The Board Papers
A global approach of mobility to produce less carbon
Walking, public transport, parking and the other measures | ANNE FAURE
Summary: A range of coordinated measures, in different fields and at different scales, has to be implemented to increase walking. This paper focuses on the mobility plan of the city of Nice. The range of the different possible measures is presented. ... More
A Manifesto for a New Walking Culture dealing with the city''
Wrights & Sites: Stephen Hodge, Simon Persighetti, Phil Smith & Cathy Turner
Summary: Drawing on the urban exploratory work of our ongoing is-Guide project and our use of the walking drift or derive, Wrights & Sites presents a manifesto for the active and creative pedestrian - envisioning a walking that is neither a functional necessity (to shops, to work) nor a passive appreciation of (or complaint about) the urban environment. Instead we present a manifesto for a walking that engages with and changes the city, particularly using the arts. One of our key strategies is site-specificity: devising walkings that are specific to their routes, to their surroundings. In harmony with this we present our paper in a manner specific to the Casino setting of the conference, dividing it into four suits (as in a deck of playing cards). The order of presentation of the material was determined by the shuffle of a deck of cards by a croupier. Each 'suit' of the manifesto has been written by a different member of Wrights & Sites. In broad outline these 'suits' have the following foci: The walker as artist, the city as compositional catalyst. Flirting with Dada (with its roots in Zurichs Cabaret Voltaire and its emphasis on chance operations and the production of manifestos), this 'suit' explores connections between the processes walking and artistic composition. [Clubs - Stephen Hodge] The walker as writer of the city. First we change the way we 'read' the city: a set of new concepts that will unbalance the consciousness of the everyday walker and challenge the dominant assumptions about walking and the city as a place for walking. Then proposing a set of strategies (or 'fulcra') for ways of re-writing the city, moving from changed perceptions of the familiar city to the means to change its organisation, uses, attitudes to and planning of public space. [Spades - Simon Persighetti] The walker as playful performer. Walking as a means of playful reinvention, a 'making strange' of the everyday. Remembering our theatrical roots and that Brecht was an exile in Zurich in 1947-1948, this suit considers the walker's performance as a move out from the theatre towards a more open playing space. [Hearts - Cathy Turner]Disrupted walking as the new designing of the city. How does a new kind of walking engage with the planning of the city and the powers that initiate and deliver it? Strategies for a new walking, to become more like an active re-designing of public place, generating a 'culture' that changes specific spaces. The creative pedestrian as the new architect of the city. [Diamonds - Phil Smith] In place of the 'court cards' (Jack, Queen, King) of these suits, we have invited guests to offer short interventions into our manifesto. These are Bess Lovejoy [journalist and writer on urbanism - Diamonds], Richard Layzell [performance artist - Hearts], Fiona Templeton [author of YOU, the city - Spades] and contemporaries of the Dada movement [Clubs]. ... More
A manifesto for Living Streets
Ben Plowden
Summary: Walking is essential for liveable cities. It is the most sustainable form of urban travel. It is also how people participate in many social and economic activities. The street is a place for meeting friends and neighbours, for childrens play, for window shopping, eating and drinking in cafes, or simply sitting on a bench and watching the world go by. For people to be able and willing to walk and spend time in city streets, they need three things. First, shops, schools, parks, offices and public buildings must be within a reasonable walking distance. Second, the street environment must be attractive in the broadest sense. This means well-designed, not dominated by motor traffic, accessible, clean, safe and beautiful. Streets must be both functional and attractive. The third thing people need is the inclination or motivation to walk. Providing a functional and attractive environment is not enough. We also need to understand what is happening in peoples mind. What is likely to encourage them to walk or discourage them from doing so?. Are they concerned about the weather? Or personal security? Or the time it takes to travel on foot? We need to address these anxieties. It doesn’t rain as often as you think. The journey time is only 15 minutes Creating Living Streets, streets and public spaces people on foot can use and enjoy, means using land use planning policies to focus housing, shops, offices and schools within existing settlements. Streets should be redesigned to reflect their role as places for people as well as traffic. Road space should be re-allocated to make sure pedestrians do not have to huddle on crowded pavements. Crossing the road should be made easier and safer. Barriers and obstacles should be removed. Street signs and maps should tell pedestrians where they are and how to reach their destination on foot. We also need to make sure that streets are clean, safe and inspiring. Litter and graffiti should be tackled ruthlessly. The fear of crime should be reduced through urban design, lighting and the visible presence of the police and other uniformed officials. And money should be spent on fountains, sculpture, trees and festivals of music and performance. Streets are the arena for community life. They need to allow quick, safe and efficient movement on foot from place to place. And they need to provide social spaces for playing, thinking and shopping. ... More
A methodological grid to make a public space project:
the interaction between public transport and urban space | Barbara Badiani
Summary: The definition of the urban form arises from the relation between space and mankind. Its construction corresponds with the determination of the spaces necessary to perform the primary activities of living, residing and being into relations with people. However, how much did the considerations on movement affect the construction of the town? Does the space necessary for the movement change, following the change from the pedestrian town to a town, which adapts itself to individual and collective motorized transport means? It should be also taken into consideration that, in the present town, movement is becoming more and more an organizing element of the everyday life. Therefore, the planning of the space necessary for movement becomes the planning of life and places where it develops: the town, the territory and so on. In particular, the project deals with one of the aspects which characterize the interrelation between urban space and the public transport system: accessibility, meant from a local viewpoint, as a characteristic able to define the level of facility in order to reach a public transport means. ... More
A perspective from the European Commission
Paul Hodson
Summary: Walking is a means of transport (the hidden mode of transport) Walking is also an indicator of the success and sustainability of a city. A city that tourists want to walk around, where children walk to school, where the shopping streets are crammed with people is a city that is doing well. But walking is so natural and normal that it is easily forgotten in policy making. What is the role of public authorities, major employers etc? For example, how important are infrastructure investment, traffic regulation, the promotion of travel awareness (cultural change), the encouragement of short distances between people’s homes and the public and private facilities that they need to use? ... More
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