Delighted to have participated in the Spaces and Flows Conference in Chicago.  http://spacesandflows.com/2015-Conference

Presented paper: Walking the City: No More Motorways for Belfast, and was part of a very lively discussion about walk-ability, motorway development, street spaces, cycling and in general the use of streets as public spaces. Gracias Tomas Errazuriz, Milagros Zingoni y Giancarlo Carmelino por un par de dias fantasticos en Chicago.

Looking forward to the exhibition on Rosemary Street tomorrow for Culture night. Join us from 5pm to draw some maps and hear about our project!

The quote of the week. Jane Jacobs.1961

Today: a classic Jane Jacobs on sidewalks.

"Reformers have long observed city people loitering on busy corners, hanging around in candy stores and bars and drinking soda pops on stoops, and have passed a judgement, the gist of which is: 'This is deplorable! If these people had decent homes and a more private or bosky outdoor place, they would't be on the street!'
This judgement represents a profound misunderstanding of cities. It makes no sense than to drop in at a testimonial banquet in a hotel and conclude that if these people had wives who could cook, they would give their parties at home."

Jacobs, Jane, The death and life of American cities, The Modern Library, New York, 1993, 1961. p72

Jane Jacobs writes one of the most simple and straightforward comments on public space. Jacobs is famous for her analysis of cities and their economies, but more so for her rivalry with Robert Moses and her critique of his plans for New York. Her book has had repercussions in planning, architecture and education throughout the world, but has been ignored repeatedly by the practice of planning through the last five decades. The use of sidewalks is inherent to the street and varies through each city's cultural context, but the active use of the sidewalk is a pattern that appears throughout different cultures. An empty sidewalk normally equates with a city that is more dependent on the car, where functions are spread in different zones of the city. A sidewalk that is populated, whatever the activities are, corresponds with a city that caters for different functions at walkable distance, encouraging people to not only go from A to B but to also gather, meet and stay on the street.

NYC. Sweden. Traffic. Belfast should learn

More on road safety. New York City follows the Swedish example of aiming to zero deaths by traffic. Something to learn from Belfast?

Http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/nyregion/de-blasio-looks-toward-sweden-for-road-safety.html?hp&_r=2

Cars vs people. Finally Jacobs is being considered by the mainstream

For more than half a century now the car has reigned over the streets of cities, not allowing them to be public spaces. Slowly some examples appear of the demolition of motorways to replace them with pedestrian areas. This one in Seoul is one of them.
http://m.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2014/04/tearing-down-urban-highway-can-give-rise-whole-new-city/8924/

A matter of scale

How urban grids shape our everyday life. It is all about scale.
http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/12/what-your-street-grid-reveals-about-your-city/7746/

Mexico city claims rights for pedestrians

Alejandro Hernandez comments on the minority (car drivers) that occupy the majority of public space in Mexico City. New plans for prioritising the pedestrian.
http://www.arquine.com/blog/la-ciudad-tomada/

Boston Street installation

Can a single installation change the perception of a street? This piece of street are in Boston tells stories of the past in sound and image. How does this really affect the pedestrians experience? If the author is right, this piece not only brings attention to the installation but also to the already existing venues of the street.

http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N39/culturetap.html