THE HEART OF THE CITY was the motto for the eighth Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne - International Congress of Modern Architecture - that took place in Hoddesdon, England, in 1951. More recently, an International Architecture Conference on The Heart of the City was the opening event for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale (June-July 2007).
One of the main principles approved during that Congress, nearly 60 years ago, was that the city centre ought to be a place without traffic, where pedestrians can move freely and easily.
Two examples of pedestrianised streets in european capitals' city centre: London, England (on top) and Vienna, Austria.
During the 1950 decade, the centre of the American city Fort Worth (Texas) was renewed according to that principle, so that the traffic disappeared within an area of 256 hectares (about 640 acres!).
The result: new cultural and leisure attractions and a city centre bustling with life - the area of retail increased 300%, the one of offices 60% and the one of hotels 80%.
THERE ARE NO DOUBTS about the benefits for everybody of the pedestrian's city centres!
[Source: Eng. Ferreira do Nascimento, Planeamento e Circulação Urbanas, Urban Planning and Traffic, Lisbon 1961].
In spite of this, and still nowadays in Portugal, some retail managers keep on influencing local politicians as much as they can, to maintain the traffic just outside their doors, because (they say) that's what's good for business...
[Portuguese post on Feb 5th, 2008]
Category: THE CITY
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Dec. 2008: Images down to 20% of ORIGINAL SIZE (click to see). Comments closed.
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