The new bike lane runs along Avenida Paulista and is 2.7km (1.7 miles) long
The opening of a bike lane in one of the most famous thoroughfares of Latin America this weekend symbolises a change of heart over attitudes to transport, campaigners say.
The distinctive red lane has been built in Avenida Paulista, in the heart of Sao Paulo.
The Brazilian city has more than 5.6 million cars and is famous the world over for its traffic congestion.
The initiative is part of a project backed by the city's mayor, Fernando Haddad.
Mayor Fernando Haddad (fourth from right) tried out one of the new lanes for himself
Mr Haddad pledged to expand Sao Paulo's existing network of bike lanes from 64.7km (40 miles) to 400km in length by 2016.
But the project is not without controversy.
Critics said the project was poorly planned and consultation had been inadequate, while others argued the level of demand did not justify the expense and disruption.
Heated issue
Bike lanes have been a matter of sometimes heated debate in Sao Paulo since 1975 when the first lane was constructed, only to be replaced 15 years later with a tunnel for cars.
Sao Paulo is infamous for the volume of its car traffic
Three proposals to create a network of bike lanes in the last 30 years never came to fruition.
But backing from the city authorities seems to have given cyclist renewed impetus.
"Many people wanted to use bikes but didn't because they were afraid. We want to guarantee the cyclists' safety. It's their right," Sao Paulo Transport Secretary Jilmar Tatto explained the city hall's support for the lanes.
An opinion poll conducted by DataFolha Institute in February suggested 66% of residents backed the policy.
More than half of those questioned said they used a bike at least once a week, while 13% said that they never used one.
Cyclists argued that having dedicated lanes for bikes would save lives
Twenty-year-old student Camille Veronese is one of those who thinks the lanes will make a difference.
"I've seen many accidents. They took too long to create more lanes. This will make it safer to ride a bike."
Fifty-year-old taxi driver Marcos Segatin thinks the measure will improve traffic, but argues that "they did this too fast, with a few mistakes, but it will be an alternative [mode of] transport".
Symbolic stretch
In the last year, 238km of new bike lanes were built in Sao Paulo, but no stretch is as symbolic as the 2.7km-long lane set to open on Sunday on Avenida Paulista.
The avenue, once lined with the homes of Brazil's rich coffee barons, is now a busy commercial area.
Thirteen years ago a group of cyclists began a protest known as "Bicicletada" occupying part of Avenida Paulista to demand investment in modes of transport other than Sao Paulo's ubiquitous cars.
Cyclists blocked Avenida Paulista as part of the Bicicletada protestThey wanted to draw attention to the dangers facing cyclists and the lack of safe lanes
"Back then drivers used to honk and shout at us to get off the road and would try to scare us by driving by very close", says Odir Junior, 45, one of those who took part in those early protests.
He says the new lane is a "turning point for the city".
"It took a lot of sweat, tears and blood to get here," he says, referring to the deaths of three cyclists and a fourth who lost his arm on Paulista over the last five years.
Uphill struggle
Right up to the last moment, though, it was not clear if the project would go ahead as opponents argued that the feasibility studies had been inadequate.
In the end though, legal attempts to stop the lane from opening failed.
When the news that the lane would go ahead was announced in March, thousands of cyclists protesting at the time on Avenida Paulista cheered and applauded, chanting "fewer cars, more bikes".
Cyclists welcomed the news that the legal attempts to block the bike lane had failed
Sao Paulo also won plaudits from the New-York based NGO Institute of Transportation Development Policy, which awarded it its Sustainable Transport Award.
Clarisse Linke, the institute's executive director in Brazil, said they recognised the efforts of cities "that have the courage to try to change".
Sao Paulo's current city officials back the bike lanes, but some worry that this could change after the 2016 municipal elections.
"There is always the risk that the next mayor could represent a setback but we will be watching and demanding improvements," says Daniel Gut, who heads the city's main cyclists' association, Ciclocidade.
Three cyclists have died on Paulista Avenue over the past five years and one lost an arm in an accident
But Andrea Matarazzo, who leads the main opposition group in Sao Paulo City Hall, says that if elected, he would improve rather than get rid of the bike lanes.
"I'll continue to implement them, increasing their total extension, but with public debate, inviting the city's residents to give their opinions, something the current mayor didn't do", he says.
For the moment, however, one of Latin America's most famous avenues now has a distinctively bike friendly character, with pedal power holding its own in a city famous for its gridlock of cars.Linkedin
Why can't we design our urban spaces a little better?
