Blecic & Talu - input2012

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Pedestrian mobility as a fundamental urban right The possible contribution of children to urban walkability Ivan Blečić, Valentina Talu TaMaLaCa tuttamialacitta’ Ivan Blečić, Valentina Talu TaMaLaCa TaMaLaCa TaMaLaCa TaMaLaCa Gruppo di ricerca e azione per la città dei diritti Laboratorio di Analisi e Modelli per la Pianificazione (LaMP) Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica dell’Università di Sassari

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Ivan Blečić and Valentina Talu on "Pedestrian mobility as a fundamental urban right. The possible contribution of children to urban walkability"

Transcript of Blecic & Talu - input2012

Page 1: Blecic & Talu - input2012

Pedestrian mobility as a fundamental urban right

The possible contribution of children to urban walkability

Ivan Blečić, ValentinaTalu

TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

Ivan Blečić, ValentinaTalu

T a M a L a C aT a M a L a C aT a M a L a C aT a M a L a C a

Gruppo di ricerca e azione per la città dei diritti

Laboratorio di Analisi e Modelli per la Pianificazione (LaMP)

Dipartimento di Architettura, Design, Urbanistica dell’Università di Sassari

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

Contemporary city is a car-friendly city (1/3)

1) road accidents

2) air, noise and aesthetic pollution

3) waste of time due to the traffic congestion

4) privatisation of public spaces and soil consumption

5) limitation of the urban rights for people who do not use a car

Alagia, Chiusaroli, 2000; Baruzzi et al. 2004; Illich 2006; Labbucci 2011; Viale 2007; Ward 1979

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

Contemporary city is a car-friendly city (2/3)

1) road accidents

2) air, noise and aesthetic pollution

3) waste of time due to the traffic congestion

4) privatisation of public spaces and soil consumption

5) limitation of the urban rights for people who do not use a car

4) and 5) are perhaps the most relevant problems of "cars' invasion" in urban4) and 5) are perhaps the most relevant problems of "cars' invasion" in urban

contexts.

They can be handled only by reducing significantly the overall number of cars.

Alagia, Chiusaroli, 2000; Baruzzi et al. 2004; Illich 2006; Labbucci 2011; Viale 2007; Ward 1979

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Contemporary city is a car-friendly city (3/3)

Drivers are consumers of space of all the inhabitants of the city: space "used" by

cars could be "used" for collective activities, which can be done without a car.

This cause a significant reduction of the urban quality of life, especially for those

people who cannot or do not want to drive:

- children

- elderly people- elderly people

- disabled people

- pedestrians and cyclists

that cannot fully exercise their urban right of pedestrian accessibility and

movement.

Illlich 2006; Viale 2007; Ward 1979

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Pedestrian accessibility and movement: a fundamental urban right (1/3)

The main goal of urban planning is probably to make the city capable of granting

equal urban rights for each inhabitant of the city.

Therefore, urban planning must address this problem offering solutions and

ways to grant an effective exercise of the right to "use" the city (to access and to

move) for each individual, including pedestrians.

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Pedestrian accessibility and movement: a fundamental urban right (2/3)

The main goal of urban planning is probably to make the city capable of granting

equal urban rights for each inhabitant of the city.

Therefore, urban planning must address this problem offering solutions and

ways to grant an effective exercise of the right to "use" the city (to access and to

move) for each individual, including pedestrians.

Urban planning has to deal with the following issue:Urban planning has to deal with the following issue:

how can social learning be effectively enhanced to promote a

cultural change in people's mobility behaviour?

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Pedestrian accessibility and movement: a fundamental urban right (3/3)

Until now, urban planning has mainly made reference and promoted the reasons

of environmental sustainability.

The results are not satisfactory: most Italian cities are still hostile to pedestrians.

Perhaps, the reasons for environmental sustainability are not as much effective

because they usually make reference to the effects of actions on the long run and

on large spatial scales and to the “individual” contribution.

We do think urban planning should concentrate more on the reasons of the right

to the city

Elster 1993; Illich 2006; Labbucci 2011; Viale 2007

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

The reasons of the right to the city (1/4)

Some people choose to be pedestrians for the reasons of the right to the city.

They claim the right to "use" the city for everybody.

Their goal is to free the streets and the public spaces from cars and to bring them

back to pedestrians.

People who promote and participate in collective actions like Critical Mass,

Walking School Bus, Parking Day, etc. can be considered part of this category.

Labbucci 2011; Solnit 2005; Urbinati 2008

Sassari – Critical Mass (1); Walking School Bus (2,3); Critical Walk (4)

1 2 3 4

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The reasons of the right to the city (2/4)

They want to generate constructive conflict: to claim their right to "use" the city,

they carry out actions which interfere with normal, established urban design.

Walking is therefore a form of dissent against everything driving a car in the city

may mean: speed, consumption, privatisation, isolation, ...

The fact that these actions are collective is fundamental: "being numerous"

means "being visible" and consequently means acting in an effective manner.means "being visible" and consequently means acting in an effective manner.

Labbucci 2011; Solnit 2005; Urbinati 2008

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The reasons of the right to the city (3/4)

Looking at the characteristics of these collective actions of (re)conquest of the

streets and the spaces of the city it is possible to make more effective policies

aimed at building walkable cities and thus promoting urban quality of life.

We propose a sort of requirements list of collective initiatives making reference

to the reasons of the right to the city, which can be used as a starting point to

design policies aimed at improving pedestrians' urban rights of accessibility and design policies aimed at improving pedestrians' urban rights of accessibility and

mobility.

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The reasons of the right to the city (4/4)

1. Constructive conflict, as an important process through which to reveal the nature of

the problem, to denounce its negative effects, and to propose common possible

solutions.

2. Collectivity as a means for increasing visibility of the actions.

3. Involvement of people who usually are not interested in or are not able to express

their dissent.

4. Simplicity of the initiatives and directness of their message.4. Simplicity of the initiatives and directness of their message.

5. Acting in a playful manner as an element capable of facilitating people's involvement

and making the conflict more socially "acceptable" and thus, in a way, more effective.

6. Plurality of ends, because all these initiatives are not aimed at promoting an exclusive

use of the streets, which would be impracticable as well as dangerous, but a plurality

of uses and users, including car drivers.

7. Slowness as a way for making possible and improving social relations and people's

involvement .

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An interesting example: Walking School Bus

The Walking School Bus project is one possible project that could satisfy these

requirements, on condition that it is seen as a means for improving walkability in

the city, not simply as a means to go to school.

The aim of the Walking School Bus is to create the conditions for making itself

useless.

This can happen only if Walking School Bus is seen as a transition project to a This can happen only if Walking School Bus is seen as a transition project to a

safe, accessible and walkable city: a goal which can be achieved only through

significant infrastructure redesign projects and a more efficient traffic control

system.

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

An interesting example: Walking School Bus

Monte Rosello, Sassari – School opening time

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

An interesting example: Walking School Bus

Monte Rosello, Sassari - Walking School Bus

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

An interesting example: Walking School Bus

Monte Rosello, Sassari – Street redesign project

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TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

An interesting example: Walking School Bus

To promote a walkable city is an important and urgent goals for urban planning.

To promote a walkable city means, indeed, to promote a city that, in dealing with

individual differences (and not with standardisation caused by cars), aims at

reducing inequalities in urban rights.

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Thank you for your attention!

Ivan Blečić, ValentinaTalu

TaMaLaCatuttamialacitta’

[email protected]

www.tamalaca.uniss.it (in construction)