- Email: [email protected]
Reclaiming Laneways as Pedestrian-friendly Public Space (breakout presentation)
S22
Abstracts / Journal of Transport & Health 7 (2017) S4–S87
in the SA population in Rundle. ‘Cultural probes’ (cameras, maps, diaries etc.), participant observation, and semi-structured interviews elicit insights from participants on the factors that encourage or discourage the active incorporation of walking in their daily lives. Results/Conclusions: This project offers a new kind of access to an often 'hard-to-reach' community. Findings offer insights concerning actual/potential disconnects between big picture data and experiences of certain end-users. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.035
Walk in the Light: Integrating Personal Security into Pedestrian Spaces (breakout presentation) Scott Lane Stantec Consulting, USA
When we talk about the effect of design on pedestrians, it's usually about factors like connectivity, amenities, safety, and the interplay of structures and walkways. In our work we also find people concerned about their safety. But a complete street isn't enough to compel people to walk more and receive all the social, health, and economic benefits from the experience if they are afraid to venture out. Although usually thought of as the preserve of interior spaces and the immediate envelope adjacent to buildings, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) offers an adaptable structure to work with law enforcement officials to think more deeply about the things that can make pedestrian ways the safe and fun places we envision. Through case examples and research this presentation will show how to create more eyes (and feet) on the street during the preliminary planning and design stages for walkable places. The ultimate goal is to reduce criminal activity, encourage walking for more people, and integrate security recommendations into our pedestrian projects. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.036
S1:03 Placemaking and Walking Reclaiming Laneways as Pedestrian-friendly Public Space (breakout presentation) Shamez Amlani 1,2 1 2
Queen Street West Business Improvement Area (BIA), Canada Streets are for People!, Canada
Background: Many of the busy streets in downtown Toronto have service alleys or laneways running parallel. These laneways offer respite for cyclists and pedestrians alike as they are free of fast moving automobiles and are built on a friendlier, more human scale. They are also unfortunately problematic as they may be less safe, full of garbage, and perhaps unsightly for many. Description of Intervention: Our Business Improvement Area on Queen Street West successfully sought special status for a laneway where businesses were exempted from anti-tagging laws to maintain graffiti. It soon became a corridor filled with mural-art, thus illiciting more frequent use for taking photos, filming TV segments, and exploring a hidden side of the urban landscape. Last year, we joined forces with an organization
Abstracts / Journal of Transport & Health 7 (2017) S4–S87
S23
interested in activating this laneway and threw a small event. There was live jazz, a mural painting, giant scrabble, walking tours and participation from a community housing project as merchants opened up their back doors. Locals came together to beautify and populate the lane, reclaiming it as a foot-friendly place of social cohesion away from car-filled streets. Outcomes: This year the project is expanding to include 5 monthly events in other stretches of laneways in our area as well as feature a lane-naming initiative designed to engage the neighbourhood. We expect to draw participation from even more local merchants including retail stores, music venues, dance studios, and restaurants, as we help to revitalize and animate each other's micro-communities. Residents and non-commercial organizations will also be engaged on a greater level through the newly formed network initiated by the BIA. Implications: Moving forward, we expect to see investment put into infrastructure in these laneways including partial pedestrianization, mural art, better garbage and recycling storage and removal, lighting, and the normalization of more frequent events creating public space from neglected pavement. Ultimately, we hope this will offer an alternative to the blight of car culture and create opportunities to allow new temporary and permanent walkable spaces to spill out onto the side streets and main streets – all while building community cohesion and increasing commerce. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.037
Tokyo Typologies: The Unconventional Urban Ethos of Multiplicity, Vibrancy, Complexity þLiveability (breakout presentation) Brian Sinclair 1,2 1 2
University of Calgary, Canada Sinclairstudio inc., Canada
Background: Tokyo is one of the planet’s largest, most complex and most successful cities. With a population exceeding that of Canada, the Tokyo Metropolitan Region embraces a rich array of features key to a wellcrafted, well-designed and highly-functioning city. Consistently Tokyo ranks among the world’s top cities, based on a wide array of metrics/measures. From a world-class multi-modal transportation system and vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods to walkable streets and planning innovations, Tokyo demonstrates how an urban centre can be colossal and complex while proving demonstrably dynamic, accessible and livable. For those looking from outside Tokyo proves a paradox – massive in size, and incomprehensible in scope while functioning at high levels, running smoothly and being relatively free from serious problems. Amenity is high, crime is low, efficiency is unprecedented, design is pervasive and a sense of community is ubiquitous. Tokyo’s success is worth critical examination, not only to cull out reasons for achievement but also to better grasp facets of the city than contribute to its Gestalt. An approach overarching the research critically considers the vehicle of ‘urban typology’. Description: Using typology as a lens for investigation, the work imaginatively identifies/delineates unique typologies that define, shape and characterize Tokyo’s rich fabric. Case studies embrace conventional awareness of typology while charting new ground in conceiving exceptionally Japanese types. Creative typologies include: Gate-Threshold; Spiritual Spark; Arcade Street; Optimize Leftovers; Extreme Parking; Koban; Palimpsest Remnants; Folded þ Compressed; Thin Landscapes; Vending Ethos; and Love Zones. Implications: The approach taken to Tokyo typologies is original, bold and in keeping with the pulse, energy and uniqueness of this leading global city. The author invokes an existing holistic framework for design þ planning to better illuminate compelling reasons for Tokyo’s ongoing progress despite intense pressures on economic, environmental, social, cultural & spiritual fronts. An understanding of the potency of these exceptional typologies in relation to walkability and liveability proves paramount and enlightening. Application of findings, beyond Tokyo, is postulated. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.038
