Urban public spaces include roads; should not be auto-centric

Residents and users of urban areas have simple, common needs, including safety and security, traffic management, convenient public transport, managed public markets and vending, effective health care facilities, connected public spaces and passive recreational facilities, and appropriate walking facilities. Let’s see what the developed world has to say about some of the key activities.

The following extracts were taken from the Project for Public Spaces, Inc (2012) Placemaking and the Future of Cities, UNHABITAT: “Public spaces are a vital ingredient of successful cities. They help build a sense of community, civic identity and culture. Public spaces facilitate social capital, economic development and community revitalization… “Streets, squares, and parks, especially in the informal city, are often chaotic, poorly planned and maintained… Reclaiming streets as places for people can strengthen cities in a variety of ways – economically, environmentally, as well as socially… Sometimes, builders create ‘public’ space that is actually private — behind the walls of gated communities, inside malls that are patrolled by security guards, or within exclusive clublike recreational areas… “Streets are the fundamental public space in every city, the lifeblood of social and economic exchange…if you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.

It is not true that more traffic and road capacity are the inevitable results of growth.

They are in fact the products of very deliberate choices that have been made to shape our communities to accommodate the private automobile… Streets that are planned for people, meaning they are not completely auto-centric, add to the social cohesion of communities by ensuring human interaction, and providing safe public spaces that promote cultural expression… “The informal economy thrives in most cities – but often chaotically, clogging streets, competing unfairly with local businesses, and limiting the hope of upward mobility to marginalised members of society. Markets can, however, provide a structure and a regulatory framework that helps small businesses grow, preserves food safety, and makes a more attractive destination for shoppers… “A broad public health agenda can greatly strengthen a public space agenda, and vice versa.

Health care facilities themselves can serve as community centres.

Cultural institutions such as libraries can provide health education and services. Well-run public markets are a source of fresh, affordable, and nutritious food. Transportation systems can encourage walking and reduce car traffic and air pollution… “The important starting point in developing a concept for any public space agenda should be to identify the talents and resources within the community — people who can provide historical perspective, insights into how the area functions, and an understanding of what is truly meaningful to the local people.” The characteristics of traditional transport and of the new paradigm of sustainable transport have been taken from Michael Replogle and Colin Hughes, Chapter 4 – Moving Toward Sustainable Transport, The Worldwatch Institute — State of the World 2012 —Moving Towards Sustainable prosperity, pp 53-65.

Characteristics of traditional transport: (a) Subsidies for motor fuel, parking, and company or government cars; (b) Focus on capacity expansion of roads; neglect of local street and sidewalk maintenance; (c) Motor vehicle traffic and parking displaces cyclists, pedestrians, public transport, parks; (d) Disorganized public transport leaves buses stuck in traffic; (e) Unmanaged sprawl and urbanization; (f) Weak governance structures for transport and land use policy/planning/management; and, (g) Little attention to equality of access among different social and economic groups.

Characteristics of sustainable transport: (a) Subsidies for public transport, cycling, and affordable housing close to public transport; (b) Modernization of roads with real-time traffic management and operations; (c) Road space protected for pedestrians, cyclists, public space; (d) Bus rapid transit or rail in high-demand corridors, with performance-based contracting; (e) Public-transport-oriented development; (f) Stronger governance structures for transport and land use policy, planning, and management; and, (g) More equitable access for the poor, disabled, young, and old.

The Denver [Colorado, USA] Department of Public Works, Denver Strategic Transportation Plan, 2008, gave their vision as “a great city is livable for all of its citizens now and in the future.” Notice the emphasis is on people, not on cars, roads, buses, trains, buildings, etc.; these are to be assessed for provision of suitable mobility and accessibility for people. We seem to be stuck in an anachronistic, unmanaged, auto-pilot approach to urban development. Time for meaningful engagement of relevant talents and resources to correct this.

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