City streets The street systems in many large and small Danish towns were laid out long before the automobile began to have an impact on urban planning. Today, the historic quarters that were built before the First World War are the object of considerable attention. After the explosive urban growth and building of the 1960s, there is renewed interest in preserving the streets’ historic values. Traffic is an important part of city life. Roads and streets must accommodate traffic and they dominate the cityscape, for better or worse. The work to renovate and redesign streets and squares in recent years has helped raise the quality of the urban environment. Conditions are still difficult because pressure from traffic, parking problems, and many conflicts of interest limit the potential for beautification. Some of the urban-renewal projects of the future will consequently consist of renovating entire street sections, so that the city once again forms a beautiful and unified milieu.
The planning of Odense city center The reorganization of traffic in Odense center illustrates that planning large urban quarters can solve both aesthetic and traffic problems in the city as a whole. It also shows that beautiful streets involve much more than plantings; they also encompass spatial relationships, buildings, neighboring areas, and equipment, in one and the same space. Urban renewal here was based on traffic reorganization and should be seen in the context of work done to The city streets must accommodate many activities.
renew housing, business, and commercial interests in the center of town. The city’s quality was to be accentuated. It was to be a pleasant place to live and shop in, easy to reach and leave. This would give visitors time to take a walk, especially if there were enough space and attractions on the way.
Beautiful Roads - A Handbook of Road Architecture
39
