There is no reason to be optimistic about the place given to the pedestrian in towns. It is as if the pressure of motorised transportation and the huge increase in the resulting urban area has left the "pedestrian city" to try to defend itself where housing density and urban quality make such a safety reaction possible. Apparent urban development thus seems to be the result of an "Island Strategy" in which certain zones are better able than others to defend themselves against the invasion of the automobile. Experience has shown, however, that in practice, design that is more favourable to pedestrians is increasingly used in European towns. In a reaction against a laissez-faire movement that tends to give an ever-larger place to the automobile, the European town tends to protect, itself by turning inward. These island strategies protecting parts of the towns laid out by and for pedestrians, are more or less effective and take on varying qualitative forms depending on the country. These reactions stress sector-based policies concerning the promotion of public transportation, bicycles, road safety, environmental protection, etc., as well as territorial approaches, while individual urban projects generally tend to protect the town from the automobile and to encourage a better quality of life.
A City for Pedestrians: Toward a Generic Model of the European Town
International Conference on Traffic and Transportation Studies (ICTTS) 2002 ; 2002 ; Guilin, China
2002-07-10
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
A City for Pedestrians: Toward a Generic Model of the European Town
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