Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Urban Traffic and Social Space

The psychology of urban mobility (Carlos Felipe Pardo, Cities for Mobility World Congress, Stuttgart, Jul. 3-5,2011)

Also discussed here: Toward a new paradigm for transport in cities: Let’s see what Carlos Pardo has to say (Eric Britton, World Streets, Jul. 12, 2011)

The highly graphical presentation by Carlos Pardo on social space and urban mobility is the focus of today’s review. It highlights some of the most important aspects of how traffic impacts communities. Examples shown below are the increased risk of death as speed limits increase from 20 kph (under 10%) to 60 kph (almost 100%), Appleyard’s graphic showing how interpersonal socializing along streets declines rapidly as the flow and speed of traffic increases and the range of travel modes (walking, cycling, transit and private car).







Key Quotes:

Light traffic: Leads to a daily life situation where you know and have contact with lots of people in your neighborhood”

Heavy traffic: and not only do you no longer cross the street for a visit, but you rarely even go to visit someone living on your own side of the street”

“how we perceive space:
  • With people/faces/interactions
  • Shorter distances/travel times
  • Eyes on the street
  • Diverse land use”
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