talk of wiping traffic completely.
Safety is a very important factor when we decide to spend time and roam around on an unsafe street. It is a basic necessity for a street to be safe to build social relations. Safety can be talked about in two dimensions- safety from vehicles and safety from crime. While crime can further be subdivided into two types- real and perceived. Real crime can be prevented through anti-crime measures such as security cameras, security guards, etc. perceived crime is a little tricky to be taken care of. The spaces sometimes end up in such a manner that they radiate insecurity and an unsafe environment. The absence of people also leads to creation of dingy niches and corners for the brooding crime activities.Even motorized vehicles tend to abandon such roads during night times.
Let’s try to have a close with the help of certain examples.
Montreal, Canada has transformed a lackluster median into a colorful and active space by installing 21 musical and multicolored swings in 2012. When used simultaneously, swings compose musical pieces in which certain melodies are available only through cooperation. The result is an area with instruments that encourages social interaction between people of all ages and backgrounds
9 de julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina is the widest street in the world bustling with fast-driven vehicles. In 2013, city work crews ripped out four of the total traffic lanes in the middle of the roadway and gave it back to pedestrians. Lots of buses were rerouted from side streets to the new bus lanes, giving several blocks of pedestrianized area. This is a beautiful example where the omission of four car lanes gave way to unclogging the busiest part of the city into a pleasant walkable pedestrian-priority zone. Some of the measures to achieve this includes bringing the streets up till sidewalks level for free movement flow, underground throw-bins to keep away the stench, bollards directing the vehicles and LED lights to promote nightlife. Surrounding area has also been renovated to achieve impactful transformation. Most of the lanes have been turned into shared spaces with restriction on vehicle speed.The city didn’t completely abandon vehicles, they divided the space between motorized and non-motorized traffic.
Long Street, cape town has a lot of contradictory worlds hidden in the folds of its beauty- on Friday noon the mosque on this street witnesses hundreds of faithful gatherers, by the night falls the same area is filled with tipsy revelers looking for party. It’s an epitome of South Africa’s bustling multi-culturist. Two wheelers can be easily spotted in Cape Town, wheezing around the windy, hot days of summer. Music is an additional compliment to the street. Pavements are marked by buskers and every café, bistro or showroom has its own tunes flowing into the musical air of the long street. (Aschmann, n.d.)
In August 2016, Toronto launched a Pilot Project on Bloor Street, close to the University of Toronto campus. As part of the pilot, the city replaced street parking with a bike lane along a 1.5-mile that led to the eradication of 136 parking spaces. To evaluate the economical impact of the move, widespread surveys were conducted for retailers and visitors.“We find all indicators point to increased economic activity on Bloor Street following the installation of the bike lane,” the researchers report in the Journal of the American Planning Association. Some of the benefits demonstrated a rise in the number of customers, monthly spendings, and frequency of visits.
In a study conducted in 36 cities of Japan, an attempt was made to analyze factors of italiatio by dividing population size of ities. Results indicated no correlation between vehicle density and vibrancy, and that the vibrancy is strongly influenced by population in public transport reachable areas, but less affected by population in vehicle reachable areas. (Matsunaka et al. #)
Fred Kent has said that if you plan cities for cars, you get cars; if you plan for people, you get people. I strongly agree with the statement. We need to set our priorities straight. But does that mean we absolutely have to pick between extremes – CARS or PEOPLE? The results show that we can strike a balance between the two, we can promote Placemaking, prioritize people but that doesn’t necessarily mean superimposing people on every street. Every street has its own character, own needs and own potential; we cannot make every street an interactive one but we can have certain aspects of Placemaking on it.
There is a complex linkage between Motorized and Non-motorized traffic. If we can control the emerging trend of motorized traffic, we can absolutely claim streets back for citizens. In the end, we just need to make our Streets efficient, not just wider.
Respect every street and respect its context, and that’s when you fabricate culture for each street.
Place Paradigm 