Open dialogue or 24/7 parking: how active street facades attract and protect citizens

Active facade = good mood

Civilization is the art of living together. Communication is the essence of the city, the spaces of which can help build and strengthen social ties not only between relatives and friends, but also between strangers.

At each stage of the city's development, the same questions are solved: how to ensure safety and find a balance between private and public space. It is the areas of contact between private and public that are areas of business growth, democracy, innovation, and creativity.

In the world, numerous rankings are regularly compiled to determine the best streets and cities. Those to which people aspire, which they perceive as a "destination", where they enjoy walking aimlessly or solving important issues. The winners are completely different in age, history and functionality, but they have one thing in common - they are not boring, they stimulate dialogue and, as a result, increase the "level of happiness" (read more about this in the material "Happiness index. How to understand, measure and increase happiness in cities» in the 10rd volume of PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA).

Economist John Helliwell analyzed data sets from the World Values ​​Survey (WVS) and Gallup polls and found that when assessing the level of life satisfaction, the factor of relationships with other people by a large margin bypasses the factor of income. Confidence not only in neighbors and the state, but also in strangers has a huge impact on the feeling of happiness. And again, this influence is more significant than the income factor.

Paradox: A large grocery store with quality products, promoting the trend of healthy eating, has the opposite effect as stated - it reduces life expectancy

An analysis of street space by urban planner Ian Gale showed that people rush past monotonous facades and slow down on streets lined with cafes and shops. Moreover, to make a call, they more often stop in front of animated facades, rather than blank walls.

Streets with shops are busy and noisy, while residential areas are quiet and green. This is how Charles Montgomery describes the ideal format for life in the book "The Happy City. How urban planning changes our lives."

Montgomery says that his experiments at the BMW Guggenheim Lab in New York confirm that long, blank facades not only make people physically accelerate, but also have an oppressive effect on them. "In 2006, a Whole Foods supermarket was built on the section of East Houston Street between Orchard and Ludlow, on the site of small shops within walking distance. Now a strip of tinted glass facade stretches along the sidewalk for almost the entire block.

Volunteers who took part in our psychological tours of the neighborhood indicated that they feel much worse emotionally in front of this facade than almost anywhere else in the county. Their mood improved when they stepped out onto a busy street with shops and restaurants just a block east of Houston," he comments on the study's findings.

Paradox: A large grocery store with very high-quality products, promoting the trend of healthy eating, has the opposite effect as stated - it reduces life expectancy. "People living in neighborhoods with long, monotonous facades age faster than residents of busy streets with many small shops, different facades, doors, windows, and public spaces. They move less, socialize less,” Montgomery explains.

In Denmark, back in the 1980s, banks were banned from opening branches on the main streets of most major cities. “It's not that Danes don't like banks. But their neutral facades do not add liveliness to the street space, and sometimes they can even "spoil" the street. The right of citizens to a healthy, living environment won here," Montgomery explains

The social importance of active streets has been realized in many municipalities. And sometimes they even establish their necessity in city policies.

In Melbourne (Australia), long, blank facades are prohibited, and the rules dictate that the windows and doors of shops and restaurants take up at least 80% of the facades.

In 2012, New York City passed new zoning laws limiting the ground floor width of new stores on high streets like the Upper West Side. Bank frontages on Broadway are limited to 8m wide. The move was partly an attempt to stop big retailers and banks from taking over the small, family-owned businesses that give cities and streets their unique character. "Family business is the soul of the local community. Small pharmacies, shops, cafes mean everything to us," explained Gail Brewer, a member of the municipal council, in an interview with The New York Times.

Active streets become the connecting core of new projects. For example, the Hassel studio and the city of Ryde (a suburb of Sydney) developed a master plan for Waterloo Road in Macquarie Park.

This bustling business district is considered one of the fastest growing. It is already home to most of Australia's top 100 companies. Local real estate is in demand from tenants in the fields of education and innovation. Waterloo Road is a rapidly changing 1,9km corridor with new development expected in the coming years. Hassel's "active streets master plan" transforms this stretch of former high-traffic highway into an eco-friendly corridor and vibrant place that connects residents and corporate employees.

