How to design a great street
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2020
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This video is based primarily on the fantastic book "Great Streets" by Allan Jacobs. I highly recommend picking up a copy. Here's a link (not affiliate): www.amazon.com/Great-Streets-...
Produced by Dave Amos in sunny Sacramento, California.
Edited by Eric Schneider in cloudy Cleveland, Ohio.
Sorry about any incorrect footage. Sometimes the stock footage I use is mislabeled. And sadly I haven't been to every street shown. Someday (after this virus) I will get there!
I can tell you that at 1:46 that's the Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam. Not Denmark.
It indeed is the Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam
At 1.38 : Champs-Elysées. ME : Hell no that's Rue Soufflot, with Sorbonne 1 Law departement building on the right and at the end of the street, the Senat :D ...Nice try sir ;)
You should check out Copenhagen, most def.
Where is the street from the thumbnail? I'm not sure where we see it again in the body of the video, and it does look lovely!
Interesting video, thanks!
I think you forgot good drainage, well-compacted subgrade, and properly-spaced contraction joints... ;) Kidding of course. Great video as always!
This wasn't a crossover I expected.
All relevant concerns! it's always interesting (and often frustrating) how urban design, politics, and engineering specifications interact.
@@syed2194 but it's the crossover we deserve
My two favorite youtubers in one place!!!
I go to the biggest transportation conference in the US and it's like 80% engineers like you talking about asphalt mixes and subgrades. :D
Don't feel too bad about getting the streets wrong. I physically went to Copenhagen and planned to film the Strøget, and it wasn't until I got home that I realized I filmed a different pedestrian street! So all that work and I still had to show a photo from of Wikipedia! 😆
Much easier where I live where you're lucky if your city has one nice pedestrian-friendly street, let alone multiple 🙃
"More doors means better streets"
**builds a street of just doors**
visits door aisle at Home Depot
"ah, the perfect street"
There is a scene in Monsters Inc with thousands of doors- perfection!
Yes!
You’d run into the blank wall problem
@@anarcoyote1207 Monsters, Inc.
Also
Mixed use neighborhoods create longer time period of use for walking.
Streets with independent businesses are more interesting than those loaded with monopoly chains.
Public benches, drinking fountains, trash cans, regular maintenance all help.
Majoofi I’ve never read a more true comment on CZcams!!! Big boxes are characterless.
I guess you are looking from auto oriented American perspective. But often streets can also feel crowded due to high number of people, sometimes you want a bit more simple, relaxing and less active environment. If there are too many shops, restaurant and bright windows it can be overwhelming and exhausting.
Oh yes drinking fountains are great. So convenient.
@@ligametis I'd say this needs to be thought about through a case by case approach. Here in the Netherlands the government advisors have proposed a strategy called "metro mix" where specific frameworks based on mix of functions, accessibility and density are formulated. I have personally found it a very helpful tool to create an urban development strategy, considering the performance of an area rather than function based zoning. It is however not yet policy as we too still have to deal with rigid planning.
Labas Labas
Most of the big box stores around my area tend to be pretty busy, so that supposed advantage of suburban retail is not true for me, and certainly not true for everyone in American suburbia. I suppose that’s influenced my preference for pedestrian-oriented retail, since even though they’re often busy, at least one doesn’t have to walk across a parking lot and risk getting hit by or backed into by a car.
The building height : street width ratio explains why old European towns are so nice to be in, the narrow streets make you feel very secure and the character of the buildings is special too.
Hausmann decreed that buildings should be 6 stories high as this allows light to get to street level without the streets being too wide.
He did also design the avenues so that a troop of mounted cavalry could line up across the avenue and charge protestors!
I do wonder why Europe is so singled out but I think it's because industrialization happened there first and so happened more organically.
This video perfectly outlines my negative experience with American cities. (With the exception of Boston.)
