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From U of T News:
City must design pedestrian-friendly streets, say researchers
Commitment to pedestrian infrastructure is vital to Toronto street development proposals
Oct 26/06
by Sonnet L’Abbé
Paul Hess wants to help Toronto “walk its talk†when it comes to designing city streets.
He and colleague Beth Milroy of Ryerson University have just completed a study entitled Making Toronto’s Streets, the first known study to outline how a city makes, maintains and changes its roads. Now they’re hoping their recommendations will help pave the way to ensuring Toronto achieves its vision of people walking, bicycling and using public transit more often.
“Toronto is just starting to exchange its ‘car is king’ model for a more mixed mobility culture that includes pedestrianism,†says Hess, a professor in the Department of Geography. “So far, pedestrian issues have been left largely unaddressed by existing planning mechanisms.â€Â
Written in response to questions posed by authors of Toronto's Pedestrian Charter, the report recommends that the city strike a working group to make sure a commitment to pedestrian infrastructure is included in Toronto street development proposals. Otherwise, say Hess and Milroy, Toronto’s overall plan for its streets will stall because city institutions are set up based on old ideas about the functions of roads.
The city envisions itself as a place where more people will choose to use public transit, cycle or walk, the researchers explain. In its Official Plan Toronto it looks to traditional main streets as community spaces mixing many functions by providing access to property as well as being places for shopping, strolling and socializing.
However, by favouring road engineering and maintenance concerns, Toronto’s existing planning model is at odds with this vision, the researchers say. The current planning model aims to separate the functions of moving traffic and accessing properties as much as possible. And the city’s institutional practices -- which decide budget, repair priorities and development plans -- are still aligned with the old divided vision of road functions. This means the decision-making process offers little opportunity for consideration of community and environmental concerns.
“The existing institutional structure makes it easy to avoid hard debates and trade-offs about how streets are designed and used and very difficult for staff to implement change,†Hess says. “The new vision has been simply layered on top of conventional practices without addressing how they conflict.â€Â
In addition to its call to address the structural barriers that prevent hashing out tough trade-offs between the “traffic conduits†and “beautiful places†street ideals, the report also recommends:
• that all streets-related reports include information on the impact new streets or sidewalks have on pedestrians;
• linking city capital and operating budgets to ensure more discussion on street maintenance priorities; and
• employing a “research broker†to help ensure relevant university research is readily available to city planners.
Making Toronto’s Streets is designed to be useful to groups that are interested in making better streets and need information on how the city works. The report was funded by U of T’s Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, which promotes investigations that connect community concerns with university researchers. The paper is available for download at www.cuhi.utoronto.ca.
_________________________________________________
Here is a link to the paper:
www.cuhi.utoronto.ca/rese...202006.pdf
AoD
City must design pedestrian-friendly streets, say researchers
Commitment to pedestrian infrastructure is vital to Toronto street development proposals
Oct 26/06
by Sonnet L’Abbé
Paul Hess wants to help Toronto “walk its talk†when it comes to designing city streets.
He and colleague Beth Milroy of Ryerson University have just completed a study entitled Making Toronto’s Streets, the first known study to outline how a city makes, maintains and changes its roads. Now they’re hoping their recommendations will help pave the way to ensuring Toronto achieves its vision of people walking, bicycling and using public transit more often.
“Toronto is just starting to exchange its ‘car is king’ model for a more mixed mobility culture that includes pedestrianism,†says Hess, a professor in the Department of Geography. “So far, pedestrian issues have been left largely unaddressed by existing planning mechanisms.â€Â
Written in response to questions posed by authors of Toronto's Pedestrian Charter, the report recommends that the city strike a working group to make sure a commitment to pedestrian infrastructure is included in Toronto street development proposals. Otherwise, say Hess and Milroy, Toronto’s overall plan for its streets will stall because city institutions are set up based on old ideas about the functions of roads.
The city envisions itself as a place where more people will choose to use public transit, cycle or walk, the researchers explain. In its Official Plan Toronto it looks to traditional main streets as community spaces mixing many functions by providing access to property as well as being places for shopping, strolling and socializing.
However, by favouring road engineering and maintenance concerns, Toronto’s existing planning model is at odds with this vision, the researchers say. The current planning model aims to separate the functions of moving traffic and accessing properties as much as possible. And the city’s institutional practices -- which decide budget, repair priorities and development plans -- are still aligned with the old divided vision of road functions. This means the decision-making process offers little opportunity for consideration of community and environmental concerns.
“The existing institutional structure makes it easy to avoid hard debates and trade-offs about how streets are designed and used and very difficult for staff to implement change,†Hess says. “The new vision has been simply layered on top of conventional practices without addressing how they conflict.â€Â
In addition to its call to address the structural barriers that prevent hashing out tough trade-offs between the “traffic conduits†and “beautiful places†street ideals, the report also recommends:
• that all streets-related reports include information on the impact new streets or sidewalks have on pedestrians;
• linking city capital and operating budgets to ensure more discussion on street maintenance priorities; and
• employing a “research broker†to help ensure relevant university research is readily available to city planners.
Making Toronto’s Streets is designed to be useful to groups that are interested in making better streets and need information on how the city works. The report was funded by U of T’s Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, which promotes investigations that connect community concerns with university researchers. The paper is available for download at www.cuhi.utoronto.ca.
_________________________________________________
Here is a link to the paper:
www.cuhi.utoronto.ca/rese...202006.pdf
AoD