Hassel is transforming 1,9km of Waterloo Road from a high-traffic road into an eco-friendly corridor and a vibrant place connecting residents and businesses

According to the designers, the sustainable plan focuses on enhancing the attractiveness of the landscape and the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. Convenient logistics and large recreation areas "inspired by the historical ecology of the place" are offered.

"We believe that this project sets a standard in urban landscape design. This plan will benefit the community and raise awareness of Macquarie Park as an ecologically rich and diverse urban centre,” said Hassell Senior Associate Jason Cuff.

 

Active facades = pedestrian safety

"For citizens, active facades are not just psychologically more comfortable. They are really safer, they reduce the potential probability of both accidents and physical violence," says Iryna Bondarenko, transport expert, UNDP consultant in Ukraine.

"Buildings with active facades are more on narrow streets in the historical part, where there is a pedestrian flow. They visually narrow the road. And here psychology comes into play: if the road is narrower from the driver's subjective point of view, he chooses a lower speed, and a lower speed automatically reduces the number of road accidents," explains Bondarenko.

However, the expert emphasizes that active facades are not a panacea for accidents, especially where the buildings are located far from the roadway. "On the part of Sahaidachnoho Street that remains a thoroughfare, active facades come close to the road, and even when there are no traffic jams, there is a feeling that speeding is dangerous. And vice versa, Peremogy Avenue or Borshchagivska Street - there are also enough active facades, but they are located far from the road and therefore do not affect the subjective feeling of drivers," says Iryna.

As for the threat of physical violence, it is obvious that it can happen on any street. "Wide, empty streets can also give a sense of security - you can turn around and see someone approaching you. On the other hand, if there are no people around, the feeling of danger increases," explains Iryna Bondarenko. At the same time, active facades, primarily thanks to XNUMX-hour establishments — the eyes of the street that are constantly watching, as Jane Jacobs called them — reduce basic anxiety.

"If you ask people which street they will choose for a walking route, you will hear: I will not go through the wasteland, past the garages, but instead I will make a bigger detour and go down a brightly lit street with open shops and cafes," says Bondarenko. — At the same time, women and men perceive the safety of the environment differently. Women will choose streets with white daylight, but men don't care. Yellow light creates denser shadows, although it is visually more attractive."

Even landscaping and other "obstacles" on the way are perceived differently. A man will note how well the lanterns and benches fit into the landscape, and a woman will think about whether she will feel protected in the dark.

A safe street is characterized by a clearly visible line of sight, lighting, and crowds. People are the main factor of safety

"Video cameras are not perceived as a guarantee of safety. A safe street is characterized by a clearly visible line of sight, lighting, and crowds. People are the main factor of safety. And it is active facades that attract people," sums up Bondarenko.

 

Active streets unite the city

Kyiv can already demonstrate high-quality large-scale residential development projects, but most developers continue to rely on the emotional choice of buyers and agree to completely fence off the territory of the complex. This breaks the fabric of the city, and active streets connect it with pedestrian routes.

"The nature of people has not changed. All decisions are based on anthropocentrism. Security cannot be ensured by a high fence and surveillance cameras. Erection of fences starts the process of marginalization of the territory that remains outside the perimeter. We offer another option at RYBALSKY — open active streets, closed yard spaces," says Anton Oliynyk, chief architect of the RYBALSKY residential area.

He emphasizes: in fact, the project returns the historical scheme of the building. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century Kyiv and especially Podil were densely built up. Characteristic were the open facades with shops/offices on the first line and partly closed, partly passing courtyards with front gardens.

Due to the relatively low number of floors, all first floors in RYBALSKY are designated for commercial use. "My principle is to involve people as much as possible as participants in the process. There are people — there is money, otherwise we lose those who are interested in a beautiful, well-kept and safe territory," says Oliinyk.

Therefore, from the very beginning, RYBALSKY implements the idea of ​​selling all premises on the first floors, because their potential owners are involved more than tenants. Currently, small cafes, shops, and galleries are already functioning in the quarter. According to the architect, not only the first, but also the second floors are being bought for offices.

Another important aspect of security is the mixed function of the building. "Residential areas are often empty during the day, as people go to work, children go to school, and pensioners stay. Cafes and services cannot take root in mono-functional buildings with housing, they do not have enough customers. By creating active first and second floors, we apply the principle of mixed use. People go to work from the complex, and others come to work here. The parking lot is occupied, the traffic is even, two-way. Cafes and services get enough customers. Synergy," emphasizes Anton Oliynyk.