Having lived in London and Istanbul prior to my relocation to the US, I used to be somebody who was almost claustrophobic and always wanted to spend time wandering around streets (shopping, dining, people watching etc.) as a leisure activity. Whereas here in Washington DC, even though it’s a walkable city, there’s something I find very disturbing and I never truly understood what it is. Even though the architecture is overall superb and greenery is just amazing, there is something about US cities that makes me not want to spend time outdoors. I have certain problem with ridiculously large and noisy vehicles which would never be allowed in European cities that’s for sure, but more importantly, I think that tens of highway size roads cutting through neighbourhoods and forming a square grid is my ultimate problem. I find it eerie and dystopian. It makes me feel like I live on a giant excel spreadsheet and makes me disoriented. Whereas I need to live in a city that has a historic downtown with narrow streets paved with cobblestones, lined with boutiques, bars, bakeries, cafes and bookstores.
D.C. is one of the few cities in N. America designed by an architect (Pierre Charles L'Enfant) from the get-go. He deliberately put down a grid, then added radial streets.
Ryan C : Thank you. People like what they are used to, I guess. But I think that the “great street” as defined in this video is a basic human need. As humans we have a deep urge to go out anytime and allow some human cohesion so that we can see that we are actually a part of a community. Accessing that (without having to purchase a ticket) is highly liberating, leveling and empowering. In my opinion lack of that structure in America explains people's high enthusiasm for Disneyland (which Europeans don’t really understand) or sports games as family entertainment. - Both are great things of course, but they are commodities. They don’t welcome you if you can’t afford a ticket.
As you mentioned, people like what they're used to. I think cities that were developed later here in the U.S. (such as those in the West coast) were meant to be easier for transportation so there are wider roads and less cobble stone streets (for vehicles and in the past, even horses) apart from some cobble stone streets in NYC. It's most likely why a city like Chicago feels like it has wider streets than Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia while a city like Los Angeles feels even more wider than Chicago. The grid is easier to navigate through also for tourists. I think older cities like London and Istanbul may have had a chance to grow and develop in a more natural sense so urban planning makes for more curved and narrow streets.
You would love Boston. Boston is so different. Unfortunately, the parts you would like best are very expensive (Beacon Hill is like this, but that has been the poshest and most expensive part of Boston for decades). There are other really pretty streets in the US, too. They are all incredibly expensive, which makes one wonder why luxury real estate developers don't try to replicate it to make killer profits.
Grids go hard bro ngl idk what u on
"I'm gonna call out the Champs-Élysées for its lack of a canopy."
*Stares at Regent Street with its lack of trees*
Good call.
Imo Regent's Street would lose its sense of the sublime and grandiose if trees protected and cushioned-in the pedestrians. I don't know if you've ever been but at night, in the wintertime especially, it owes a lot of its magic to how large and imposing it is and it almost acts as a symbol for the vastness and ineffability of London as a whole. Sorry if that came off a bit pretentious.
Edit: In attempting to look up what Regent Street might look like had it been lined with trees, I've found out that the original architect incorporated a lack of trees deliberately so as to not steal attention from the buildings.
Lol... no need for shade if it's never sunny
@@BolanleJenny You've obviously never been to London.
@@desapole As a Londoner of course I love Regent St. but feel it would be even better with a variety of small trees. Not the large shade type that would obscure the magnificent architecture but something that would bring a green feel.
I really like europe-related content because this channel is really focused on US cities and this is kinda refreshing
Europe has far better cities, I wish ours in America weren't so bland
@@komrander7497 it’s also crucial to our massive economic growth after WW2. Also we have so much land and not a lot of density. People hate “urban sprawl” but it’s really not a big deal.
"There is nothing good about American cities all of them are bad"
@@stoplightgaming2302 what about New York, Boston, or heck even Savannah
@@raaaaaaaaaam496 My comment was a joke, bit they are all good cities
You know what I also like? Different colored pavements. Even if it’s just on the roads it gives the streets some more character
They are really ugly in the winter , we have them in oradea and they are disgusting
I wish you could have just wider sidewalks in Cities: Skylines. Like damn they're sooo narrow compared to the carriageway!
