1.4 Research Daniel and Jerry
General Problem Worldwide
Walkable space and pedestrian-friendly streets have been a great focus for many cities around the world. Traffics, shops, sidewalks and air quality affects the quality of walkable space within a city. With the rise of vehicle technology, cities are designed more for vehicle transit and less for pedestrian transit. Traffic and air quality go hand in hand in which the emissions from cars could affect overall air quality within cities. Buildings are also great contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and depending on the days of operation as well as temperature change (especially cold weathers), it could result in high influx of emission. Lack of sidewalks and street buffers result in uncomfortable walking experience for pedestrians.
Problem in Eugene, OR
Many pedestrians view walking through downtown Eugene as a chore, rather than something to look forward to. Much of this can be attributed to both the visual environment as well as the infrastructure in the area. The city of Eugene has identify that vehicles and buildings are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions could affect the overall comfort for walking in downtown Eugene. The lack of good sidewalk and good shading from trees could affect the overall comfort for pedestrians.
Quotes
“Cities of the twenty-first century should be lively cities, safe cities, sustainable cities and healthy cities.” Jan Gehl
Research
Our research focus is on walkability in the City of Eugene. There are many indicators that attributed to the quality of walkability, for example traffic, air quality, bike-freiendly, e.t.c. In Our Cities Ourselves: 10 Principles for Transport in Urban Life, the article mentioned Jan Gehl and Walter Hook’s idea of creating a successful urban environment. “Cities of the twenty-first century should be lively cities, safe cities, sustainable cities and healthy cities,” says Jan Gehl. “All of these qualities can be achieved if we embrace these ten principles, which means putting people first.” (Institute of Transportation and Development Policy, 2010). These principles provide our group an idea to look for indicator to fulfill these principles. Some of the indicators we look at responds to 1. Walk the Walk, 2. Powered by People and 9. Connect the Blocks.
Another problem that affects walkability is air quality. In the U.S., transportation counts towards 27 percent and commercial & residential counts toward 13 percent of the total greenhouse gas emission. Emissions from motor vehicles and buildings could affect the comfort and safety for people to walk along the block. In KVal’s news on city plan for Eugene in 2023, the article mentioned buildings and vehicles are top contributor to green house gas emission (Bartley 2023). In the news articles published by OPB, Steves wrote “According to an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality report, Oregon’s transportation sector accounts for 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions – the largest single source in the state.” (Steves 2022). The state of Oregon has identified the problems of emission from gas-powered vehicles and has plan to reduce and ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. It is a long way away before gas-powered cars are reduced, but this could affect the air quality of within the streets of Oregon, including our site. The reduce of gas-powered vehicles could also encourage public transportation, which will reduce traffic; hence provide better crossing within the blocks.
Sources:
10 principles for livable Transportation, by Jan Gehl & Walter Hook | Institute of Transportation and Development Policy, Jun 24 2010
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/our-cities-ourselves-10-principles-for-transport-in-urban-life-97059599.html
Elements identification for pedestrian comfort | Y T Tanzil and A Gamal, 2021
Quantification of Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions on the Building/Street Scale for a Large U.S. City | Gurney, Kevin R ; Razlivanov, Igor ; Song, Yang ; Zhou, Yuyu ; Benes, Bedrich ; Abdul-Massih, Michel
Homelessness, housing, safety, and climate are the top concerns for the City of Eugene | Kendall Bartley, Jan 5 2023
https://kval.com/news/local/homelessness-housing-safety-and-climate-are-the-top-concerns-for-the-city-of-eugene#
Oregon, Washington join California in banning gas-powered new vehicles starting in 2035 | David Steves, Dec 21 2022
https://www.opb.org/article/2022/12/20/oregon-washington-ban-gas-powered-vehicles-2035-joining-california/
LRAPA issues ‘yellow’ warning for wood stove home heating due to stagnant air | KVAL news staff, Nov 16 2022