Copenhagen : Public space as a network

København | Copenhagen Public space as a network

European/Contemporary/Urban Public Spaces _fall 2014 Sam Fox School | Washington University in St Louis

Instructor Elena Cánovas Students Sminu Sudhakaran, Kayle Langford, Josey Shaw,

Copenhagen Biking the city

Image from “How to Study Public Life” by Jan Gehl . Island Press. 2013.

Data

Image from wnyc.org

Budget Area Designer | Developer

15 - 20 million per year | 20-25% of road budget 412 km (256 mi) in Copenhagen Government of Denmark

Climate

Oceanic climate zone

Visitors

Millions of tourists per year

Land Ownership Hours of Operation Permanance Program

Government of Denmark - Public 24 / 7 / 365 Permanent and expanding Circulation

Fabric Conditions

Image from streetsblog.org

Image from denmark-gateway.dk

Image composite from google maps, information re-drawn from copenhagen.dk

Rating

Overall summary

3.78 / 5

Rating by Category Vegetation

2.25 / 5

Circulation

5/5

Human scale

4.08 / 5

Access

4.67 / 5

Materiality

2.75 / 5

Edges

3.33 / 5

Flexibility

3.25 / 5

Permeability

3.83 / 5

Connectivity

4.83 / 5

rating by 16 graduate students who attended the course

Conclusions Public Space as a Network Public spaces do not always have to be thought of as a typical plaza or courtyard, but can also be classified as a network or system that is an integral part of everyday life. In this book, we have selected a system established in Copenhagen, Denmark that we believe meets several criteria of what constitutes public space. As indicated by the rating system, this network may not be as highly lush with vegestation and material variance, but this system of public spaces is highly integrated into the city of Copenhagen. The cycling network provides an experience of the city at a human scale and the opportunity for social interactions along the way.

People of Copenhagen and visitors alike use cycling to commute, to tour and to exercise. Bicyling in Copenhagen connects an individual with thousands of other cyclists as well as a cultural movement that has impacted the design of public spaces at different scales. Cycling in Copenhagen is a physically and socially healthy movement and strengthens the city collectively.

Image from paulmullins.wordpress.com

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Table of Contents 1. Copenhagen a. City History b. Studies on Public Space c. Urban Chances d. Paths e. Design f. Projections

2. St. Louis a. City History b. Bicycling in St. Louis c. Street Chances d. Parking Lot Chances e. Urban Chances f. Futures

Biking as public space urban fabric and growth culture of Copenhagen public space as network typologies of bicycle paths micro to macro influence of bicycle culture

Untapped Potential urban fabric and growth current bicycle routes street sections reclaiming space privilege the bicycle learning from Copenhagen

Through our investigation of Copenhagen, we concluded that the public space of Copenhagen exists as a network, rather than a series of nodes within the city.

High design and Copenhagen are almost synonymous. The city places emphasis on good design of its urban spaces, whether that be its parks and plazas, or in this case, one of the more famous and popular transit systems; that of the bicycle.

From our studies on the bicycle routes of Copenhagen as a very vibrant social and public space, we brought some of those design ideas to St. Louis. Through an inventory of current street sections, parking lots, and bike routes, we created proposals for bettering the public life of the streets of St. Louis. We hope that design can help stitch the fragmented, multi-centered city of St. Louis together. We realize that design only goes so far in shifting a public perspective. To this end, we do note that a public perceptual shift would have to occur. St. Louis, a very car centered city, would have to begin opening opportunities to sustainable and public transit options.

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1535

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Section 1A

In 1535, the city was surrounded by thick military walls, with a moat beyond and three city bridges.

King Christian IV made citywide interventions in 1650 to expand beyond the original walls. The framework for this plan was completed by 1750, with two new bridges and repairs to the wall. In 1795, there was a big fire which allowed some city fabric alterations to be made. By 1850, the city began to open up with the creation of public squares. The two plans for 1865 begin to show a force which would drive public space making in Copenhagen for a long time to come; water and open space. By tearing down the old city walls, Copenhagen gained access to a canal (the former moat) and developed as a waterfront city.

