"Pedestrian Areas: From Malls to complete networks", Uhlig K., Architectural Book Publishing Company, New York, 1979 - A review.

Freedom for pedestrians as a motive force for new regulations.

• Problems associated with pedestrian areas must be looked at from –
1. an overall urban context.
2. their individual aspects.
• Shaping a town for pedestrians presupposes –
1. a radical reform of local transportation policy.
2. a partial rethinking of town planning.

• Vehicles are not entitled to any more recognition than any other types of traffic.
• The ratio of pedestrian area to the traffic area as a whole and the street configuration should be restored to normal.

Initially this means increasing it.

• Pedestrians must once again automatically be regarded as an element of town circulation. The working out of general plans for pedestrian traffic must become a matter of course. Improvements in the traffic network with the pedestrian in mind must become the norm. Adequate thought must be given to pedestrians when financial aspects for improvements are being considered.
• Pedestrian areas are just as much obvious infrastructure as are roads and tram tracks.

The pioneering situation of the pedestrian-orientated town.

• Pedestrian-service Index – the number of kilometers of pedestrian streets per 1000 inhabitants.
• Pedestrian ways are as old as the streets themselves. In most cases footpaths were the means by which settlements were developed.
• Normal roadways should also be designed keeping the pedestrian’s interests in mind.
• History –

- Roman towns  had traffic-free centre cores.

- Before the 2^nd world war, Essen, Cologne and Rendsburg had streets where traffic was banned. These streets have become pedestrian footways.

- In the thirties, plans for independent footpath networks in new urban areas were put forth.

- In the forties and fifties, the idea of traffic-free town centre shopping streets was conceived. E.g. Bayer, Abel and Bernoulli.

·         In 1973, a questionnaire produced the following main objectives for the deign of pedestrian areas –

1.      circulation improvements.

2.      improved shopping areas.

3.      promotion of the tourist trade.

4.      increased revenue from properties.

5.      leisure opportunities.

6.      activating the town.

7.      improving the residential environment.

8.      environmental protection.

9.      town conservation.

10.  promotion of intellectual social relations.

11.  cultivation of the town’s and the administration’s image.

·         It would be quite wrong to impose pedestrian accommodating measures on trading streets alone and where there are critical traffic situations. The starting point for present-day town planning must be man’s need of a pedestrian-orientated urban environment.

Functions of pedestrian areas.

Space and usage programme –

• On an average the town-dweller walks for 60 minutes a day. Going somewhere on foot is not just an utilitarian activity. It is a complex activity which has an effect not only on the body but also on the mind.

A multiplicity of activities –

- Of showing oneself.

- Of satisfying one’s curiosity.

- Of dawdling along.

- Of self-representation.

- Of communication.

- Of living together on this people’s stage.

·         Municipal areas ( open ) are where one practices and exercises social behaviour. They are areas for events and assemblies. They can help to reestablish public and generally accessible social relationships.

·         The impression a town makes usually comes from it’s open spaces, especially in the town centre. To a great extent it is the streets and squares that give a town it’s character.

·         It would be wrong to drive the pedestrian out into the isolation of separated areas. In most cases, aseptic separation of the whole system would lead to problems affecting planning and function.

·         Pedestrian areas may be a first step. But they could be an embarrassing sign that as far the pedestrians are concerned, the town does not function.

·         Limits – There are definite limits to how far a town can be pedestrianized. The demand for somewhere to walk must always be balanced against equally important demands of other kinds.

Particular tasks of pedestrian areas –

1. Pedestrian areas as a means of urban design.

Pedestrian streets are becoming the framework of design. They are becoming integrators or synthesizers. They are important elements of functional-spatial municipal thoughts. Many municipalities further develop parts of their towns depending on the course their main pedestrian streets have taken.

Pedestrian areas are particularly suitable as a starting point for remodeling town centres.

2. Pedestrian areas as a means of urbanity.

·         It has a protective effect on town centres. It promotes mixed uses instead of functional separation. Mixed use increases activity in the street at all times of the day, thus showing that the street was and is the original meeting place for people outside their homes.

·         It can encourage this sort of meaningful social behaviour.

·         What many people feel are missing are the street corners and squares where they can meet.

·         Meeting each other is a matter of social behaviour. If the street is regarded as an everyday forum, then it’s social functions must be adequately considered.

