New Yorkers grow to like part-pedestrianisation of Times Square; “You can actually look up at the lights of the city without being hit by a car now”
October 7, 2013 Leave a comment
October 6, 2013 7:44 pm
New Yorkers grow to like part-pedestrianisation of Times Square
By Elaine Moore
When New York City announced plans topedestrianise parts of Times Square in 2009 the city’s residents were in uproar. Wouldn’t banning cars mean the end of the frenetic energy that gave Manhattan its edge? But in the four years since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the decision, New Yorkers have grown increasingly accustomed to taking over parts of Broadway, walking, biking and sitting in plazas across the traffic lanes. The changes have been hailed a success by business owners, residents and tourists. “You can actually look up at the lights of the city without being hit by a car now,” said one visitor.Many of the world’s largest cities are rethinking the way they use their streets as populations rise and space grows more constrained.
In 2012, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, won a battle to break up the motorway that runs along the bank of the Seine, starting with plans to reduce traffic on a 1km stretch of the right bank.
Sydney is spending more than $200m to transform one of its busiest roads, George Street, into a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard bisected by a light rail line.
The influential Danish architect Jan Gehl, who has been commissioned by many cities to rethink street design, said there is a worldwide trend to make cities safer and more pedestrian-friendly.
“The saturation of traffic in cities that happened at the end of the last century is tiring, polluting and stressful,” he said. “You need urban centres where people can walk, cycle, sit and meet.
“None of this would be happening if it was bad for business. The point is that if cities are nicer places to be then more people want to be there – the value of real estate goes up, employment rises and so does investment.”
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