The city’s development from this point onward was interspersed with green space and plazas for the public. It was not until much later that people began to reclaim the streets of Copenhagen, but this planning shows the beginning of a mental shift in the population by those who wished to fight for the pubic space.

Images from travel book.

Cities: Paris 2012, Knowlton School of Architecture

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1950 - 1955

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1955 - 1975

Section 1A

City planning based on carriage traffic Pedesrianized in the 1980’s Image from denmark-gateway.dk

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City planning based on car traffic + highways Now accessible by bike highway Image from Google streetview

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Section 1A

City planning based on all traffic Equalizing pedestiran, bike, car and bus Image from streetsblog.org

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Paired images from left to right: Amagertorv, Copenhagen 1953 Amagertorv, Copenhagen 3013 Nyhavn, Copenhagen, 1979 Nyhavn, Copenhagen, 2007 Gammeltorv, Copenhagen 1954 Gammeltorv, Copenhagen 2008 Images from ‘How to Study Public Life’ Jan Gehl

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Section 1A

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In ‘How to Study Public Life, Jan Gehl makes many studies on how the people of Copenhagen use public space. He looks at the life of the street, the plaza, and the interactions between people. He also correlates statistical data from Copenhagen to recognize trends, specukating that theese negative health and lifestyle perceptions may be able to be turned around. The book served as a wake up call to European cities to begin to make drastic changes in not only the built environment, but in lifestyle choices as well.

This section: all images from ‘ How to Study Public Life’ Jan Gehl

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Section 1B

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Section 1B

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Section 1B Statistical data on the rise of the car in Denmark, and how that data correlates with housing stock. More people own cars, live in much larger homes with smaller family sizes. This chart sums up the suburban or horizontal growth trend we still see today around the world, along with the main influences of why this development trend is so popular.

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Section 1B The correlation between these two sets of data is lifestyle. Starting in 1920, cases of infectious diseases decreased rapidly while lifestyle diseases increased rapidly. Cases of cardiac disease and cancer have seen almost exponential growth since 1970. All this time, Danes have been working less hours per week and taking more vacation time off work.

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Section 1B “The city later became known internationally for its many bicycle commuters. In 2010, almost four out of ten commuters biked daily to work or school, a far cry from the numbers in the 1970’s and 80’s. The high percentage of bicycle commuters is due to public pressure followed by major municipal campaigns and investments in a cohesive bicycle infrastructure.”

Many Danes became informed of lifestyle and environmental issues through mass media outlets and publications. This led to many outpourings from citizens for change. One of which was this 1981 bicycle demonstration in Copenhagen.

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Images: composite drawing over Google satellite image. Cycling data from copenhagen.dk

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Section 1C

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Images: composite drawing over Google street view images

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Section 1C

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site A

site A plaza study

Images: composite drawing over Google satellite, street view images

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Section 1C

plaza stork fountain bike parking small trees patio and seating for restaurant

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Images: composite drawing over Google satellite image. Cycling data from copenhagen.dk

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Section 1C

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Images: composite drawing over Google street view images

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Section 1C

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Image: composite drawing over Google satellite image. Cycling data from copenhagen.dk

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Section 1D This section explores the various cycling paths throughout Copenhagen. Path types range from on-street biking to bike trails to bike bridges over the canals to bike superhighways. Copenhagen is the leader in meeting the challenges of bicycling in urban areas. The popularity of bicycling has changed the urban fabric of Copenhagen, making the city less heavy with car traffic, reducing pollution, and making the urban core much more urban in the sense that it caters to public transit, bicycles, and pedestrians. There is much to learn from the transformations the city has made.

Image: sustainableamerica.org denmark.dk cycling-embassy.dk

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Intersection Typologies Type A A blue marked crossing is most effective for safe crossing of bikes and cars. Separate lights are given to bicycles, with the cycle light turning green six seconds before the car light. This also places a priority on cyclists. A less expensive alternative is to have the cars stop 5m back from the cyclists to give them a head start. The main goal is to give cyclists a presence and channelize their movement with other traffic flows.

Images for cycle path typologies: Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City

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Section 1D

Type B Intersections with high volumes of traffic are best suited for painted crossings for cyclists. They are also well suited to wide crossings and major intersections.