·         Pedestrian streets should not serve only one individual objective or group such as tourists or shoppers. They should also be meeting places for both elderly people and children. From many points of view, they are safety points. They enable mothers with children and the disabled to move about freely and safely in urban open spaces.

·         They allow building uses to spill over into the streets.

- Gastronomic islands.

- Exhibitions.

- Sales kiosks.

- Itinerant street traders.

·         Pedestrian streets must be designed to cover the whole breadth of street life.

Shopping corridors.

Linear parks.

Residential front gardens.

Open spaces for offices.

Play streets.

Squares for ceremonies.

Meeting points.

Parade grounds.

Stages for entertainments.

Places for study

    And much more.

·         They can assume widely differing forms to suit their variety of functions – from avenues to roofed-in all-weather inner public squares.

3. Pedestrian areas as an instrument of town conservation.

·         Squares or street areas which are important architecturally or from the point of town planning can achieve a new effect.

·         Zones of activity should alternate with peaceful spots, modern character with historical tradition. E.g. In Holland, we find “paths of monuments”, “paths of history” and “paths of culture”.

·         Pedestrianization not only results in historical relationships being emphasized  but sometimes also in their being changed.

4. Pedestrian areas as leisure and play areas.

·          Urban parks.

·         Urban health resort parks.

·         Passive zones for artistic and cultural events like street lectures, street theatre, street concerts, etc.

·         A play world for children.

·         Places for social activity for teens.

·         As places for short breaks for relaxation – as well as street restaurants, areas of rest and recreation should be furnished with free seating accommodation for tea and lunch breaks.

5. Pedestrian areas as elements of residential environment.

The pedestrian streets have certain tasks, depending on their position in the town –

·         Play streets.

·         Shopping streets.

·         Promenades.

·         Pleasure streets.

·         Eating streets.

·         Residential streets, etc.

·         There should be more dwelling units in pedestrian streets and vice versa, there should be more pedestrian zones in residential areas.

·         The relationship between living space, free expanses and urban life is regarded by many as being well worth aspiring to.

Pedestrian zones, playgrounds, housing block courtyards and green spaces near the front door constitute that urban landscape in which 60 % of town dwellers spend their leisure time.

Thus pedestrian areas should no longer be restricted to town centres.

·         The street space as “living space” outside the house must be regained. In residential areas, the road must once again become “living space”.

Designing  pedestrian areas.

Pedestrian streets and zones –

·         The traffic network must be matched to the different traffic requirements of vehicular traffic and pedestrians. The road network must be modified and possibly augmented. But, pedestrian streets are not just streets where vehicles are not allowed.

Pedestrian streets are a specific form of development. They are meant to link up the whole town and all it’s functions e.g. Venice.

Main pedestrian streets should link the focal points of residential areas as well as the communal and commercial centres with the public transport systems and parking places. It should also include “pedestrian islands” such as squares, inner courtyards, forecourts and arcades.

A complete urban system for pedestrians will consist of  -

·         A network of pedestrian streets or single elements like squares, courtyards, passages, etc.

·         Pedestrian zones i.e. urban pedestrian districts, areas, precincts, etc., not by individual routes but zonally defined parts of the road network.

·         Adding pedestrian-orientated links will turn it into a mixed system i.e. into combined pedestrian and vehicular traffic streets.

Only new towns and small towns can be exclusively pedestrianised. Total system separation is also to be recommended only exceptionally. The only practical alternative is to improve the existing roadways.

So a “total pedestrian town” term is used to denote a pedestrian-friendly town, i.e. everything that affects the pedestrian is taken into account at the town planning stage.

The vocabulary used in defining pedestrian-area design in towns is inadequate – carriageways, footpaths, walkways.

Expressions like “pedestrian square”, “pedestrian network”, pedestrian streets” and “foot streets” have still not become very common. Purely pedestrian roads and roads within pedestrian districts will be given names as “pedestrian zones”, “pedestrian area” and “pedestrian precinct”.

E.g. of towns where districts were remodeled for pedestrians – Bologna, Hamburg, Maastricht and Jerusalem.

E.g. of a town planned to include a pedestrian network – Chandigarh.

The most commonly seen pedestrian design is a “pedestrian axis” – a very common design principle in town planning. But this by itself is not enough. The axis should be linked with pedestrian spaces.