June 26, 2015 3:05 pm
The architects who kickstarted the transformation of Times Square
Harriet Partridge
Meet the architects who are transforming our traffic-clogged streets by studying how we experience a city
Times Square in New York closed to traffic during the Gehl pilot
M
ost of us have feigned expertise on city planning at some point. Our criticisms are obvious — gridlocked traffic, hazardous potholes, soulless developments. And the solutions seem commonsensical — restrict rush-hour deliveries, invest in infrastructure, value the public realm — yet cities prove difficult to change. Battling the traffic as a cycling commuter, I constantly question whether our cities have been designed for cars or humans? Could they survive and thrive without cars?
Danish-born Jan Gehl is a special kind of architect. His conventional training was turned on its head when in 1960 he met his future wife, a psychologist, and came to question why “it is easier for architects to study form than life”. Gehl spent the next 40 years researching, surveying and amassing theories on urbanism and humans — until he was challenged to practise what he preached. With co-founder Helle Søholt, he set up Gehl Architects. Today, their theories have been applied to cities from Shanghai to San Francisco. And their philosophy is informed by the needs of humans rather than buildings, transport or politics.
Gehl Architects’ process begins with rigorous analysis. They count benches, record the number of people on each street, day and night, week and weekend; analyse what people are doing, how old they are, where they are going, how they are getting there. They examine where people jaywalk, what streets they avoid, what obstacles they slalom. They scrutinise “visual pollution” from signage, numbers of bins, pavement surfaces, security, lighting, how wind funnels through certain areas and sun catches others. And it is all measured and graphically demonstrated — quantifying the human experience of a city.
A CGI of how the square will look when Norwegian architects Snøhetta turn Gehl’s experiment into reality
We live in cities that are, in Gehl’s words, a product of the “traffic engineers’ heyday” — more or less the past half century. In China, 90 per cent of people don’t own a car, yet cities based on what Gehl calls a “100km/hour experience” are growing continually. Gehl Architects do not propose masterplans to transform cities overnight. Rather, they promote “initiatives for change”, pilot studies that usually begin with one priority: improving walkability — the 5km/hour experience.
It is a long-term approach. It took Copenhagen five decades to become the human-focused city it is today. Since its main street was pedestrianised in 1962, a network of others have gradually followed, as well as 18 public squares, previously car parks. The city’s success is due to physical changes married to a shift in mindset.
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When Gehl conducted a pilot study in 2008, temporarily closing Broadway to traffic between Times Square and Herald Square, New Yorkers awoke to a new way of thinking about their streets. Gehl identified that 90 per cent of the users of Times Square (pedestrians) had 10 per cent of the space: since then, 400,000 sq metres in midtown Manhattan have been pedestrianised. Norwegian architects Snøhetta are making Gehl’s pilot a permanent reality as Times Square’s transformation completes next year.
Pilot studies are effective tools to demonstrate theories. São Paulo is rich in architectural heritage, but since the end of the dictatorship in the 1980s, its high-rise development has rocketed and sprawled, with little planning. As traditional businesses move to the skyscrapers, the urban fabric is often neglected. After local workshops, Gehl conducted experiments on four main roads and squares testing how people used the spaces. They converted a parking lot into a playground, added temporary bike racks and benches, and coloured zones on the road to identify routes. Results showed that these small interventions had social impacts: fewer accidents, less jaywalking, more recreation, and — Gehl’s measure of a safe city — more young and elderly out and about.
São Paulo, before and after, in attempts to make the area more welcoming for people
Giving urban space back to people does not always suit developers who, Søholt says, tend to work with square-metre calculations “and deal with life and strategy later”. In Lille, France, Gehl’s challenge is to tackle this. “Euralille”, the booming 1990s business district with vast buildings and high-speed rail, is a product of an ambitious masterplan. But it neglects the street-level human scale. Gehl’s work — ongoing since 2013 — aims to knit together areas divided by the railway tracks, and activate the in-between spaces.
In Chongqing, in China, where the goal was to revitalise streetlife
By contrast, his work in North America tends to focus on open sprawl more than dense, high-rise development. At present they are working on what they call “mid-sized-towns” — Charlotte, Columbus and Lexington in Kentucky — which have spread-out centres with poor quality public space and significant social segregation. The survey is in process: defining key destinations (residents are covering maps with Post-it notes identifying “great buildings”, “best views”, “green areas”); examining the ease of transit from one to the next; and making simple improvements to the street network to increase walkability, and therefore health and wellbeing.