Thankfully there's some good mods for that
you can build pedestrian passageways right next to sidewalks if there's freespace and it will blend in, making it much bigger. takes a lot of space tho
Honestly we need a sequel with focus on lanes instead of roads. Then we could customize how big sidewalks are and make better merging and splitting streets.
@@elysian2765 Yeah, but how do you zone buildings then?
And mixed zoning, which is something almost all of these streets use: residents in top of a small store
There has recently been some major moves towards walkability in San Francisco too! Market Street, which is a famous avenue that cuts diagonally through the grid, now restricts private car access to much of its length. Now it has become much easier for pedestrians to navigate and, on top of that, it allows for the roadways to be used primarily by its public transportation, increasing its speed and frequency significantly! Hopefully, better and more walkable street start making that comeback in American cities that so many residence need!
Ive done an essay about walkability, its so fascinating1
Yeah but in SF you have to dodge the homeless, the druggies shooting up, the criminals, and all of them urinating and deficating on the sidewalks and in the streets.
I died a little inside when you used a McDonald's to illustrate great facade articulation on Les Champs Elysée.
The footage of Copenhagen (1:46) is actually of Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam. A great street as well though and a great show in general!
Thanks for verifying, also wondered why Copenhagen looked so Dutch all of a sudden
Is it a great street though? Nothing but tourist shops and chains, except for the one famous ice cream shop
Also, "Lunchcafé Blom" doesn't sound very Danish at all.
The clip at the beginning from Stroget is definitely not in Copenhagen. That's the Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam
52.3763259, 4.8960195
Being from Copenhagen, yes, that's definitely not Copenhagen.
@@iDenmark I was like, Denmark really does look
like the Netherlands
Please contact The City of Charlotte, NC they really need your help on how to build a city. They only know how to build a car driven city.
That's everywhere outside of the North East
I really hate it.
I really like to walk on a street when I am travelling in Europe. I prefer walking around in the city center rather than taking public transit to my destination. The streets are full of activities and interesting things to see. Elements like water and trees make the street environment better. It would also be great if you have somewhere to sit and rest. Personally I think Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Dusseldorf in Germany are great place to walk. I spent most of my time walking on street there.
Yes as a local we do it too. Like we meet up with friends and just walk through the city for hours you always find new beautiful corners and buildings and small streets. It rly is beautiful :)
I agree. Amsterdam is a fabulous place to visit, one of my favorites in the world.
I have a Bachelor's of Architecture and several go of friends of mine received a Master's of Urban Infrastructure and you basically just summarized (well) the jist of their master's degree Infrastructure and many aspects of my undergraduate degree. You're a really great communicator. ✨🎉🥂
Fantastic video! Thank you for such attention to detail :) Subscribed.
Wow surprised and amazed to see you here peter !!
You’re such an open minded and cultivated perso, I live it ☺️😁
Love *
I think an interesting case study for an American to examine would be Shop Street in Galway, Ireland. Despite being a micro-city, it suffers from car congestion, with the exception of the much-loved Shop Street, which is pedestrianised, but surrounded on all sides by old, narrow, car-centric roads, creating an interesting atmosphere around the area and in the city as a whole.
Are you a fellow Galwegian?
Look up Chester in England. They have things called 'The Rows' which are like Bologna's pavements but elevated and Tudor feeling.
Isaac Wild I was looking out for this. I used to live there and it’s a beautiful small city. The Rows give it so much character although they’re not as disabled friendly as Bologna.
The trees on Champs-Elysées are trimmed according to French formal garden design, its their culture.
Sure that’s true it’s more of a recommendation.
Trees if they grow provide a nice bit of shade during summer it feels also a bit more natural
The culture of French aristocrats was never been known for its practicality.
@@TheSpecialJ11 how so ?
@@pierren___ inventing lawns is enough of a reason to be beheaded.
@@TessHKM 😬
Another point to be considered could be the allocation of road width to different user groups. I have noticed the proportion for cycle track/sidewalk width in a typical European street is as much as for cars -- also that's generally what they suggest in "Complete Streets" designs too.