Town centres must be regarded primarily as pedestrian zones, as total walk towns.

The road system for pedestrians must harmonize with the system for vehicular traffic. The meaningful dimensioning of footpath networks, their density, surface area and classification into single-purpose and mixed network sections depends on – the size of the town, the density of it’s buildings, functional structure, catchment area, traffic characteristics, etc.

Pedestrians always seek out the simplest path, not necessarily the shortest. About 90% of all journeys made in inner cities are by foot.

Opinions concerning the size of pedestrian areas differ. In the first instance, the step-by-step spread of a whole town pedestrian network must concentrate on the main axes. Then later on it can be extended.

Pedestrian-orientated connections - 

·         Furthering the pedestrian’s interests also includes curbing the traffic. This can be done by one-way streets, loop roads, cul-de-sacs, retarders, wider pavements, etc. Closing streets on special days and other limitations on traffic e.g. Singapore also work.

      All streets which make possible a functional link between pedestrian and vehicle in a way which benefits the pedestrian can be considered to be pedestrian-orientated links between purely pedestrian streets and squares in the overall network.

      Simply widening pavements or prohibiting parking can be advantageous to the pedestrian.

Vehicular traffic and pedestrian areas –

·         The town which is pedestrian-orientated is not necessarily “anti-car”. Total pedestrian town in no way implies a total ban on vehicles. Equal rights for all modes of traffic should be among the aims of overall planning as well as improved environment and better traffic conditions.

Pedestrian zones must improve the viability of a town and it’s traffic and not destroy it. Parking is also important. Parking areas must also be positioned in the immediate vicinity of pedestrian areas and must be connected satisfactorily with them.

Internal transportation for pedestrian areas –

·         In larger pedestrian zones, it may be advisable to have an inner circulation, especially free transport. Other transport e.g. minibuses, rickshaws, cabs, moving sidewalks, escalators and inclined elevators could be viable options.

Internal transport should effect the link between the main objectives of pedestrian zones – public facilities, shops and the like – and the stations for public and private transport.

The areas of these internal transport, if used on pedestrian streets should be clearly marked by landscaping, street furniture, etc.

Multi-level pedestrian areas –

·         Traffic types can be segregated by creating pedestrian or vehicular levels above / below the single level street system.

Connections between the various levels are indispensable for a coherent pedestrian street network. These will also further the perceptibility of a city’s three-dimensional form.

Pedestrian bridges and elevated walkways –

·         The classic upper-level connections are bridges with buildings on them e.g. Rialto bridge, Venice and Ponte Vecchio, Florence.

Nowadays we have passages connecting apartments and other uses across streets.

Pedestrian tunnels and concourses –

·         These are more common e.g. tunnels, subways, concourses etc., because they are easier to plan and construct.

But from the town-planning point of view, they are less desirable. It is a serious fault if pedestrians are sent underground at places which are the most architecturally beautiful.

But sometimes they cannot be avoided when towns are remodeled e.g. subways at major street junctions and entrance levels of underground subway stations.

Pedestrian staircases and ramps –

·         Stairs, ramps and other mechanical aids are very important. The principle of territorial cohesion indicates that pedestrian levels like the pedestrian axis require a certain balance.

There is a limit to the frequency and degree of interruptions in the sequence of changes of direction.

This depends on the type and volume of pedestrian traffic, topography and the utilization structure.

Pedestrian spaces instead of streets for pedestrian traffic –

·         Vehicular-free areas are not a pedestrian paradise. There has to be pedestrian street extensions too. The aim and essence of pedestrian-orientated design is the creation of urban planning areas which will benefit man.

·         Nucleus of every pedestrian-orientated concept is the square. The square is the junction of the pedestrian network – it’s exit and destination.

A good ring of walkways will always contain spatially enclosed sequences of squares. They also help in the changeover from cavernous street to open square.

It is the sequence of dissimilar squares which affords towns their special beauty.

Details are also very important for a pedestrian town. Festive events held on squares meet the community’s innermost need for self-expression.

·         Street architecture is also important in the sense of continuity of building facades. The architectural design and façade treatment of buildings bordering the pedestrian zone is very important.

Topography, trees, plants and other architectural features are also important. Small squares, courtyards, alleyways, passages all contribute to the success of a pedestrian system.

All-weather paths and inner squares -

·         Weather protection is very important. E.g. awnings, umbrellas on stands and canopies, arcades, “vitrades” (shopping displays).