When asked by a minister in 2011 to “health check” Moscow, Gehl found heritage squares marooned by traffic. Cars had overtaken the streets — 93 per cent of the riverfront was a highway.
From left: pedestrianised Copenhagen; Copenhagen in 1953
So what should be done about cars in general? The answer may not be total exclusion, but an approach to curb them, with fewer lanes, improved routes, wider footways, and subterranean car parks.
The space in between buildings is also crucial to Gehl’s work. He describes ineffective public squares as “carpets” in front of buildings, as opposed to areas where people can interact.
New Road, in Brighton, England’s first shared road space for cyclists, cars and pedestrians
Big culprits are mid-century modernist housing estates. Rosengård in Malmo, Sweden, for example, is disconnected from the city by dual carriageways. Gehl’s study found that the “no-man’s-land” between buildings had poor lighting, nowhere to sit, tunnels of wind and a high crime rate. Working with residents from 2009, Gehl Architects addressed the estate from eye level: they improved lighting, created terraces and gardens in areas with evening sun, used bike sheds to shelter courtyards, resurfaced the landscape, and redefined routes through the estate. By giving people a sense of ownership of shared spaces, crime has been reduced and recreational activity has risen by 60 per cent. No one is claiming deprived estates can change overnight. What Gehl shows is that his flexible framework of tests and participation can encourage sustainable progress.
From left: the Rosengård housing estate in Malmo; a shared play area and courtyard after the Gehl redesign
When I ask Gehl about his thoughts on London he is critical — and perhaps justifiably, since the firm conducted a thorough survey in 2004, little of which has been carried further. Gehl suggests this is due to a lack of local governing power. Søholt believes London suffers from a reluctance to do anything unless it is perfect, for fear of disturbing what she calls the “political beehive”.
London’s recent cycling deaths have provoked fury. After Moira Gemmill’s death in April a vigil — dubbed a “die in” — was held by 400 cyclists lying in the road at Lambeth Bridge junction. Safe cycling in London is unlikely to be solved by “cycle superhighways”, as they won’t change the way we think about sharing the road. In Copenhagen, by contrast, cycling is integrated into the street’s fabric, with pedestrians and cars, and clever measures such as a “median” lane in the middle of the road and traffic lights for cyclists. Gehl recently led a study on the cycle highways in Odense, Denmark, which found that women still preferred to cycle on ordinary streets at night because they thought they were safer than these highways. In his view, real change requires mental as well as physical engagement.
Easy to say but is it easy to do? Evidently not. Next time you are sitting in a traffic jam spare a thought for Gehl and these attempts to recapture our cities.
Green commuting
FT Camp Alphaville
At FT Camp Alphaville’s inequality property debate, on Wednesday July 1, London
Jane Owen, editor of FT House and Home, will ask:
● Edwin Heathcote, architecture and design critic, Financial Times
● Peter Rees, professor of places and city planning, University College London
● Ed Mead, executive director, Douglas & Gordon
● Kate Allen, property correspondent, Financial Times . . . about whether urban development is improved or hindered by government policies requiring affordable housing components to be part of private residential developments. To what degree are such policies over or under relied on?
How effective have they been, and how should they evolve? Can the posh/poor door be justified?
If the days of ordinary gas-guzzling cars are numbered, how will commuters get to work? One idea is Autolib’, Paris’s electric car share scheme, writes Claudia Knowles. Operators Bolloré hope to introduce thousands of battery-powered cars to London by 2018, with Los Angeles and Indianapolis to follow. A Bolloré spokesman suggests the scheme could prove popular among young people for commuting and — as has reportedly happened in Paris — “making love”.
Less romantic, perhaps, yet no less eco-friendly, are Terra Motors’ electric rickshaws, which are being developed for the Asian market.
But what if roads themselves begin to disappear? If pavements stretch further and wider, demand for car-free options may grow. Parents could opt for the wheelbarrow-esque cargo bike, for example, a school-run favourite in Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Or those nostalgic for the days of roller disco could sport a pair of Cardiff Skates over their work shoes, a Californian design that comes with four “speed-control discs” for all skating occasions.
Then there are skateboards, of course. Increasingly, skaters are flocking to Barcelona, in particular, where the beachfront, stretching from the centre to thedistricte de la innovació, provides the perfect runway.