I think this is why I love NYC so much--there are hundreds, if not thousands, of "great streets" in this city--human-sized and geared toward pedestrians. I'm always so delighted to find a new "great street" whenever I wander away from my usual haunts. This city is ENORMOUS, so I'll keep discovering these streets til I die or I'm unable to walk, I'm pretty sure. Added bonus, COVID restrictions in NYC with regards to indoor dining has forced all these restaurants out into parts of streets that used to be for parking. Now there's so much wonderful alfresco dining that it reminds me of Rome. I hope they keep this post-COVID--it adds such wonderful vibrancy to already vibrant NYC streets.
I live about 25 miles from Bologna and I can tell you that walking under the porticos of Bologna is always in pleasure in any weather.
I love your videos. So informative. As an architecture student wanting to pursue urban design, I love learning from you!
Hey, good luck in architecture school. I was once in your shoes!
I show this channel to people all the time and they think I’m weird for liking it. What do they know. Best channel on CZcams.
I would like to see a series in this channel worst in the world. Who has the ugliest buildings, worst infrastructure, worst streets, worst transportation etc
that'd be such a boring video because the answer to all those questions would just be the USA
USA doesn't have the worst infrastructure, be we have horribly designed cities. The western part of the us was mostly settled and designed after the invention of the car. Not much of the western us is walkable
Yes, this!
We would see destroyed cities in Afghanistan and central Africa
@@kobe15 very true! The older cities like Boston and Chicago especially and New Orleans to an extent have life and character to them and they're beautiful places. Then you go somewhere like Houston and everything is so spread out, it's just impossible! And public transport is almost always a write off.
Ah I love these videos! Thanks so much for making them. One of my favorite writers on great streets has to be Jane Jacobs and it’s cool to see the overlap between her thoughts and the ideas here. I guess I have another book on my urban reading list!
1:51 „Room for activities.“ Loved it! 😄
You should consider making more videos dedicated to specific cities or regions that offer some significant or interesting aspects of city planning, i would love to see that. For example going in depth with the canals of Venice, the bicycle infrastructure of the Netherlands or the concrete jungle of New York. I loved what you did with Vancouver for instance
As a landscape architecture and spatial planning student this video was quite inspiring to me. Thanks for sharing👍
Coming from Bologna myself, I really appreciated this video. Glad you like the city!
can you do a video on the city planning in the Soviet Union
Sci Fience I think google street view of Moscow/Tallinn/Warsaw/Prague suburbs would give you a good idea.
Simple, an old city center with a forest of concrete towers and big boulevards radiating out of it according to my observations
My father used to live in Praga2 district of Warsaw when he was a kid, he told me that the buildings where 7 stories tall, shaped like a L or C, with in the center very big parks with playgrounds, it was perfect to facilitate the creation of communities. All these internal parks were public and interconnected by walking paths, the streets were far away, on the other side of the blocks. The school and other amenities were on walking distance directly accessible from those parks. In these super-condos of course you didn't own the apartment, but the heating was centralized. My dad made all his first friends in a place like this. A lot of nature, pedestrian friendly, community-based, accessible... I think they weren't that bad those soviet townships 😉
@@mirkoIncertiFornaciari I lived in Gdansk as a kid in one of those planned neighborhoods. A bit more "modern" as it was built in the 80s but I know what he is saying.
One thing I like about the PRL days is that everything seemed to have been mapped out far in advance. In Gdansk they are still following the old LRT plans laid out in the 80s.
@@glebsokolov9959 so would looking at euro and American cities on Google maps for this video, but we opted to watch the video. 😙
Another great video! What I really like about your videos is, that you consider the social quality of urban environment
Really love your videos! I grew up in Paris and was a tour guide there. Also studied Urban Planning. I would love to tour you around the city and show you in person all the neat things you can find on a historical and urban planning level.
Thanks for this type of content!
