Walkability and the public realm

Abstract

As the form of the city becomes denser, conflicts between pedestrians and motor vehicles become more common and severe. Throughout the urban area decks and bridges, tunnels and passages through buildings are being built by both public and private parties to overcome specific conflicts, and in districts like Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsuen Wan these have become extensive networks. But what happens to the public realm when pedestrians are separated from the ground? Hong Kong is a city constructed around its public transit system, and with some 12 million journeys everyday on trains, ferries, ferries, trams etc., accessing the system has become the primary driver in pedestrian movement in the city. New urban development is concentrated of around public transport interchanges. As the ‘Cities without ground’ book beautifully illustrates, pedestrian movement through the city is now happening on numerous levels. Further, the need to get to the central lift core for efficient vertical movement in modern high rise buildings, has changed the way we enter buildings. We are now more likely to enter a building in Central District from the basement level or from second or third floor, than from the ground. Buildings like the Lippo Centre or the Shun Tak Centre can be accessed at five or six different levels. This has fundamentally changed the relationship between the building and the street. Buildings no longer have front doors! The ground plane is losing its relevance as the principle datum by which we understand and navigate the city. While the labyrinth of pedestrian footbridges and tunnels make Hong Kong highly walkable, it can have distinct impacts on the nature of our public space, how we understand and use it. In this session I explore the nature of pedestrian movement on narrow elevated / subterranean routes, the possible consequences to public space, and activity in public space, of separating pedestrians from the ground, Linear. The physical shape of bridges and tunnels, and their limited structural capacity, significantly restricts the capacity for incorporating open space program, street furniture and greenery, and the uses that can be made of space. Bounded. Vertical separation reduces opportunities to get on / off the pedestrian network. Movement becomes uni-directional, the pedestrian space becomes disassociated from both the natural environment and the local community. In enclosing pedestrian routes (and internalizing them within buildings), we lose the sun and the sky, and our ability to see landmarks and skyline forcing us to navigate largely by signs. Stratified. Rapid pedestrian through-movement deters the occupation of space, and as can be seen at the Mid-levels Escalator on Cochrane Street, fast moving pedestrians (on the escalator) are effectively separated from occupiers (consigned to the street space, below). The traditional values and meanings of the street, not only as a thoroughfare but a recreational, social, transactional cultural space … become lost. As designers of the public realm, how can we address these phenomena, and turn them to advantage? Do we need more links in the network, Better connections to the existing public realm, more comprehensive network planning with open space and public functions programmed in, do we need design guidelines?