Due to the relatively low number of floors, all first floors in RYBALSKY are designated for commercial use

Despite the fact that RYBALSKY is still (before the launch of the bridge and the promised rail transport) somewhat distant from the city-wide context, the effectiveness of open spaces and active streets as a tool for "binding" the environment is already confirmed in practice. As a place of leisure, RYBALSKY is popular not only with the residents of the residential complex, but also with all of Kyiv.

Another project of Perfect Group and SAGA Development — "Novy Podil" — further develops the trend of "openness and activity". Unlike RYBALSKY, the quarters here will not be in the form of closed squares, but formed by L- and C-shaped architectural volumes that create partially closed courtyards separated by a low hedge. Rodzynka is an almost kilometer-long embankment.

The first quarter, located near the Fisherman's Bridge, consists of three buildings: two residential buildings and an arc-shaped business center that shelters the complex from the noisy intersection.

"Our project is located near a broadband interchange. But the general European trend is to narrow roads, reduce traffic and speed. Ukraine will come to this, even in 20 years, when interchanges and highways will not be of such importance for the city, and they will be removed. Then the arched office building will be able to turn into housing. The number of stairwells will allow us to change the function of the entire building in the future," says the founder of the Dutch architectural studio Architectural Prescription and the author of the "New Podol" project, Hrysha Zotov.

Premises on the two first floors overlooking the embankment and streets are allocated for commercial functions in "Novy Podil". Some of the spaces on the first floors facing the courtyard, where there is enough sun, can also be used as housing, but the architect hopes that they will still be better seen as commercial.

"We make a universal space for commerce, so that any function can be implemented. The most difficult point regarding ventilation: we calculate and provide for each unit the opportunity to supply the required power. The market will dictate specialization: there will be a cafe here for two or three years, then, perhaps, a bookstore or a notary's office," says Zotov.

The architect lists the advantages of commerce on the first floors of buildings: the absence of MAFs, attached terraces, which take away space from pedestrians, residents and customers.

The visual boundary between interior and exterior should blur

"Openness, accessibility and safety are the values ​​we want to embody. In fact, it's simple: don't build steps in front of the entrance to the first floor of commerce or the entrance, ensure accessibility for all groups of the population to any point of the territory, - notes Grysha Zotov. — A lot of glass, transparency, "no curtain", good insolation. There should not be a visual border between the interior and the exterior, it should blur. You should be able to open the window in the summer. The floor in the premises of the first floor should be at the same level as the sidewalk - all this will help to activate commerce."

It is the pedestrian infrastructure, openness and security of the complex that will become its magnets. "Novy Podil" has a completely pedestrian embankment, unique for the center of the capital, about 1 km long. According to Zotov, it will connect the district with Postova Square, and the complex itself with Podol via overpasses and a bridge over Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska Street.

"We need to bring people to the embankment, open access to the Dnipro. We are sure that she in particular and the complex in general will become a point of attraction," says Grisha Zotov.

 

Active streets are a communication tool

The American philosopher and sociologist Lewis Mumford believed that one of the most important tasks of the city is to be a place designed to provide the widest opportunities for meaningful conversation.

"And if the conditions for dialogue and drama in all their ramifications is one of the most important functions of the city, then the key to urban development is obvious: it consists in expanding the circle of those who are able to participate in dialogue, until, in the end, everyone participates in the conversation ", he wrote in the famous book "Cities in History".

How to achieve this? In addition to public spaces, active street facades do a great job of inviting dialogue.

It is streets that unite blocks into cities. They set the pace and style of the city, create conditions for communication, develop empathy, stimulate cooperation and creativity.

Here, for example, is how the checklist for creating active facades is described in the Oakland City Hall manual:

1. Buildings are located as close to the street boundary as the existing or planned street facades allow.

2. First-floor premises facing the street are intended for commercial use.

3. All ground floor residential units facing the street are carefully designed to provide residents with privacy.

Lewis Mumford: "The key to urban development is to expand the circle of those who are able to engage in dialogue until, eventually, everyone is engaged in the conversation."

By following these three simple rules, you can achieve a balance between the interests of commerce and residents. Active friendly streets are an active city that helps to cope with the most difficult challenges of time.