Bologna is one of the coolest and interesting cities I’ve ever been in because of their covered sidewalks.
Good video and content, keep up the good work
I LOVE studying street. I would love it if you would make more of these. Thanks
Amazing videos on this channel. Well explained and interesting!
Excellent content and editing! Very educational.
Very interesting. I've always tried to figure out why I enjoy walking down a particular street, now I understand why.
Great video Dave! Greetings from Bologna, I didn't expect you would talk about my city 😊
Have a nice day 💕
I like watching these kinds of videos because its pleasing
Would it be possible to see a video on the effects of novel modes of transportation on city transport, such as electric scooters?
I hate those with passion. I would feel better even if they used cars.
@@ligametis any particular reason?
Those are awesome! Here in my city in Finland they also have replacable batteries, and every time a user replaces a battery at a change station they get one free ride-start and 10 minutes of free riding. Do that enough and you have free use of them everywhere. On top of being quite handy for small trips they are fun as heck :D
Another interesting video. You nicely articulate the importance of horizontal height ratio, windows (but not too many) and doors.
This subject was my thesis. Naturally, I love it.
The shot of the 'Champs-Élysées' at 0:26 is Avenue de la Grande Armée
Another great video! i love a good street scape. So, I listened to this podcast about how Oakland, not too far from you, is making a good portion of their streets pedestrian only for the duration of the pandemic lockdown. It would be great to hear a City Beautiful take on this and what research is going into how this might be implemented to future city planning.
Glad to see a clip at 4:45 of South Bridge in Edinburgh! An amazing street, it goes all the way from North Bridge out to the countryside and changes names several times on the way down, and it changes feel as you go down different sections. Hits the Royal Mile at right angles too, itself one of Scotland's best streets though let down by planning (it isn't even consistently pedestrianised) - that also changes name several times!
Great video. Well explained and informative. Thanks :D
Just found your channel and Im alread in love with it. Thank you
Excellent video , and I agree with all you have said.....
I love this channel. I just signed up for Curiosity Stream and Nebula. thank you for the discount!
Welcome aboard!
This needs a part two.
As an European urban designer myself, I have long looked forward to a video about this. Maybe the work of Jan Gehl would be interesting for you. I would like to add that the perception of the enclosure ratio strongly depends on the local climate and the distance from the equator. In Rome a narrow street with tall buildings may work, but in Northern Europe this would create a canyon of perpetual darkness, as the sunlight would never reach the street. In situations like in Masdar or the Arabian kashbas, this might be done intentionally to reduce the heat accumulation. Feel free to hit me up. I love chatting about this.
You have shown footage of my beautiful neighborhood in Rome! Trastevere 😍
A good street is essentially an outdoor room with four "walls". The sides are easy enough to figure out. But the end of street needs what's called a "terminating vista", which is a place of public importance or beauty like a town hall, a church, or a statue.
Everytime I go to Mexico City, I looove walking through Paseo de la Reforma, surrounded by skyscrapers, local and international businesses, but the most important thing, trees, lots of trees.
Straße des 17. Juni in Tiergarten, Berlin, need I say more?
A quaint but bold boulevard, 6 lanes for cars, trees lining the sidewalks creating shade, cutting through a massive urban park, with the Victory Column and Brandenburg Gate, two icons of the city, visible straight ahead.
Can't believe it didn't make it into the video.
Nah, I have to somewhat disagree! While it's not a bad street, especially with the iconic landmarks at each end, it simply lacks the necessary livelyhood and enclosure a truly great street needs.
Noone just walks along Straße des 17. Juni, because if you want to get from the Gate to the Column or the other way around, you will simply walk through the way more pleasant pathways of the Tiergarten park.
The reason for that is of course the simple fact that Albert Speer designed the street not for pedestrians, but for military parades.
So refreshing to find a professional that's passionate about their industry.
This is great! It has given me a way to understand why I instinctively love the neighborhoods I love and hate the neighborhoods I can't stand.
