City Pathways: Part 2
I was at the Cooper Hewitt Museum recently and saw the above book cover. It reminded me that, as much as I love walking, journeys can become arduous due to poor, non-pedestrian friendly street layouts, density, or climate. Often, the streets are not logical for pedestrian circulation, or the they’re exposed to overcrowding, heavy traffic, and harsh climates. In the last post we spoke about pathways that build upon historical typologies; in this post I’d like to discuss pathways that are the way they are because of existing infrastructure and other conditions.
1. Elevated Walkways
Elevated walkways raise pedestrians above ground in order to bypass wide roads and other barriers.
Growing up in Hong Kong, walking through elevated skyways is a way of life. The elevated walkway system is not planned, but an incremental network that keeps on expanding through private and public developments.
The first of the skyways were built by private developers in the 1960s to link their properties, such as hotel and shopping malls, and soon many become privately-owned public spaces. The government, upon seeing the popularity, believed the elevated walkways would facilitate circulation better in light of the increasing vehicular and pedestrian traffic on street level and started to connect public nodes such as transit and ferry stations.
Elevated walkways are now abundance in Hong Kong, varying between open-air covered walkways and skyways with retail (and air-conditioning). They vacillate between the fluid boundaries of publicly-owned and privately-owned space.
In downtown Calgary’s financial district, a planned elevated walkway system was implemented in 1970 called the +15. The system has 59 enclosed bridges for a total of 9.9 miles.
The walkways connect downtown buildings that are mainly offices, shopping malls, and a winter garden. All new developments in downtown Calgary are now required to tap into the walkway system or contribute to the +15 fund.
2. Underpasses
As some cities rise above ground, some head underground.
Moving east to Montreal, where its underground city is well-known. RÉSO or La Ville Souterraine is the largest underground complex in the world, with 20 miles of tunnels connecting metro stations, banks, malls, museums, universities, apartment buildings, etc.
The underground city coincided with the new metro system in 1966, when buildings were planned to directly link to the metro stations. The system continued to expand from then on. Most tunnels are lined with shops and services.
In many cities, pedestrian underpasses are less of an extensive system, but exist mainly to connect metro stations and their nearby destinations. Recently, more focus has been directed to designing more aesthetically pleasing or interesting tunnels as opposed to just placing shops and services. (Some of those strategies are covered in our infrastructure makeover post).
3. Linear Parks
Utility lines and other infrastructure systems have the advantage of crisscrossing the cities in their own way, and many have made use of this condition to create unconstrained pathways for pedestrians.
In U.S., there’s an extensive network of Rails-to-Trails. They’re public paths created from former railroad corridors, which can be used for walking, biking, and even cross-country skiing. I was recently in Poughkeepsie in the Hudson Valley, where the 13.4 miles of the Dutchess County Rail Trail is located along which was once the Maybrook Rail Corridor. The trail passes residential neighborhoods, factories, parks, and finally ends at the Hudson River. It was lively and filled with families, strollers, and cyclists.
In Bogota, the Parque El Virrey runs along the El Virrey River. The park protects the water source and its ecology. It has bikepaths, footpaths, children areas, and little plazas. In a city that is not the safest nor the friendliest for pedestrians, it was nice to visit a green corridor where walkers and strollers abound.
None of these pathways are flashy or famous, but they are functional and important to everyday life. Many urban areas are still planned and tailored to motorists, and these infrastructural networks provide an alternative way for pedestrians to get around when traditional streets are not as welcoming.