Futuristic alternatives are also at hand. The Walking Bicycle combines a cross trainer with an oversized scooter, while the Solowheel’s gyroscopic self-balance mechanism allows the frame to be disposed of altogether to create an electric, seatless unicycle. Two-wheeled versions have appeared on the market as Hovertrax, made by Solowheel, and Dutch-crafted Oxboards.
In respect to the SVA Heritage project, does it include special vistas
or the town’s fine Georgian and Victrian street configurations? Would for
instance the beach huts spoil the classic view twards Peak Hill. Isn’t this
another commercial opportunity for the EDDC asset stripper’s to trash the
place.
This is an impression of the vista as it currently looks, courtesy of the artist:
This is the Herald's mock-up of what the District Council's proposals for Sidmouth might look like:
Beach hut owners in Exmouth are unhappy with the sell-off scheme planned
BEACH hut owners in Exmouth have reacted with despair over the proposals by East Devon District Council to sell off the beach huts in the town to the highest bidder.
Cherry Hopley said: “The plans are not for local people. We live in Exmouth and those who have double incomes are going to bid double what we can as we only have one income so we’ll be outbid every time.”
She said they were on a waiting list for five years for the hut and had now had the use of it for two years.
Mrs Hopley added: “The beach hut is a Godsend. I had cancer two years ago and the hut has helped in my recovery and I think it is unfair as the council is going on finance and not need. I feel it is like taxing the poor. Why not have a lottery system instead? If they want to move people off the list I can understand it but have a lottery system. They are so iconic that they symbolise the town. If you go to Nat West they have a poster of the huts.”
Keith Tucker also has one of the huts. He said: “We have rich people coming down and buying second homes, driving people out of the housing market and not I’m afraid rich people come down from other places and price people out of the beach huts. A lot of these people will not use the beach huts very much but will keep them as a status symbol.”
“It is unfair on local people and they are being hard-done by in East Devon. This is one little perk they should be allowed to keep. I went to the town council meeting recently about it and the town council were overwhelmingly opposed to the proposals.”
EDDC said: “We think it is only fair that everyone – from East Devon residents to visitors – should have the opportunity to hire a beach hut, site or chalet. This consultation is a great opportunity for people to give us their views on the service they would like to receive from us.”
The draft Local Plan is in its final stages: Futures Forum: District Council draft Local Plan: consultation ends noon Friday 12th June The Inspector has confirmed the hearings where he will consider changes and proposed changes to the draft since he was here a year ago. [Note that there will be no new hearing into Sidmouth - or other specific locations.] This is the press release from the District Council:
Responses to Local Plan consultation sent to Inspector for consideration
When this content has been created
24 June 2015
Oral hearing sessions anticipated to commence early July
The eight-week public consultation period for East Devon District Council’s Local Plan has now ended (12 June 2015) and the responses from a total of 145 individuals and organisations, have been analysed and forwarded to the appointed planning inspector, Mr Thickett, for his consideration. It is anticipated that the inspector will hold oral hearing sessions at Knowle starting on 7 July and he has advised that those people and organisations which previously made oral representations will be invited to speak. Everyone making representations will be contacted and informed of the next stages. Proposed dates for the hearing sessions, which will be open to the public, are as follows:
Tuesday 7 July – Gypsies and Travellers Plan, and allocation sites, including Cranbrook
Wednesday 8 July – Housing (excluding Cranbrook)
Thursday 9 July – Reserved day
Friday 10 July – Community Infrastructure Levy
Overview of themes and issues
A diverse range of comments was received by the council in response to the 14 questions provided by the inspector (plus a general question from the council), for the consultation and the issues raised within these comments have been broadly summarised below. However, for a more detailed picture of people’s opinions the council has published full details of the representations on the East Devon website.
Housing (including overall numbers and distribution)
Some respondents questioned whether there were sufficient houses built in the past and whether the council is proposing enough for the future, while others suggested that the target of 17,100 homes in the plan was too high and were of the view that the number of projected new jobs was over-estimated. From some, there was the concern that the environmental value and integrity of East Devon would be adversely affected by the proposed increase in development. A number of people supported a concentration of development in the West, while others wanted greater provision in the rural towns and villages. There was specific concern that neighbourhood plans were not an effective way to plan for growth and development. A number of respondents questioned the potential rate at which housing sites would be developed and indicated that lower build rates would result in there not being a five-year land supply.