Love all the Content. Keep Up The Good Work. An idea for a video could be Rural Transit, especially in places like the Rocky Mountains
I’m from Vienna and the ring as we call it is really a great place to walk. You can walk around the city center in about an hour and you finish where you started. It has enough shops, hotels, parks and connections to other places to be interesting and not boring, but it is also not too congested so that walking becomes a pain in the ass. It has enough trees to provide shade and the feeling that you are a little bit surrounded by nature. It has enough space for pedestrians to be quite a bit away from the cars, so you don’t feel like walking on a freeway. But not just that, it’s an awesome street to drive at, which means that the government will probably try to change this soon and turn it into a mess
I, for one, would love a part 2 video!
So much room for activities
I'm always happy to see my home town used as an example, even if it is an example of what not to do.
Hope you showed street examples from Asia as well, since Urban design in Asia is starting to adapt, like at Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, or my city Jakarta
Great video btw, didn't realize good pedestrian streets have these criterias
This was a video on Europe, but I should do a similar one about Asia.
@@CityBeautiful well sorry for that
I realized you said it in the video, but for me, it seems that Asia is kinda underrated, so it'd be very appreciated if you do cover it next time
Cool topic
I wish more people know about this, so we can ask for what we need
I find that with the addition of skyways has the effect of an artificial limit on the ratio of streets to building hight
I think that accessibility is really important topic of how to build a really great street. The street should be there for everyone, including people with various types of disabilities. You can definitely check the "universal design" thing and how it should affect the street design
Your contents are beyond amazing! I am PhD student in virology and since my undergrad years, I've been wanting to integrate urban planning into public health. Unfortunately, I have not gone pursuing that track (yet). I was wondering whether you have some content on how urban planning shaped societies in times of a health crisis (e.g. previous pandemics such as the black death)?
Thank you. I really didn't want to reread that book. This is a lovely summery.
Hey, I want to know more about pedestrian crossings! When are they improving safety, when are they not? How are good ones designed? Do you even need them?
Compared to Paris, we have a much taller triumphal arch. The second tallest in the world
Glad you are feeling better!
Is this for real?
@@mountainous_port Yes. Now bend over for the great leader!
@@0_________________ hes just a fat person defeated by cholesterol.
The triumphal arch in Pyongyang is only 9 metres longer than in Paris, the one in Paris is more beautiful and was built in 1836, so its value is considerable ! All you did was copy :)
Great, memories from Brazil.
What a timing. Just a few weeks ago my favorite channel about architecture (architecture is a good idea) in my native language (polish) made a video about the same topic. 😁
You are amazing, thank you
Great video 👌🏼
Great video. I recently signed up for CS and Nebula. Delighted with the content. Please recommend more 'planning' related CS & Nebula videos
I'm curious your thoughts on the malls like the Taipei City Mall in Taipei or the Joifen markets in Keelung, Tainwan. The first is a modern outdoor mall with almost no car traffic and lots of shelter. Seems like a pretty ideal street according to your standards. The second is an old coal mining village turned mall with incredibly narrow streets that wind up and down across the mountains. Its a popular tourist spot but perhaps its too narrow?
Yes! And the city malls tend to be multi-level as well. Something I hadn't seen before to that extent before visiting Taipei.
I think that the culture involved plays a big part. So in Hong Kong a shopping mall is almost a cultural experience, but in Taiwan it's just a shopping mall.
Great Video!
hi, i really love the content and love your channel! there were a few errors in the video footage tho, the street shown as stroget is kalverstraat in amsterdam, and some of the champs elysees footage was other streets in paris.
You're right, at 1:35 it's actually rue Soufflot in the oldest neighborhood of Paris not the Champs-Elysées
As an illustrator, this is very interesting to know! Thanks a lot!
2:13 that is not the ringstraße but the zweierlinie wich is on street further out.
I just wanted to say that, this is the MQ-area, actually one of the worst examples of dividing up street-space (with what is possible) efficiently.
The single, one-directional bike lanes on both sides for example are an absolute disaster.
