Integrating Transportation and Culture in Nice
I was recently lucky enough to spend some time in Nice, on the Cote D'Azur in the South of France, and was blown away by the way in which this punchy medium-sized city had come on in leaps and bounds in terms of improving its urban realm. I was last there some 7 years ago when traffic choked the upper half of the city whilst the rest was being torn up to install a hotly debated tramway system.
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The tram system is finished now and has turned what used to be a busy shopping road packed with traffic (think like Regent Street) in to a calm but populated pedestrian space. It's not noisy, nor sooty (the total antithesis of Regent Street!), there are places to sit and space enough to gather in groups if you're just hanging out. The trams run every few minutes and a series of separated bike paths connect with the main tramway street where cyclists can ride in safety so long as they keep clear of the tram cars. A public bike hire scheme ("Velo Bleu") completes the picture, whilst a separated cycleway along the entire length of the Promenade des Angles provides a safe and direct cycle route city "spine".
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Nice has come a very long way indeed since I was last there, and has seemingly taken these changes in its stride. On my most recent visit it wasn't especially warm, with the wind roaring down from the snow capped mountains behind the city. And yet the streets were packed with people shopping, eating, talking, meeting friends and generally just watching the world go by. A Nicoise dance crew drew a huge crowd, whilst organised tour parties passed by as they took in the modern art trail. If ever anyone wanted proof that a more liveable city is a more economically successful city then the proof was there; a gaggle of British girls on their hen night had dressed as French onion sellers, had hired bicycles and were being taken on a cycling tour of the gelato shops of the city. That's sophisticated urban regeneration in action!
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Someone once said that defining sprawl is like trying to define pornography; you know it when you see it. The same is also true for successful new city spaces. When they work, you know it. Nice works; I was very impressed.
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I'm reminded of my trip to the seaside town of Hastings, last year, where some simple cycling interventions and a few traffic calming measures were paying dividends in terms of encouraging people to return to a resort seemingly past its glory days. If everything we see between buildings is designed - from the choice of the type of asphalt used, to the very layout of the street - then it is increasingly apparent to me that there is a strong economic argument for creating people-led animated cityscapes. Built it and they will come, indeed.
The tram system is finished now and has turned what used to be a busy shopping road packed with traffic (think like Regent Street) in to a calm but populated pedestrian space. It's not noisy, nor sooty (the total antithesis of Regent Street!), there are places to sit and space enough to gather in groups if you're just hanging out. The trams run every few minutes and a series of separated bike paths connect with the main tramway street where cyclists can ride in safety so long as they keep clear of the tram cars. A public bike hire scheme ("Velo Bleu") completes the picture, whilst a separated cycleway along the entire length of the Promenade des Angles provides a safe and direct cycle route city "spine".
Nice has come a very long way indeed since I was last there, and has seemingly taken these changes in its stride. On my most recent visit it wasn't especially warm, with the wind roaring down from the snow capped mountains behind the city. And yet the streets were packed with people shopping, eating, talking, meeting friends and generally just watching the world go by. A Nicoise dance crew drew a huge crowd, whilst organised tour parties passed by as they took in the modern art trail. If ever anyone wanted proof that a more liveable city is a more economically successful city then the proof was there; a gaggle of British girls on their hen night had dressed as French onion sellers, had hired bicycles and were being taken on a cycling tour of the gelato shops of the city. That's sophisticated urban regeneration in action!
Someone once said that defining sprawl is like trying to define pornography; you know it when you see it. The same is also true for successful new city spaces. When they work, you know it. Nice works; I was very impressed.
I'm reminded of my trip to the seaside town of Hastings, last year, where some simple cycling interventions and a few traffic calming measures were paying dividends in terms of encouraging people to return to a resort seemingly past its glory days. If everything we see between buildings is designed - from the choice of the type of asphalt used, to the very layout of the street - then it is increasingly apparent to me that there is a strong economic argument for creating people-led animated cityscapes. Built it and they will come, indeed.