In areas with low volumes of turning traffic, or on straightaways, it is ideal to use a track with an advanced stop to stagger car and cycle traffic. In this case, cyclists get a head start to pick up speed and are much more visible to automobile drivers.

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Type C This track comprises a narrow painted lane up to the intersection and an andvanced bicycle light.

These narrow lanes reduce the number of cyclists who merge with car traffic in order to maximize efficiency of intersections for all modes of transit: pedestrain, cyclist, car and bus at all junctions.

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Section 1D

Type D These paths are used at intersections with high volumes of right and left turning traffic. They consist of a truncated track with a painted lane and crossing to bring awareness to the cyclist and car drivers. This type of lane has been proven to prevent accidents with fewer motorists turning in front of cyclists moving straight. It also allows for a bicycle waiting area.

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Type E In this case, the cycle track goes to the intersection with no advanced stop, cycle light, or marked crossing.

This situation is best in very lowvolume traffic or where no right turns are allowed. Conditions should be such that traffic is moving at a slow speed so both drivers and cyclists feel at ease with each other.

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Section 1D

Type F This typology is a truncated lane with a narrow lane designation to the intersection. The painted line is a spatial signifier for both cyclists and drivers and allows them to know they will not have to merge at the intersection. This type of track is at grade with the road, so traffic should be low volume and slow moving.

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Type G This typology is called a slip lane, which allows bicycles to merge with traffic to go straight before the intersection.

In this case, markings and proper dimensioning of lanes are key. This design benefits bikers in two ways: allowing them to flow with traffic to go straight, and making cyclists more visible to motorists turning left. They are meant to be used in intersections with a high volume of vehicular traffic, especially in the case of multiple turning lanes.

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Section 1D

Type H These paths are truncated with no painted lanes and are a shared lane when a turning condition arises. Volume of traffic is rather flexible, but a cycle light should be used in higher volumes of traffic. This design is safer for cyclists who need a right turn lane, as it keeps up with the eficiency of both bike and car traffic. However, these types of paths are quite difficult for bikers heading straight through an intersection as merging and timing are difficult.

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Type 1 plan and section (units in meters)

Path Typologies Type 1 This cycle track has a separated median between bicycle lanes and car lanes. This keeps cyclists safe from heavy flowing traffic or higher speed traffic. Paving choices are very important in this path design, and can serve as a lane designation between cyclists and pedestrians. This lane type also provides space for trees, bicycle parking , meters or signage without any disturbance to pedestrians, cyclists, bus commuters or drivers who are parking.

Images for cycle path typologies: Livable Copenhagen: The Design of a Bicycle City

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Section 1D

Type 2 This path type is best in purely residential areas with slow moving traffic. The wide paving is a completely shared condition with very little spatial designation for cyclists, cars or pedestrians. The best situation for this intervention is low mixed traffic with traffic calming paving. In the photo example, you can see the use of rough textured paving, one way traffic for vehicles and the wide shared pedestrian and bicycle zone.

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Type 3 plan and section (units in meters)

Type 3 This design incorporates an open street design with parking on either side. There is a wide space for cyclists and bicycle parking on the pedestrian side of the street, then a greenway before the drive lane for cars. The greenway allows space for those who are parking to get out of their cars safely, and provides space for signage and meters.Near the intersection, the street allows for parallel parking against the sidewalk and cycle area.

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Section 1D

Norrebro Cycle Superhighways Green Route This path eliminates stops between Copenhagen and its suburbs. Two of the superhighways are sixteen kilometers and seventeen kilometers.

An orange stripe painted on the asphalt indicates the route, which has air pumps, cycle lights and overhead lights which make a safe ride.

This nine kilometer path follows an old raiway line. It runs through the city center connecting to Frederiksberg.

The path is eleven feet wide with a two way bicycle path is separated by painted white lines next to a five foot wide walkway. The route connects parks around the city.

Bicycle Bridge This bridge, called the bicycle snake, connects across the harbour to existing cycle lanes. It is designed to extend out onto the water. The four meter wide, 190 meter long path meanders seven meters above the surface of the water with a thirty meter ramp on either side.

