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Please god no! I've travelled to 10 countries and 18 cities this year and you can keep your wide roads and open squares to yourself. They are always boring, sou

Please god no! I've travelled to 10 countries and 18 cities this year and you can keep your wide roads and open squares to yourself. They are always boring, soulless, and empty. Narrow (10ft/3m) pedestrian-only streets with shops on both sides are where the interesting stuff happens. There are a few cities around the world experimenting with closed-box neighbourhoods: blocks of buildings with restricted through-traffic and low speed limits (or no cars allowed at all). These encourage pedestrian usage, people actually spending time on the street (outdoor cafes are ruined by car exhaust). The way to solve the issue of traffic is to remove cars from the road, not to transform your cities into places aimed specifically at cars.

randomsearch 10y ago
> you can keep your wide roads and open squares to yourself. Having a city that is not so poorly designed that it is crammed with traffic, and having pedestrianised areas are not mutually exclusive concepts. > The way to solve the issue of traffic is to remove cars from the road, not to transform your cities into places aimed specifically at cars. If you don't have well-designed roads, it is difficult to provide good pedestrianised areas, because you simply don't have space. The grid system devotes far more space to cars and pedestrian walkways by design, which enables you to have squares and pedestrian areas if you so wish. It's not about designing around the car, it's about having some idea of design, rather than assuming a laissez-faire approach is a good idea.