Copenhagen 04 Gunnarsson the Pedestrian and the City

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Paper presented to Walk21-VCities for People, The Fifth International Conference on

Walking in the 21stCentury, June 9-11 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark

www.citiesforpeople.dk; www.walk21.com

The pedestrian and the city - a historical review, from the

Hippodamian city, to the modernistic city and to the sustainableand walking-friendly city

S Olof Gunnarsson, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden

Contact details:

S Olof Gunnarsson, Emeritus Professor, Urban and Traffic Planning,Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden.

Abstract

A review is given on the situation and the role of the pedestrian in European cities fromancient times to the 20

thcentury as a function of political and military strategies, of

technological progress, and of the influence of urban idealists and architectural protagonists. A

vision for a walking-friendly city is formulated where the pedestrian is the measure of the city.

The goal should be to bring back city spaces to the pedestrians and create a sustainable andhuman city on foot, where the pedestrians can move freely and conveniently in a secure and

beautiful environment.
http://www.citiesforpeople.dk/http://www.walk21.com/http://www.walk21.com/http://www.citiesforpeople.dk/


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The pedestrian and the city - a historical review, from the

Hippodamian city, to the modernistic city and to the sustainable

and walking-friendly city

S Olof Gunnarsson, Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden

The development of urban design and street networks until the 20th

century

The urban pattern, the streets and the status of pedestrians have varied during different periods

in the history - a function of political and military strategies, of technological progress, and of

the influence of urban idealists and architectural protagonists. The study is limited to Europeanexperiences.

The city model of Hippodamus

Hippodamus a Grecian, who died in 439 BC - is considered to be the first theorist in townplanning. He introduced the grid pattern street network, where the city of Miletus is the most

well-known - a city with straight streets in angles and a square (agora) in the middle of the

town. However there had been regular street patterns earlier, e.g. Kahun, a town constructed in2 500 BC for the pyramid workers in Egypt.

The city model of VitruviusMarcus Pollio Vitruvius in 100 BC), the author of Ten Books on Architecture, designed an

ideal city with eight radial streets, not directly leading to the city centre, from defensive

military points of view. The idea was also to avoid adverse winds.

The city of Pompeii (destroyed in AD 79).

The streets had well-paved streets with sidewalks (with a width of 1-1.5 m and a height of 0.5-

0.6 m) and also stepping stones as pedestrian crossings.

Ancient Rome

The city had three types of streets: the itinera for pedestrians only, the actusfor passage ofonly one cart at a time, and the viaefor passage of two carts abreast. However, the streets

became very crowded with continual conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles. In 50 BC

Julius Caesar banned cargo carts during daytime, with the exception of the transport ofbuilding material and official carts. The Roman satirist Juvenal (60-128 AD) told that the

regulation had a negative effect: people could not sleep depending on the heavy and noisy

traffic in the night hours. He also mentioned the problems of being a pedestrian: elbows,

pokes, treads on the crowded streets.

The medieval city

The medieval city had winding streets and cul-de-sacs, which were easily defended by swords.The square was very important as a market place and meeting point.

Traffic separation according to Leonardo da Vinci


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Leonardo da Vinci proposed in 1487 a city plan with two levels, the upper level for

pedestrians, the lower for vehicles. His idea was based not only on avoiding congestion for

pedestrians, but also on preventing the plague.

The renaissance city

The city pattern of the 16

th

century was based on military defence, e.g. Palma Nova in Italy.The invention of firearms demanded straight streets and the grid pattern was introduced again,

recommended by Andrea Palladio among others. Giovanno Lorenzo Bernini proposed

adornment of squares and public places, e.g. Romes Piazza Navona.

London in the 1850s

London in the 1850s was crowded with many horse cabs and dirty from the smoke of steam

engines, illustrated by the French painter Gustave Dor. In 1865, the so called Red flag law

said that automotive vehicles should be driven at a maximum speed of 4 miles per hour, and aman should walk in front of the vehicle with a red flag.