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Micro Design

Foot rest allows for advertising

Tilted trash cans for cyclists

Bike counter 56

Section 1E Bicycle ramp on stairs

LED lights in pavement

Conversation lanes 57

Macro Design

Bicycle superhighways conecting suburbs to downtown Copenhagen

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Section 1E Current bike paths ranked by qulaity, neccesity of redevelopment or repair, and projected development sites

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Proposed bike tubes. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Images: thetimes.co.uk inhabitat.com

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Bike “desks�. China.

Bike parking landscape

Section 1F Solar bike path. The Netherlands

Images: designboom.com treehugger.com dispatch.com

Cycle tavern. Columbus, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee

nashvillepedaltavern.com

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STL, MO

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Section 2A Saint Louis, Missouri is located along the ‘Mighty Mississippi River’. The city’s history begins with a small settlement along the strong river’s edge. The Mississippi side of the river holds a topographical difference from its Illinois counterpart, with the Missouri side consisting of many bluffs which naturally hold back the river, while the Illinois side is mostly floodplain. The Harold Fisk map shown on the right shows the varied historical courses of the upper Mississippi River at Cape Gerardo, which boasts many of the same qualities as the river here in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Images: partnerspfscottcountrywatersheds.com, Washington University in St. Louis

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This historical map, drawn by General Lee and surveyors in 1837, shows the growth of an industrial Saint Louis along the Mississippi River.

Historically, the river was much wider than the channelized river we see toay. It held two islands in the center, which are not present today. Another historic, but manmade feature that is not present today is Chouteau’s Pond (seen in the upper right of the lower image), which was filled in during the city’s cholera epidemic. The historic Eads Bridge (p.69), constructed 1868-74, is the world’s first alloy steel bridge. It still stands today.

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Section 2A Images: geographicus.com, missouriledgends.com

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Section 2A Saint Louis was the site of the 1904 World’s Fair, titled “The Louisianna Purchase Exposition”. St. Louis constructed the fairgrounds at Forest Park on 1,371 acres. The park featured a very grand scheme of Beaux-Arts design. Many of the features from the World’s Fair can be seen in the park today, which is an active and prominent feature of the St. Louis area.

Images: fishandboat.com, 1904worldsfairsociety.org, explorestlouis.com, cityjournal.org, pkwy.k12.mo.us

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St. Louis employs urban renewal strategies to make way for the Gateway Arch, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

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Section 2A Gateway Arch and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial completed, view of Busch stadium, now demolished.

Images: stltoday..com, stlouis-mo.gov

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Regionally, Saint Louis city and county have an interesting and controversial historical relationship. The city is anchored by Saint Louis University, the Arch Grounds, the Botanical Gardens and parks such as Tower Grove Park.

The county is anchored by its downtown called Clayton, Forest Park, and Washington University in Saint Louis as well as Barnes Jewish Hospital.

The institutions and parks around the city are increasingly becoming linked by bicycle paths and public transit options such as MetroLink. Our studies on Saint Louis hope to provide ways to increase use of these systems in the Saint Louis area.

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Image Key:

agricultural land

recreational land

vacant land

city, county grids

existing bike routes

proposed bike routes

Section 2B Images: composite annotated GIS map

The landscape of Saint Louis is dotted with recreational land, with its largest park being Forest Park. The institutions of Washington University in Saint Louis and Saint Louis University act as anchors to the city and county, and are anchored along some of the city’s main thoroughfares.

This map shows existing bike routes in green, with our proposed routes and connections in red.

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Saint Louis currently offers two types of trailways.

Greenways, shown here, are located around the city and county. They are bike and pedestrian friendly paved paths which offer views of park systems and the river. One greenway in particular, the Mississippi Greenway, has a trailhead downtown close to the arch grounds and goes all the way to the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. These greenways offer a great asset to the greater Saint Louis area, but are often left unconnected to the rest of the bike network of Saint Louis.

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Section 2B Bike Saint Louis is effective in connecting to other modes of transit, such as MetroLink, but sometimes lacks communication with cyclists regarding trail locations, lane changes, and overall maps of bikable streets. While Bike Saint Louis offers cycling lanes in Saint Louis, these lanes are often what is called a shared lane. This type of lane does not offer safety to bicyclists or drivers, and is often a danger to both modes of transit. Through our Copenhagen studies, we have noted many strategies which offer safety and confidence for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.

