explore your city’s potentials by Athanasia Panagiotidi
INTRODUCTION
This booklet contains information about the design process and solution provided for an urban regeneration project in a Calabrian coastal city. The booklet is also presenting an urban spectator’s (flâneur) re-imagining of the city. The flâneur is a figure constructed in the 19th century, who wanders and observes the public spaces of the emerging modern city (Benjamin, 1973). Within this regeneration project, the flâneur is defined as a cotemporary citizen that observes, explores, describes but also proposes and tries to understand and experience the city. The above elements can be traced within the context of the current project. You could be a flâneur. You could experience your city.
PLACE
The design process is conducted for the urban regeneration of Catanzaro Lido, a smallsized urban settlement situated in Southern Calabria, Italy.
PROJECT Main objective of the regeneration project is the development of a Sustainable Mobility System within Catanzaro Lido and the city’s connectivity within regional, national and international level.
The key elements used for the visualization of Catanzaro Lido were research, observation, analysis and conclusions. The problems identified within the area will eventually lead to the solution presented.
INTERVIEW
OBSERVATION
ANALYSIS
FINDINGS
Unexpectedly, older people in Catanzaro Lido are willing to move within the city by bicycle. Many elderly also use the public transportation, such as the bus or train, that inadequately serves the city. Catanzaro Lido has sustainable characteristics (promenade, cycle route, rail, access for disabled), but insufficient urban design. There is lack of basic street infrastructure (sidewalks, connections between transportation modes, lighting) and no space for interaction.
The main walking activity occurs along the seaside of the city, since there are not efficient open spaces, and the chaotic street layout is not attractive for pedestrians.
People use the car to commute or travel for leisure, as the land use design is not sustainable and encourages long distance trips.
Another reason for the extensive car use is the insufficiency of public transport infrastructure, which is characterized as ‘disorganized’ and ‘not functional’.
CURRENT MOBILITY NETWORK STRUCTURE
CONCLUSIONS & PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED 1. Catanzaro Lido is characterized by urban sprawl, a phenomenon that has created anarchy in the road network hierarchy.
The main arterial road of the area crosses the urban centre causing multiple traffic congestions. 2. One of the area’s main feature is the non-functional mobility routes (cycle routes, pedestrian paths) and public spaces.
3. The access to public transportation, such as rail and bus, is discouraged by the existing urban layout and land uses.
YOU CAN
IMAGINE THE CITY The following design solution aims in providing the reader and user, with the necessary knowledge and motivation in order to contribute in the transformation of their cities, as well as adopt a sustainable lifestyle in their every day activity. ‘The city is a discourse, and this discourse is actually a language; the city speaks to its inhabitants, we speak to our city, the city where we are, simply by inhabiting it, by traversing it, by looking at it.’ Roland Barthes Experience and live in your city by adopting a sustainable way of life.
1 ELIMINATE CAR USE WITHIN THE CENTRE
Catanzaro Lido’s urban historical centre is flooded by cars not only on peak hours but also during the entire day. This is due to the fact that the main arterial crosses the central area affecting in this way the balance between people and streets. The solution could be the development of a peripheral road in order to skew traffic volumes outside the residence areas. The peripheral road will be a redirection of Crotone Street.
2 CELEBRATE THE STREETS
Streets should first
c) configuration of
belong to people. In Catanzaro city there are no policies that encourage pedestrian activity or elimination of car use.
parking spaces on main traffic branches, in order to decrease traffic congestion and increase road capacity. In this case, the imposition of parking fees in on-street parking could also discourage residents to use their cars.
In order to achieve a better on street experience, the solution could be : a) the right sizing of the streets, (right sizing refers to the rellocation of a street’s space to better serve the users_ reorganization of traffic lanes, cyclist facilities, signing, etc b) traffic calming (by paving some street areas in order to give priority to pedestrians and cyclists , e.g. historical areas, port)
3 BE ALTERNATIVE USE YOUR BIKE
The city’s cycle route develops along the seaside, seperately from the rest mobility network, having no interconnections with the wider area. The creation of a 9 km integrated cycle path within the city (expanded also at the northern urban neighbourhoods), will provide easy and safe access to the multiple attraction poles of Catanzaro Lido.
Existing cycle route disconnections
3D View of the proposed connection at Corace river area
Proposed cycle route connection at Corace river area
USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FLOWS The use of public transportation is a way of eliminating car trips and encouraging other mobility options within the city.
The establishment of a circular bus route, that will work complementary with the local railway could function as an efficient way of moving around the urban area.
The combination of the specific mobility modes a) aims to serve the residents within and around the city b) provides immediate access to residence, recreation and commerce c) contributes to the elimination of CO2 emmisions
USE YOUR CURIOSITY
The morphology and the landscape of the area (sea, mountain, river) offers great opportunities for the revitalization of the local economy and tourism.
Through the implementation of walkable city routes people can have access to pathways and cycle ways along the river areas (Fiumarella and Corace river). Moreover, people of Catanzaro Lido can be guided from the urban scenery directly to the heart of nature and have the chance to explore the environment they live in.
The creation of a Walkable Urban Corridor (WUC) could link the potential pedestrian and green areas, the port, the urban forest ‘Pineta’, as well as provide access to the european cycling and footpath networks (EuroVelo, E7)