@ Thanks Ryan, yeah, it ain't good but we Austrians do love to complain about stuff that is fine in most peoples eyes. I can't speak for Texas (only was at Fort Worth airport for a layover) but the U.S. in general seems to be a bad place as long as you don't own a car or you are a car.
I love your videos. Please keep going :)
I would definitely add to the list "Corso Vittorio Emanuele II", in Milan, Italy. Or via Dante, in that same city.
Great video
I really liked it :)
I actually stumbled into Stroget years ago. It was great place to walk through.
I like your video so much and I hope you can make videos more often .
I love the new digital crosswalks that lights up! Omg thats so Cool ! 😼😼😼💋
Would love to see part two! Even though I have Alan Jacob's Great Streets book it is always nice to see what other planners have to say. I would also like to see which streetsbin the US you would call a great street.
Haip!
You should make a video about bern, the capital of Switzerland. Bern also has those arches on the sidewalks like bologna, and is very pedestrian and bike friendly
that clip at 4:53 where shows at street in Edinburgh UK, when a bus ticket costed 1,50.. now it's 1,80 , so heartbreaking
Have you done a Part II? I would love to see it!
I’ll be keeping all of this in mind when I build my next city
Your last point is great! The is a video by "The School of Life" called 'How to Make an Attractive City' which explains this very good!
Excellent content! Really enjoyed your videos.
A brief suggestion though. It would be great if you could number each point you make and display a transitional slide (say for about 3 sec) at the beginning of each section. For instance,
1. Pedestrian Space
2. Climate & Comfort
3. Enclosure
...
I believe in this way your presentation would be clearer and more structured! Just a personal preference lol.
Having grown up on the edge of Chicago suburbs it’s affirming to acknowledge how uncomfortably open those streets are setup. It was also interesting to hear the ratio of building height to street width as someone who lived in Hong Kong for a while where most everywhere that ratio is way off in the other direction to the point where you could go for days only seeing a sliver of the sky; still think it’s the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen but I can see how that ratio clarifies some of the day to day mental challenges that come from seeing so little of the sky. The overarching building coverage is an interesting use of space especially in warmer sunnier climates like Spain, it reminds me of walkways in Macau and some of Guandong province in general-which brings me to my request that you’d consider making a video at some point on the uniquenesses of Macau and maybe the urban spaces of Guandong province in general at some point.
I was thinking about some of this the other day, I was in town and visiting the shopping centre, which is lovely and busy and full of people but not to the point of being uncomfortable, but then I had to go onto the old high street to visit one of the few businesses actually on there, and then when I realised that even though the government had tried to pedestrianise it and revive the dying businesses on it, it definitely isn’t a great street.
There’s pretty wide pavement on one side at least, and a large paved area and normal width pavement in the other for 2/3rds of it, and there’s trees and grass and stuff in the middle, but it fails as a great street because there’s fences and walls around the trees and grass and few good crossing areas, if you want to go from one side to the other you need to jaywalk over the still existing road area then walk up a cobbled bike path that takes a weird curvy route through the fenced off area in the middle, either that or walk all the way to the either end of the high street and go through a 2 phase traffic light crossing to get to the other side. There’s also no seating where you actually want it, the only seats are in the paved areas with no trees or grass so you can’t really enjoy it.
It’s pretty crazy how easy it is to screw up a street even while trying to improve things, I think if they’d removed the fences or added more crossings, and added small areas of grass and trees elsewhere in the street, then it would be a lot better and would get more visitors. As it is, there’s mostly only cheap restaurants and pubs on the street, and it needs reviving. All they’ve really done is removed cars from using the street and added some seats. I think I’d also remove the car road entirely, at the moment there is still a section where they can drive in (mainly intended for loading and stuff like that but people don’t just use it for that), I’d keep the loading bays as they need to be in the high street as there’s no space behind the medieval buildings that can’t be moved, but I’d raise up the road area so it’s level with the pavement but just make it out of a different colour brick so cars know where to drive.