The prioritisation of car parking in our busy town centres and along our cities’ high streets increases traffic, pollution and noise and discourages people from staying in an area to socialise and create a sense of community. To make matters worse, the increasing tendency of local councils to not install seating or shade along high streets (or worse to install hostile architecture) further discourages the use of our streets for anything but the most utilitarian uses. This is as true for Sydney as any major Australian city. For a country that is known to love being outdoors and with a climate that is conducive to lingering outside, we’ve created an urban environment that discourages people from sitting outside and enjoying the streets. As Committee for Sydney says in its excellent Reclaiming Sydney’s High Streets report: Most of Sydney’s streets, including its main shopping streets, lack places to sit. It’s a sign of a great street when it invites people to stop, rest, and check out the urban scenery. This, along with shade and shelter, is a key element in enticing people to stay on a street rather than just walk through. We shouldn’t have to go to a café every time we want to sit down. Above: Hostile architecture in Dulwich Hill (left) and Marrickville (right), Sydney. Source: Author At Better Streets we want the community to be able to use and enjoy safe, attractive, shaded, comfortable streets for recreation, socialisation, safe transport, community events, and more! And a critical point of public space is it should be for everyone and not cost money to use. At the same time, studies have shown that people walking or riding a bicycle spend more money in local retailers than people arriving by car and improved walking and cycling amenities can increase retail spend by up to 30%. It’s well established that when you design streets for people, you get all the things that come along with that: community, leisure, connection, recreation, commerce and celebration. One way to address our car-dominated city high streets is to advocate for car parking spaces or entire carparks to be given over to community use through conversion to ‘town squares’, parks or parklets in place of kerbside parking for public use or cafe use. Above: Good Design Projects, Parklet commissioned by Randwick Council (left), and Foursquare, Summer Hill Piazza (right) But how to do this? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but here are some things to think about:
In some cases, the best way to change the way a street works will be to test interventions through temporary pilot projects. This was famously how New York City began the process of pedestrianising Times Square: the first move was temporary planters and a coat of paint. Cities all over the world have converted single parking spaces at the side of the road called “parklets” - small art installations, mini parks, and café seating that occupy parking spaces next to the kerb. Bike lanes, bus lanes, footpath widenings, and many other changes can be trialled on a temporary basis. Lessons from the trial can then be converted into permanent changes. Marrickville Town Square Sydneysiders love the rich multicultural heritage, offbeat underground arts scene and fabulous food offerings of Marrickville, an inner city suburb around 5 km from the Sydney Central Business District. But if you’ve ever walked down traffic-filled Illawarra Road on a hot day to buy groceries, queued for a banh mi, or played chess at Café Nho, you’ll probably agree – it would be so nice to have a shady place to sit down, for people to come together, socialise, chat, eat their banh mi without having to resort to hovering next to the carpark or sitting in the back of their vans (see below!). Above: Locals trying to eat their lunch in the only available bit of public space on Illawarra Rd - the back of their van in the Calvert St carpark. Source: Dan Conway. Currently there are very few central places to gather in Marrickville, in the style of the Piazza in Summer Hill or the new Parramatta Square, and also very little seating or shade along the major high streets. Above: Plenty of street parking on Illawarra Road, Marrickville, but nowhere for people to sit down. For this reason, a group of local residents have started a petition to the Inner West council for the conversion of the Calvert St carpark into a town square. The group has also:
But the goal of the campaign is a permanent reclaiming of that space from cars, for community use. The space could be used for food markets, outdoor music, chess, table tennis, screenings of football matches, and any number of community events. Therefore the campaign is ramping up support for the petition currently, to demonstrate the extent of the support for such a change in the community. Above: Artist's Impression of the proposed Marrickville Town Square The campaign’s experience has been that most local residents are desperate for a public space and the proposition makes total sense to people intuitively. Some choice quotes from petition signatories include:
The biggest barriers are those in the small business representatives who are very concerned about loss of parking. The campaign has worked to reassure residents that there will still be back street parking and direct them to parking areas they may not know about, while emphasising the need to improve public transport, widen footpaths, and generally improve public amenity so residents don’t feel compelled to drive to their local shops.
We encourage you to sign the petition for Marrickville Town Square here: https://www.change.org/p/we-want-marrickville-town-square For more information:
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Better Streets met with Transport for NSW to discuss the Oxford Street project, currently known as the Oxford Street cycleway - link for more details.
Better Streets proposed the following:
To provide support for the project and suggestions - fill in the survey The recent NSW state election that saw Labor come to power promises a fresh start in tackling the many challenges facing the state. One of the biggest challenges in the state of Transport for NSW, and its addiction to toll roads. Better Streets, is focused on sustainable and equitable transport solutions, with a focus on equal access to streets for all people, by a wider range of modes including walking, cycling, and public transport. Better Streets supports the idea of using motorways more fairly, particularly if they achieve their intended purpose of reclaiming space on local roads. By removing motor vehicles from local streets communities can benefit with slower-paced streets that are safer to cross and give room for children to walk and cycle comfortably to school. Better Streets suggests two ways that the toll-holiday promise of the new government could be built upon to strengthen equity of access for Western Sydneysiders, as well as mitigate the risk of induced traffic. Firstly, free up the surface streets that the motorways decongest. This can be achieved by:
Secondly, reallocate road space on these streets to other uses, such as bus priority, cycleways, extend the walking space and businesses. This can be be used to improve the streets scape, provide space for local street art, trees in pots, local businesses to spill out on the spare space. Note: Councils have just been given this temporary delegation under the Roads Act, giving them more control of minor works on their streets.
Thirdly, reduce the financial burden equally across modes, to encourage and sustain more sustainable (equitable, and environmental) travel patterns. This can be done by offering a discount on parallel bus and train lines for trips over 10km, reducing the number of fare bands and reviewing all rates, and offering a discount on bus fares in Regions 1 to 3 (Western Sydney). In London, a flat fee bus ticket resulted in a 16% rise in bus patronage even as fare revenue (i.e., costs to passengers) dropped about 9%. A single fare also speeds up buses since people don’t need to tap off. Consider increasing bus services in Western Sydney public transport on key routes to at least 4 services per hour, ideally 6 per hour, can speed up buses through bus priority lanes and flat fares. In conclusion, the Better Streets suggests that the new NSW government focus on creating sustainable, equitable, and environmental transport solutions as a priority focus for Transport for NSW. By building upon the toll-holiday promise and reallocating road space to other uses, reducing speeds, as well as reducing the financial burden of buses and increasing bus services, we can create a better transport system for all NSW residents. It's time to prioritise people over cars and make our streets more accessible, safe, and enjoyable for everyone. It's time we start prioritising people over cars and designing #BETTERSTREETS for thriving communities and local businesses. Building walkable and accessible spaces encourages local businesses to extend their shopfronts, embrace alfresco dining and attract local customers, leading to a more engaging and thriving city for us all. Let's create public spaces that are inviting and inclusive for everyone. Share it on Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter |
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