Pattern 100: Pedestrian Street

In a lot of the European cities I visited, pedestrians have greater presence than almost any other form of transportation. This has a lot of course to do with the layout and design of the cities themselves. Brussels is a special case because it has a significantly more vehicle centric design than most European cities.

Arriving to town, my class was assigned a first impressions assignment determining what we thought of Brussels and what we might be able to call the identity of the city. I had a hard time figuring out what case I was going to make and I’m still not sure what to think of the city but one consensus was reached by the class; Brussels is busy. Statistically, Brussels isn’t necessarily busier than other cities but the presence of people hustling to-and-fro is amplified by nearly everyone driving. Alexander suggests that interaction between people on the street is necessary for a healthy city, suggesting;

“The simple social intercourse created when people rub shoulders in public is one of the most essential kinds of social ‘glue’ in society.”

This social ‘glue’ is something that is missing in Brussels which adds to the obscurity of its identity.

One town that handled pedestrian streets very well was Florence. It felt very natural to walk out into the street and when a car came through people moved to the side to let it pass but it was a seldom occurrence.

Alexander gets even more specific, describing two special properties, “First, of course, no cars; but frequent crossings by streets with traffic… Second, the buildings along pedestrian streets must be planned in a way which as nearly as possible eliminates indoor staircases, corridors, and lobbies, and leaves most circulation outdoors.” The first property is simple enough but the second is one that I can’t support.

What Alexander is describing would certainly enrich the life of a street but is way too narrow to be a part of a pattern. Patterns are meant to be applied to situations across a wide spectrum but the network of paths and entrances Alexander is describing is impractical for all but a few climates. It is certainly appropriate for Italians to live primarily outside but as a Minnesotan, I strongly protest (at least as much as a Minnesotan is capable of).

The main ideas I’ve taken away from this pattern; limit the traffic of cars and designate streets for pedestrians, encourage visual connections between pedestrians, and make the transition from indoors to outdoors as fluid as possible.