Gypsies and Travellers
The assessment findings and targets of 37 pitches for gypsies and travellers and three sites for travelling showpeople received very few comments other than that large scale housing allocation sites in the plan should also provide for gypsy and traveller accommodation.
Site allocations
Limited comments were received on topics such as the Cranbrook Plan area boundary and how this has been defined, land for a railhead at the Intermodal Interchange and the pro’s and con’s of safeguarding it, and the impacts of allocating Winslade Park at Clyst St Mary, including the loss of employment land and the impact on the listed building and parkland.
General matters
A very wide range of matters feature in other representations, including people proposing additional land allocations for residential development. There was also concern that the policy approach over development at Sidmouth and Sidford Employment Allocation Site would damage Sidmouth. Some residents favoured the de-allocation of the Sidford employment allocation and believe that an enhancement to the Alexandria Road would be preferable. There was concern about the processes being used for habitat regulations and sustainability assessments. In addition, some respondents wanted a greater range of employment sites allocated, in order to give more opportunity to potential investors.
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
The council received ten representations on the revised CIL draft charging schedule. These comments primarily related to what infrastructure should be provided through CIL and what should be provided through Section 106 agreements and therefore how CIL rates should be set for different parts of the district. Commenting on the responses, Councillor Andrew Moulding, Deputy Leader of East Devon District Council said:
We asked the public to tell us what they thought about the draft Local Plan through the consultation and the hearings, which are to be held shortly. As a result of which the Local Plan Inspector will be able to consider public opinion, views and assessment. Community engagement has an extremely important role to play in the development of the Local Plan. The responses that we have received will all be considered and will be used to help influence the Plan.
In light of any other issues that the inspector may identify and changes that have been suggested by respondents, if he recommends any modifications to the Plan, then we will be asking full council to consider those recommendations.
Council-run solar farms – a new trend? The ultimate design challenge
Solar farms are cropping up all across the UK. If you haven’t noticed them before, you will soon. Britain is now home to 465 solar farms. 184 of these farms sprung up just last year. But recently, local councils have been getting in on the action. A new £2.5 million council-run solar farm in Wales is set to produce enough energy to power around 700 homes.
We spoke to Chris Morrison, Head of Solar at British Gas about the project.
How much power could the solar farm produce for the area?
The farm is expected to produce around 2,300MWh per year, or enough to power 700 homes. The farm will also save up to 1,272 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year – that’s the equivalent to flying from Cardiff to Cork 9,100 times.
Why was Wrexham chosen as the site for the solar farm?
The location is land owned by Wrexham County Borough Council. Wrexham has been a leader in renewable energy for some time, but this is the first time they have decided to run a solar farm. They’re hoping the farm will benefit the community.
Will the new solar farm have any cost to the local residents?
Wrexham County Borough Council has funded the solar farm, but they have done this on the basis that this will be a long-term investment. The council will reap a positive return from the site, from the Government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme over 20 years and the electricity that is exported to the grid.
What’s unique about the design of this solar farm?
The solar farm has been designed with wide gaps between the solar modules and will leave 70% of the land for the landowner to continue grazing sheep. So, it’s a dual use site.
The site came with a number of design challenges. It has three fields with a river running through it and a large number of protected trees, which you can’t chop down or touch. In addition, there are a large number of high voltage overhead and underground cables and gas mains. When you’re digging into the ground to install solar photovoltaic (PV) frames, you have to be very careful about where you drill.
Is solar technology becoming less expensive?
Yes, costs are coming down, mainly due to an increase in solar production in Europe, USA and China. New and more efficient technologies are coming through without the cost increases. There have also been a number of operational improvements, which is helping to reduce the cost of solar PV installation.
Could the solar farm help people with their energy bills?
This solar farm will feed directly into the grid. The cost of solar is coming down and it is a key part of the energy mix in the UK, to help secure supply and create greater price stability and sustainability for consumers. It’s worth mentioning that anyone can install solar PV systems on their home to reduce their electricity bills.
What other solar projects are you involved in?
Another exciting project that we’ve been involved in is a solar farm of 13,000 panels for Toyota to power its Deeside manufacturing plant. The farm was opened in August 2014 and will provide 10% of their electricity – enough to produce 22,000 car engines. British Gas also works in north Wales with Welsh Water, and has installed about half a dozen solar installations in north Wales including one in Anglesey.
Another project that we’re really excited about is the work we’re doing with community benefit society, Gen Community, to offer solar panels for local government sites such as schools and town halls across the country.
