AITPM SA Branch Technical Forum Summary for National Newsletter
Technical Forum 14 April 2010 –Street Design: Trends and Emerging Practice
Presenter - Natalya Boujenko: Strategic Consultant/Director, Intermethod
Natalya Boujenko is a certified practicing engineer and the founder and Director of Intermethod. Natalya has provided strategic consulting services over the past 12 years in both Australia and the UK and has extensive international project experience.Natalya is an established international presenter, having presented and published papers around the world.
Natalya presented to the 45attendees at the forum an exceptionally interesting and encouraging presentation.Discussing thecross-related contributions and approaches to street design from the disciplines of traffic/transportation engineering, planning and urban designand how the task of planning and designing streets has fundamentally changed over the last decade and some of the new directions and approaches related to: ‘streets for people’, ‘integrated street design’, transit-oriented development’, ‘mixed use streets’ and‘streets by design’.
The presentation included past and current emerging international practice approaches to integrated street design, relating to publications dating from the 1900’s and the significant changes from high density living through the 60’s to more mixed living and integration in present day.
For decades, the primary concern on urban streets has been to design for traffic movement, often resulting in poor street environments for pedestrians and other road users. There is a growing recognition that streets contribute in many ways to economic, environmental and social life. How communities have evolved and what the ‘Ideal’ integration is and how design professionals can translate the ‘Ideal’ into a reality.
Natalya is a joint author of: ‘Link and Place: A Guide to Street Planning and Design’ (Jones, Boujenko and Marshall, 2007). The Link and Placeapproach was developed in Europe in 2001 and has been applied and adopted widely since. The approach categorises all street needs on the basis of two competing functions: that of a Link – street as a movement conduit and a Place – street as a destination in its own right. The Link and Place approach provides a balanced approach to planning and designing “streets for people”.
Developing a new approach to urban street planning and design based around the dual function of streets as Links and as Places. Shifting from a roads-based to a streets-based approach to planning and design has major implications for the ways in which streets are classified, how street needs and design requirements are defined, how satisfactory street performance is judged, how parts of the network are prioritised for attention, and for the types of street design solutions that are developed and appraised.
The new process and techniques that build on the principles of Link and Place will result in more balanced and integrated solutions and outcomes for streets. The presentation included examples draw on case studies from the UK and other parts of Europe and in Adelaide, providing practical illustrations of their application.
An example was shown of the redesign of Trafalgar Square in London and creating an area for the “people”.Trafalgar Square ‘before’ was traffic orientated, unsafe for pedestrians and not the iconic and people place that it should feel and be recognised as. Trafalgar Square ‘after’ with the closure of the through road between the National Gallery and the Square and return to public space, improved pedestrian access and integration creating a “People Place”.
An example of particular interest for all attending the forum was the extension of the O-Bahn Busway into the Adelaide city centre. Planning is in progress on the O-Bahn City Access project, which involves a consortium of companies working together, including DTEI, Adelaide City Council and Intermethod. The project is funded by the Australian Government contribution of $61 million.
The O-Bahn project features priority bus lanes that will ease peak hour traffic congestion in inner city Adelaide. This project means faster travel times for O-Bahn passengers, thus delivering wider social and productivity benefits. The proposed route is along Hackney Rd to Dequetteville Tce,Rundle Rd and Grenfell St and Currie St.The project involves extensive planning using the integrated street design approach through the city centre to create “streets for people”.
The SA Branch thanks Natalya for her informative and interesting presentation.
Photos
Paul Morris, SA Branch President introduces Natalya Boujenko (Strategic Consultant and Director of Intermethod)and her presentation on Street Design: Trends and Emerging Practice
Photo of King William Street, Adelaide in the earlier 1900’s – does the integration look any different today?
O-Bahn City Access Project: redesign of Currie Street and Grenfell Street - an example of an integrated approach