Urban surgery: Napoleon III and Haussmann in Paris in 1850-70

Napoleon III had an idea to make Paris as ancient Rome. Under the leadership of GeorgesEugne Haussmann, Paris was transformed by massive urban surgery by creating great

boulevards. The purpose was both military and commercial. A result of the

haussmannization was the establishment of more than 1100 km of sidewalks and plantedtrees. The model influenced many other cities around the world, e.g. Vienna and Stockholm.

Moving sidewalks

A proposal to articulate moving platforms on wheels and a track was presented for New York

in 1874. A moving sidewalk was installed at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893, and

also at the exhibition in Paris in 1900. It was a two-speed system to run at 3 and 6 mph. Theidea of moving platforms was the predecessor of pedestrian conveyors.

Modernism: the city and the pedestrian in the 20th

century

Before 1850 the city was based on transport on foot and horses. The pedestrian was free to

walk on the street. The industrial revolution and the machine era changed the situation.Pedestrians were more and more forced out of their place on the streets and in the squares, in

favour of giving space to cars, buses, and cyclists.

This period is characterised by a lot of ideas in urban design and street patterns. Table 1 and

Figure 1 give a summary of the different epochs, the town and street structure, and the role of

the pedestrians.

Well-known protagonists in urban design are among others:

Camillo Sitte (1889): City-Building according to Artistic Principles Arturo Soria y Matta (1892):Linear City


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Ebenezer Howard (1898): Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (The GardenCity)

Tony Garnier (1917): The Industrial City (1917) Le Corbusier (1922-25): City for Three Million People, Urbanism Frank Lloyd Wright (1935): The Broadacre City adapted for automobiles Clarence Stein, Henry Wright (1928):Radburn (with traffc separation) Sir Patrick Abercrombie (1944):New Towns (with traffic separation) Sir Buchanan (1963): Traffic in Towns Ricardo Bofill, Rob and Leonard Krier (1970s): Postmodernism

Walking-friendly inventions

City arcades

The Roman harbour city of Ostia had ground-story arcades, often with shops. City arcades

were introduced in many European cities in the 15th

century, e.g. in the city of Bern and in

Bologna. A visitor in Bern said in 1479 that there were archways to both sides of the streetunder which one can wander about with dry feet.

Galleries

The first over-decked street (gallery) seems to have been Burlington Arcade in London (1598-

1680). The Vittorio Emanuelle II street in Milan was covered in 1865-1877 by a proposal from

Giuseppe Mengoni.

Pedestrian streets and zonesPedestrian malls in new areas were first introduced in Rotterdam (Lijnbaan) in 1950, and later

on in connection with city renewal projects, e.g. in Stockholm. Pedestrian streets and zones

were established in Germany in the 1950s, e.g. Cologne (Hohe Strasse), and in Copenhagenin 1962 (Strget)

The woonerf concept

In the Netherlands, a special type of residential street - a woonerf, literally living yard-

was formulated by Professor Nick de Boer in 1963.

Walking aidsThe rollator a 4-wheel device for helping walking and for sitting and carrying small

packages - was in general use in Sweden from 1980. A similar piece of equipment is the kick-sledge in winter time.

Vision of a sustainable and walking-friendly city

The goal should be to bring back living spaces to the pedestrians and create a sustainable andhuman city on foot, where the pedestrians can move freely and conveniently in a secure and

beautiful environment: the pedestrian should be the measure of the city.


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Strategies

1) Make priorities for pedestrians in urban renewal policies and programs for environment andhealth.

2) Bring back proximity and community through establishing community nodes for jobs,service, social and cultural activities.

3) Organise urban space with regard to the need for accessibility, safety and security forpedestrians and implement a walking route plan covering the whole city

4) Make guarantees for comfort, security and safety for pedestrians through traffic taming

measures, rights of way for pedestrians and through efficient maintenance of walkways.

5) Plan and implement measures through co-ordination between different authorities.

6) Promote research on the city and the pedestrians.