Abstracts / Journal of Transport & Health 7 (2017) S4–S87
in the SA population in Rundle. ‘Cultural probes’ (cameras, maps, diaries etc.), participant observation, and semi-structured interviews elicit insights from participants on the factors that encourage or discourage the active incorporation of walking in their daily lives. Results/Conclusions: This project offers a new kind of access to an often 'hard-to-reach' community. Findings offer insights concerning actual/potential disconnects between big picture data and experiences of certain end-users. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.035
Walk in the Light: Integrating Personal Security into Pedestrian Spaces (breakout presentation) Scott Lane Stantec Consulting, USA
When we talk about the effect of design on pedestrians, it's usually about factors like connectivity, amenities, safety, and the interplay of structures and walkways. In our work we also find people concerned about their safety. But a complete street isn't enough to compel people to walk more and receive all the social, health, and economic benefits from the experience if they are afraid to venture out. Although usually thought of as the preserve of interior spaces and the immediate envelope adjacent to buildings, Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) offers an adaptable structure to work with law enforcement officials to think more deeply about the things that can make pedestrian ways the safe and fun places we envision. Through case examples and research this presentation will show how to create more eyes (and feet) on the street during the preliminary planning and design stages for walkable places. The ultimate goal is to reduce criminal activity, encourage walking for more people, and integrate security recommendations into our pedestrian projects. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.036
S1:03 Placemaking and Walking Reclaiming Laneways as Pedestrian-friendly Public Space (breakout presentation) Shamez Amlani 1,2 1 2
Queen Street West Business Improvement Area (BIA), Canada Streets are for People!, Canada
Background: Many of the busy streets in downtown Toronto have service alleys or laneways running parallel. These laneways offer respite for cyclists and pedestrians alike as they are free of fast moving automobiles and are built on a friendlier, more human scale. They are also unfortunately problematic as they may be less safe, full of garbage, and perhaps unsightly for many. Description of Intervention: Our Business Improvement Area on Queen Street West successfully sought special status for a laneway where businesses were exempted from anti-tagging laws to maintain graffiti. It soon became a corridor filled with mural-art, thus illiciting more frequent use for taking photos, filming TV segments, and exploring a hidden side of the urban landscape. Last year, we joined forces with an organization
Abstracts / Journal of Transport & Health 7 (2017) S4–S87
S23
interested in activating this laneway and threw a small event. There was live jazz, a mural painting, giant scrabble, walking tours and participation from a community housing project as merchants opened up their back doors. Locals came together to beautify and populate the lane, reclaiming it as a foot-friendly place of social cohesion away from car-filled streets. Outcomes: This year the project is expanding to include 5 monthly events in other stretches of laneways in our area as well as feature a lane-naming initiative designed to engage the neighbourhood. We expect to draw participation from even more local merchants including retail stores, music venues, dance studios, and restaurants, as we help to revitalize and animate each other's micro-communities. Residents and non-commercial organizations will also be engaged on a greater level through the newly formed network initiated by the BIA. Implications: Moving forward, we expect to see investment put into infrastructure in these laneways including partial pedestrianization, mural art, better garbage and recycling storage and removal, lighting, and the normalization of more frequent events creating public space from neglected pavement. Ultimately, we hope this will offer an alternative to the blight of car culture and create opportunities to allow new temporary and permanent walkable spaces to spill out onto the side streets and main streets – all while building community cohesion and increasing commerce. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.037
Tokyo Typologies: The Unconventional Urban Ethos of Multiplicity, Vibrancy, Complexity þLiveability (breakout presentation) Brian Sinclair 1,2 1 2
University of Calgary, Canada Sinclairstudio inc., Canada
Background: Tokyo is one of the planet’s largest, most complex and most successful cities. With a population exceeding that of Canada, the Tokyo Metropolitan Region embraces a rich array of features key to a wellcrafted, well-designed and highly-functioning city. Consistently Tokyo ranks among the world’s top cities, based on a wide array of metrics/measures. From a world-class multi-modal transportation system and vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods to walkable streets and planning innovations, Tokyo demonstrates how an urban centre can be colossal and complex while proving demonstrably dynamic, accessible and livable. For those looking from outside Tokyo proves a paradox – massive in size, and incomprehensible in scope while functioning at high levels, running smoothly and being relatively free from serious problems. Amenity is high, crime is low, efficiency is unprecedented, design is pervasive and a sense of community is ubiquitous. Tokyo’s success is worth critical examination, not only to cull out reasons for achievement but also to better grasp facets of the city than contribute to its Gestalt. An approach overarching the research critically considers the vehicle of ‘urban typology’. Description: Using typology as a lens for investigation, the work imaginatively identifies/delineates unique typologies that define, shape and characterize Tokyo’s rich fabric. Case studies embrace conventional awareness of typology while charting new ground in conceiving exceptionally Japanese types. Creative typologies include: Gate-Threshold; Spiritual Spark; Arcade Street; Optimize Leftovers; Extreme Parking; Koban; Palimpsest Remnants; Folded þ Compressed; Thin Landscapes; Vending Ethos; and Love Zones. Implications: The approach taken to Tokyo typologies is original, bold and in keeping with the pulse, energy and uniqueness of this leading global city. The author invokes an existing holistic framework for design þ planning to better illuminate compelling reasons for Tokyo’s ongoing progress despite intense pressures on economic, environmental, social, cultural & spiritual fronts. An understanding of the potency of these exceptional typologies in relation to walkability and liveability proves paramount and enlightening. Application of findings, beyond Tokyo, is postulated. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.038