street reclamation
{{Short description|Changing streets to focus on non-car use}}
File:Corridor Capacity and Infrastructure Costs.png
Street reclaiming is the process of converting, or otherwise returning streets to a stronger focus on non-car use — such as walking, cycling and active street life. It is advocated by many urban planners and urban economists, of widely varying political points of view. Its primary benefits are thought to be:
- Decreased automobile traffic with less noise pollution, fewer automobile accidents, reduced smog and air pollution
- Greater safety and access for pedestrians and cyclists
- Less frequent surface maintenance than car-driven roads
- Reduced summer temperatures due to less asphalt and more green spaces
- Increased pedestrian traffic which also increases social and commercial opportunities
- Increased gardening space for urban residents
- Better support for co-housing and infirm residents, e.g. suburban eco-villages built around former streets
Campaigns
An early example of street reclamation was the Stockholm carfree day in 1969.{{cite web |title=Bilfria dan |url=https://gamla.alternativstad.nu/Dokument/bilfriadan.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202025400/https://gamla.alternativstad.nu/Dokument/bilfriadan.html |archive-date=2022-12-02 }}
Some consider the best advantages to be gained by redesigning streets, for example as shared space, while others, such as campaigns like "Reclaim the Streets", a widespread "dis-organization", run a variety of events to physically reclaim the streets for political and artistic actions, often called street parties. David Engwicht is also a strong proponent of the concept that street life, rather than physical redesign, is the primary tool of street reclamation.
See also
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- {{Annotated link|Bicycle-friendly}}
- {{Annotated link|Carfree day}}
- {{Annotated link|Cyclability}}
- {{Annotated link|Cycling advocacy}}
- {{Annotated link|Cycling infrastructure}}
- {{Annotated link|Green infrastructure}}
- {{Annotated link|Greenway (landscape)}}
- {{Annotated link|Intersection daylighting}}
- {{Annotated link|Linear park}}
- {{Annotated link|Living street}}
- {{Annotated link|Living Streets (UK)}}
- {{Annotated link|Pedestrian zone}}
- {{Annotated link|Reclaim the Streets}}
- {{Annotated link|Road diet}}
- {{Annotated link|Road expansion}}
- {{Annotated link|Sustainable city}}
- {{Annotated link|Tactical urbanism}}
- {{Annotated link|Transport geography}}
- {{Annotated link|Urban green space}}
- {{Annotated link|Urban vitality}}
- {{Annotated link|Walkability}}
- {{Annotated link|Walking audit}}
- {{Annotated link|Wildlife corridor}}
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References
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External links
- [http://rts.gn.apc.org/ RTS] — Reclaim the Streets
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061218180303/http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parking/index.html Park(ing)]
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000621004519/http://www.22september.org/ International Car Free Day - Thailand]}} – 22 September
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21805068 What if everyone had a car?] by the BBC World News
- [https://www.streetparty.org.uk/roads-traffic-and-street-parties/car-free-days/]
Category:Climate change mitigation
Category:Cycling infrastructure
Category:Pedestrian infrastructure