7) Finally, rouse public opinion for the sake of pedestrians and the need for more living space

for pedestrians: the pedestrian is the measure of the city!


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Table 1 Review of town and street pattern related to the pedestrians during

the19th

century

Epoch Town and street pattern Pedestrians and city traffic

1900 - 1920

Industrialisation.High density areas

Ill health

Artistic city (Sitte)

Garden city (Howard)Linear city (Soria y Mata)

Industrial city (Garnier)

Pedestrian, moving freely in

the streetsHorses and wagons

Urban railways, metros

1920-1930Mass produced

automobiles

Depression

Contemporary city (LeCorbusier)

Open blocks, greenbelts

Straight and broad streetsPedestrians out of the street

1930-1945Functionalism

World War II

Radburn (Stein, H Wright)Broadacre city (Wright)

Neighbourhood (Mumford)

Separation ofpedestrians-cars

Motorways

1945-1960Post war era

New Towns. ABC-CityCity renewal with demolition

Pedestrian streetsMetro construction

1960-1975

Housing shortage

Car dependencyEnvironmental

problems (Silent

Spring of Carson)

Satellite towns.

Traffic in towns (Buchanan)

Critics (Jacobs, Gehl)

Children safety.

Traffic separation in new areas

Environmental capacityWoonerfs

1975-1990Sustainable

development

(Brundtland report)

Postmodernism (Krier)Waterfront development

Traffic calming and zoningBus streets

1990-2000

Environmentalproblems

(Rio agenda)

Neotraditionalism

Urban renewal

Grid patterns. Boulevards

Trams back30 kph-zones

Mobility management

2000-

IT-society

Globalisation

Sustainable, liveable city

Proximity and community

Vision: Pedestrian is the

Measure of the City


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Figure 1 Review of urban design, pedestrians and traffic during the 19th

century


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References

Abercrombie, P (1933/1944) Town and Country Planning. Oxford University Press, London

Buchanan, C (1963) Traffic in Towns. A study of the long term problems of traffic in urban

areas.Her Majestys Stationery Office, London

Carcopino, J (1956) Daily Life in Ancient Rome.Penguin Books, Harmondsworth

Choay, F (1969) The Modern City: Planning in the 19th

Century, George Brazillier, New York

Gehl, J (1996)Life between Buildings. Using Public Space. Arkitektens Forlag

Gruen, V (1965) The Heart of our Cities. Thames and Hudson, London

Gunnarsson, S O (2003) The Pedestrian is the Measure of the City.FOT-Noter, Pedestrians

Ass. Sweden /In Swedish/

Hall, P (1998) Cities in Civilization. Phoenix Giant Paperback, Orion Books Ltd, London

Howard, E (1902/1965) Garden Cities of To-Morrow. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Kostof, S (1991) City Shaped. Urban patterns and meanings through history. Thames andHudson, London

Kostof, S (1999) TheCity Assembled. The Elements of Urban Form Through History. Thames

and Hudson, London

Le Corbusier. (1925, 1994) Urbanisme. Flammarion, Paris

Moholy-Nagy, S (1969)Matrix of Man. An Illustrated History of Urban

Environment. 2nd ed. Fredrick A. Praeger, New York

Morris, A E J (1979)History of Urban Form. Before the Industrial Revolutions.

2nd ed. Georg Godwin Ltd, London

Mumford, L (1938) The Culture of Cities.Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York

Richards, B (1966)New Movement in Cities.A Studio Vista, London

Richards, B.(1990) Transport in Cities. Architecture Design and Technology Press, London

Sitte, C (1901)Der Stdte-Bau nach seinen knstlerischen Grundstzen.Ein Beitrag zur

Lsung modernen Fragen de Architektur und monumentalen Plastik unter besonderer

Beziehung auf Wien.3. uppl. Verlag von Carl Graesse & Co., Wien

Stein, C S 1951) Toward New Towns for America. The UniversityPress of Liverpool, Chicago

Wright, F L (1958) The Living City. Horizon Press, New York

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