Research 1: Shared Streets by Brooke Everard
Shared Streets
Shared streets refers to a low-density urban design approach which desegregates spaces dedicated to pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and businesses. This deconstruction of spaces allows one street to prioritize all users of the road, improving the needs of individuals rather than prioritizing automobiles as seen in the traditional model. This essay will look at the impacts of shared streets around the world, and how urban design shapes the social fabric of those spaces.
USA-Chicago,IL
In 2016, the city of Chicago implemented a pilot shared street system which would seek to blur the lines between roads, parking spots and sidewalks. Initially criticized as “confusing” by drivers, the shared street system located on Argyle Street would become widely popular due to its egalitarian initiative, and would ultimately become a permanent addition to the city. The uncomfortability of the new shared street system was due to the radical change in street fabric, which removed power from automobiles and returned that power to pedestrians, cyclists and commercial street edges. The street was transformed to be flat and open without traditional curbs, creating a lifted, open-plaza atmosphere.This atmosphere is further supported by outdoor planting boxes and the outstretching of restaurants and businesses into the sidewalk. In addition, pedestrians have full right-of-way. Pedestrians can enjoy relaxed walking conditions, which leads to more foot traffic for local businesses. Instead of traditional streets, where cars rule the road, the city of Chicago wanted all users of Argyle street to feel prioritized. Argyle street is home to a summertime Night Market, which residents of the local community argue is “greatly improved” due to the shared street design; This impact of the shared street kinders a unique relationship between members of the community and the local businesses of Chicago, bettering Chicago as a whole.
Europe-Norrkoping, Sweden
In 2004, a major intersection at the center of Norrkoping, Sweden, was transformed from the traditional street style to the shared street style. Traffic lights and traditional road signage were replaced with distinctive road patterns that prioritized all users of the street-scape. Much like the Chicago project, this street design was more in tune with an open-plaza than a road for automobiles. Interestingly, the impact of the street redesign did not inhibit automobile use. While pedestrians were granted absolute right-of-way, and automobiles were forced to slow, there was very little road congestion which resulted in well trafficked, efficient streets. Foot traffic also improved, resulting in higher levels of retail activity.
Asia-Chennai, India
In 2019, Pondy Bazaar, Chennai’s most famous shopping district, was redesigned into the shared street style. This decision was prompted by a desire to create a more international, pedestrian-friendly plaza, making this street yet another reason for people to come to Chennai. The redesign featured wider pedestrian paths, seating, new lighting, playground space, green space and redefined parking space, all of which has greatly benefited local businesses. One major concern following the redesign was the narrowing of the roadways predominantly used by automobiles. It was inferred that a narrow space would limit the amount of traffic and cause car jams. This concern expresses the extent in which cities have been conditioned to prioritize automobile traffic. Officials of the city believe that automobiles play a major role in the pulling of social fabric, which is why more is being done to reclaim these spaces and rekindle community, commerce, civic expression and entertainment. The street is more than just a conduit for cars and busses, it’s where people gather to socialize and interact with other humans. The redesign of the Pondy Bazaar targeted residents of Chennai, but more importantly it sought to return vibrancy to communities by reclaiming street space from automobile-dominated roads.
In conclusion, the shared street urban design rests on moral principles and acts as a force of social reconstruction rather than deconstruction, a role automobile-centric streets have held for many years. As to be expected from increased foot traffic, businesses receive major benefits from shared street designs which in turn enriches the community. Surprisingly, a reduction in space prioritized for automobiles did not necessarily hamper automobile traffic. In one case, the decongestion of roadways actually made traffic smoother despite driving slower. The individual strategies for implementing shared streets differ from place to place, but many of the consistent strategies seen at all three sites involved an enlarging of pedestrian space, removal of traditional curbs and outstretching of green spaces and businesses. These strategies blur traditionally segregated spaces into one plaza-like form.
Smart Cities
Smart cities are a type of urban design initiative that oversees different types of data collection made accessible to the public via the internet. The data is used to improve operations on a city-wide scale. This essay will look at two kinds of smart city tech.
Citizen Sensors:
Developed in 2012 at Fab Lab Barcelona, Smart Citizen is a tool made for citizen action in environmental observation and monitoring, which is accompanied by methods for community engagement and collaboration. This system seeks to create change from the bottom up, giving every-day citizens the power to create change in their cities. The system itself is an Online kit which is connected to sensing geosensing hardware. It is a completely free service. Types of data collection range from air, soil and sound pollution, and help inform users how their impact affects the community at large, arming them with information to combat adverse environmental impacts.
U-Sound Sensors:
In January of 2020, members of the INT (Intelligence and Telecom Technologies) celebrated the deployment of 400 remote geosensors, marking the beginning of Leon, Mexico’s presence as a smart city. Leon’s smart city project included 20 Urbiotica U-sound sensors which continuously monitor the daily noise levels in the city center to detect discomforting noise levels due to incidents of loud music, disturbances, distress and more. Like the Citizen Sensors, the U-Sound sensor is made accessible to the public via the internet to create a better informed populace. Creators of U-Sound, along with the city official of Leon sought to improve the quality of life for residents by creating a new system of internet accessibility and data observation.
Sources Cited:
Jaffe, Eric. “6 Places Where Cars, Bikes, and Pedestrians All Share the Road As Equals.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 23 Mar. 2015, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-23/6-places-where-cars-bikes-and-pedestrians-all-share-the-road-as-equals.
Ballew, Jonathan. “Asia On Argyle’s Shared Street – Where Cars And Pedestrians Are Equal – Is Here To Stay.” Block Club Chicago, Block Club Chicago, 11 Oct. 2019, blockclubchicago.org/2019/10/11/asia-on-argyles-shared-street-where-cars-and-pedestrians-are-equal-is-here-to-stay/.
Smritika Srinivasan, et al. “Designing Pedestrian-Friendly Streets.” Urban Voices, 13 Feb. 2020, urbanvoices.in/pedestrian-friendly-streets-in-india/.
“Smart Citizen – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.” IAAC, 29 Aug. 2019, iaac.net/project/smart-citizen/.
Perez, Por Dayana, and Por ALIAS generico. “Noise Monitoring Archivos.” Urbiotica, www.urbiotica.com/en/category/noise-monitoring/.