Images: greatriversgreenway.org

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Section 2C We chose to concentrate on the area around Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) for our street chances study. The university is situated across from Forest Park. This area is often very active with both students and locals. In recent years, Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) has created designated lanes for pedestrians and bikes, which connects to the park running and biking paths across Skinker Avenue. This new GRG intervention is the site of our study.

Images: Washington University in St. Louis archives

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d. skinker blv

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STUDY A

SECTION A

STUDY B

Section 2C Section A SIDEWALK 8’

BUFFER 15’

STREET WIDTH 50’ / 15.2 m

BUFFER 15’

BIKE | PEDESTRIAN PATH 8’ each

3 traffic lanes / 1 parking two directions Images: photomanipulated GIS information, Google map and Google street view

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Study A Current condition of Forsyth Blvd. near Wallace Drive

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Section 2C Proposed condition of Forsyth Blvd. near Wallace Drive

This area of campus is where the GRG intervention begins to fade back into a shared sidewalk condition.

As a more immediate fix to the intervention proposed below, we would like to add a green buffer between pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. On the right, we are showing a wall which has two functions. On the side of the motorists, it would indicate the merging of cyclists into the driving lane. This would allow cyclists to bike on the road rather than sharing the sidewalk. In the future, we would hope a lane could be painted for cyclists only.

On the other side, the wall is a planting wall which could also be a surface for installations or other art.

Images: photomanipulated Google street view

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Study B Current condition of Forsyth Blvd. near Skinker Blvd.

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Section 2C Proposed condition of Forsyth Blvd. near Skinker Blvd.

Our proposal for this area of campus is to reduce the number of car lanes to three, with one lane of traffic each way, one parking lane on the right, and utilizing the left most lane of this image for an on-road, designated bike path. This lane would be designated with a solid or pattered paint. Another change to the area involves pedestrian circulation.

As this area of campus occupies both sides of the street, students and faculty are often forced to cross the street at points which do not currently have crosswalks.

We are proposing a new paving that would attract drivers attention to reduce their speed and allow pedestrians to safely cross.

Images: photomanipulated Google street view

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Section 2D Selected site area

For our parking lot investigation and design charette, we focused on a lot in the University City neighborhood. It is bordered by Delmar Blvd. and Kingsland Ave. This entire parking lot comprises 450 parking spaces with a total parking area of 72,900 ft2, which is roughly 15,000 ft2 larger than an American football field. Our selected area (shown to the left in red) comprises 40 parking spaces. The parking area is 6,480 ft2 while the total area is12,960 ft2. In our proposal, we will be losing 8.8% of the parking in the lot and 17.8% of the area of the lot.

Images: photo by Kayle Langford, diagram over Google map image Unless otherwise noted, photos in this section taken by Kayle Langford

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Backs of businesses serviced by lot

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Section 2D Parking in front of market

Proposed area of intervention near market

View to city hall

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Sign for playground and walking paths that are not present in the parking lot

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Section 2D Current construction in the lot

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Lack of neighborhood connection to businesses on Delmar Blvd. due to the mostly paved, unused area

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Section 2D Service alley to neighborhood, sidewalk, buffer zone, service street, sidewalk, buffer zone, and parking lot.

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Loop Parking current incentives: _ free parking for the loop _ very busy lot _ proximity to entertainment shops and eateries _ close to UCity library _ lot is adjacent to small market+square design possibilities: _ connect to neighborhood _ connect to institutions _ connect to market+square _ restaurant patios _ continue service corridor from nearby alley _ pervious material to reduce runoff pollution _ tree canopies to reduce

heat island effect

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Current amount of vegetation and permeable surface

Section 2D Plans with circulation and material

Circulation diagram (above)

Design selections (below)

The design for the lot aims to connect the market, the streetfront, and the back of the businesses to create connectivity of place and then tie back into the neighborhood.