The passage in the form of covered shopping streets or shopping squares is coming back into town planning as an extension of the idea of the covered street e.g. the urban indoor square at Harvard University.

Indoor squares can form the natural focal points of pedestrian systems.

Equipment of pedestrian areas.

Successful pedestrian areas must be architecturally designed and properly fitted out. People want to avail all kinds of amenities e.g. landscaping, benches, fountains, public conveniences, luggage lockers and day-care centres.

Surface design -

·         The quality of the surface materials has a considerable effect on the pedestrian’s reaction to pedestrian streets.

Floor surfaces should accentuate the full scale of pedestrian areas. Changes in level should not be evened out but emphasized. The type of pattern on the ground surface can influence the pedestrian atmosphere.

There should be no sidewalks in pedestrian areas. Technical services require equal attention.

Nowadays lettering, painting and courts for grown-ups e.g. chess courts are being increasingly noticed.

Street furnishings and other fittings -

·         They are distinctive marks and characteristics. Psychologically, it has the effect of a symbol of recognition.

The aim of fitting out is to create a “homely, outdoor living room”.

Furniture -

·         One important element of a pedestrian area is a place to relax – taking an active or passive part e.g. chairs, benches, steps, beverage stalls etc.

Minor architectural features -

·         The most varied type of minor architectural features e.g. shoe-shine stands, taxi ranks, parking meters, post boxes, etc. are also important.

The visual limitation of the upper part of the road by means of banners, flags, film screens, etc. can make a street look more attractive.

Equipment for play and leisure -

·         Playground equipment is becoming very important nowadays. Play equipment as well as patterns on the pavement surface help to increase the range of activities.

Lighting -

·         Great importance is being paid nowadays to lighting. This is completely different from road lighting especially the height of lamp posts.

Lighting is also a design feature.

Vegetation for streets and squares -

·         Architectural landscaping is an important feature. Trees are extremely acceptable to pedestrians. They create perspectives.

Pedestrianization  is a useful starting point from which to regain lost elements of urban landscape or to build them up from now.

Fountains -

·         Fountains and gargoyles are also gaining importance. They should be designed as useful objects e.g. water playgrounds and drinking fountains.

Works of art -

·         They emphasize the architectural and spatial effect of streets and squares and can help people to feel at home. In the U.K. and the U.S.A. this is known as “Public art”.

The pedestrian shopping city.

·         The pacemakers of pedestrian-orientated urban planning were the traffic-free shopping streets of inner cities. In many towns, the prime objective of pedestrian planning is still the shopping street tailored to suit the pedestrian. As a rule, there is a causal relationship between pedestrian frequency, ground value and sales.

·         Pedestrian zones increase pedestrian frequency.

·         Streets are dedicated to the community. They are not just “consumption ghettoes” or “consumer taxiways”. People in the inner city do not simply want to buy something. Man is more important than just making a sale. Thus the main shopping street should continue into the adjacent residential areas.

·         One of the principal planning objectives in large towns nowadays is to enforce the vehicle-human separation and also take other pedestrian-orientated measures.

·         All available experience shows that as a rule, pedestrians increase sales in a shopping city and as sales rise, shop rents rise as well.

Pedestrian streets also encourage new investments. Thus the business world must play it’s part in overall urban and regional planning.

There is also the danger that beyond a certain point, small businesses may be driven out due to higher rents.

·         Accessibility is very important. Trade requires that vehicular traffic should be able to come right over to the pedestrian zone.

Distance from parking lot – 200 metres.

Maximum reasonable distance – 500 metres. These cannot be applied everywhere.

Patterns of development.

·         There is still a lot to be done. Remodeling town centres nowadays sometimes shows scant regard for pedestrians. The importance of pedestrians and of walking itself is slowly returning with the reappraisal of traffic and environment.

·         One of the most important incidental benefits is the recognition of the necessity of urban design. Freedom to move about, unhampered by vehicular traffic allows greater attention to be paid to better appreciation of the urban districts.

·         Pedestrian measures are also stimulating public and private building activity.

·         This field of town planning enjoys a special pattern of dynamic development. Contributory disciplines like landscape architecture and the science of transportation are beginning to adapt to the importance of this field.

The book concludes with a detailed study of several pedestrian oriented streets.