Category Archives: Pedestrian infrastructure

The very slow improvements over several decades in Boston’s recreational-trail facilities

In the 1980s I wrote a paper on the then-mostly-new recreational trails that had come into being in many North American cities. In most places, these trails were quite fragmentary. They were built where it was easy to build them, … Continue reading

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Marseille is changing

Many—and probably most—French cities have engaged in large-scale urban renewal projects over the last thirty years or so. Obsolete industrial and port facilities have been replaced by offices and housing. Research centers, museums, and concert halls have been squeezed into … Continue reading

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“Pedestrian priority” in Buenos Aires

I spent a week in Buenos Aires last month. This was my fourth (and longest) trip to the city. I had been there previously in 1986, 2002, and 2015. In the course of my recent trip, I tried to learn … Continue reading

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Pedestrian life in Abu Dhabi

I spent a few days in Abu Dhabi in early March. I had been there once before, but only for a couple of hours on a very hot day in 2010. This was my first extended stay in the city. … Continue reading

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The “park connectors” of Punggol and Sengkang, Singapore

I wrote about Singapore’s “park connectors” in an earlier post. Park connectors are paths for pedestrians and cyclists that now provide access to much of Singapore. They have been built quite self-consciously to promote Singapore’s goal of becoming a “car-lite” … Continue reading

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Dubai becomes a little more walkable

Dubai is known as a very car-oriented place. Exhibit number one is Sheikh Zayed Road, a 16-to-24-lane limited-access highway that extends through nearly the whole length of Dubai’s post-1990s neighborhoods including those containing most of the city’s famous skyscrapers. Pedestrian … Continue reading

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“Transit villages” in Hong Kong that predate the use of the term “transit village”

Hong Kong has four quite distinct urban rail systems: [1] the MTR (Mass Transit Railway), which consists of approximately 231 km of modern urban rail lines that run throughout the special administrative region; it incorporates the formerly separate lines of … Continue reading

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Lyon’s Confluence

A simplistic view of post-World-War-II French urban transportation planning would identify two very different phases. In the 1950s and 1960s, and well into the 1970s, the government largely devoted itself to catering to the automobile. Limited-access highways were built to connect French … Continue reading

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Schuylkill Banks makes Center City even better

Philadelphia’s Center City (which I recently visited for the first time in more than a decade) is one of the United States’ finest pedestrian spaces. It’s possible to walk comfortably just about anywhere within its roughly twelve square kilometers, and, when you … Continue reading

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The Queens Quay renovation in Toronto

When I was in Toronto, I also explored a much smaller project: the renovation of Queens Quay. Queens Quay is a short (3.3 km) street along Toronto’s “Harbourfront.” Over the last forty or so years most of its western 2 … Continue reading

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