The proposed surface is permeable, which could offer versatility as a patio condition, an expansion of the market, or as a parking surface. When the area is a parking surface, crosswalks are provided and designated with a different paver so people are not walking in the area where cars would be in reverse.

Pavers, benches, trees and small rain gardens add green features currently missing from the site and also bring it down to a human scale.

Images: photo by Kayle Langford, collage over Google maps image, collages, diagram over Google map image, urbangardensweb.com, landscapeonline.com

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RIV ERF

SHAW PARK

T TR

RON AIL

WASHU

FOREST PARK SLU

ARCH GROUNDS

BOTANICAL GARDENS TOWER GROVE PARK

AGRICULTURAL

LANDFILL

RIVER

HIGHWAY

COMMERCIAL

SUPERFUND SITE

MAJOR WATERWAY

COMMON GROUND

BROWNFIELD SITE

METROLINK LINE METROLINK STATION

RAILWAY

METROLINK BUS ROUTE METROLINK BUS STOP

MINOR WATERWAY

BIKE | WALK TRAIL

METROLINK PARK AND RIDE

INDUSTRIAL

RIVER DOCKS

MISSISSIPPI RIVER TRAIL

METROLINK (PROPOSED)

RECREATIONAL

MDC DOCKS

TRANSIT CENTERS

METROLINK LINE (PROPOSED)

VACANCY | UNDEVELOPED

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

METROLINK STATION (PROPOSED)

MILES 0

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SHAW PARK

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FOREST PARK

1. parking lot chances + urban chances 1

2. street chances

4. urban chances 2

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The chosen site is a small plaza off Delmar Blvd, very close to our parking lot chances site (outlined in black). When looking at this site, we noticed the line of trees leading into the neighborhoods behind, as well as the greenery of the connecting streets and the park behind (highlighted in green). We also noticed this plaza is the end to a heavy pedestrian path while walking the area. The paths of users are highlighted in red on the diagram.

Images: drawing over Google map image

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Delmar is a very busy street for both vehicles and pedestrians. We have chosen to eliminate the few parking spaces that exist in this small plaza to make it more pedestrian, more urban, and to eliminate turning traffic to and from the lot. We suggest the use of permeable ground cover to highlight the plaza and to continue the notion of the pedestrianized walkway to WUSTL’s campus located behind the vantage point of this image. In doing so, there could be a stronger emphasis on the cyclist and the pedestiran.

Images: photomanipulated Google street view

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Our proposal is a pocket park intervention next to Big Shark Bike Shop on Delmar Blvd. We are proposing to modify the shop to open up to a small plaza which would function as a pocket park, and as a place where children and adults could work on bikes, or customers could wait while having their bike serviced. The vacant area to the right has the potential to become a cycling track for competitive cyclers to practice.

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Images: drawing over Google map image

Our street proposal to the left shows a transformation of the street outside the bike shop. The current sidewalk condition is incredibly wide, measuring about 15’. There are two lanes of traffic heading West, one lane of traffic heading East, and a parking lane on the East side of the street. In modifying just the left side of the street by taking one traffic lane, conversation bike lanes can be created in each direction with a median separation.

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an urban city

a suburban city

an ex-urban city

a de-urbanized city

The many urban fabric conditions of Saint Louis contribute to its diversity and its disconnectivity while creating opportunities for many rich and distinct neighborhoods. The many models of city making that Saint Louis has employed have also allowed it to become exclusive, gated, and guarded which has led to political, racial and social divisions in and around the city. a historic city

an industrial river city

Through both urban policy making and built urban conditions, Saint Louis could become a place of incredible opportunity.

Like any city, Saint Louis has many shortcomings that can and should be seen as a springboard for rich, dynamic and productive talks on urban life.

From our studies on Copenhagen and Saint Louis, we see that change comes not from a top down approach, but from the collective voices who promote and call for change to occur.

Images: manipulated from google maps

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Perhaps St. Louis can look to its past to realize one again the power of moving people around the city. Hopefully, someday, the bicycle will become as popular as the streetcar once was in this Midwestern city and serve to connect disjunct public transit to serve all of Saint Louis’ 79 neighborhoods

Hodiamont Line Streetcar Image: stltoday.com

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print by Lotta Neiminen , photo manipulated

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