changing
cities BY RICHARD ALVEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING, ATKINS
The city of tomorrow needs to be planned with the bigger picture in mind – and that picture is now bigger than ever. Governments and planners must walk a very fine line, balancing the need for sustainable urban growth as an economic driver with the needs of the people who live and work there. Half of the world’s population already lives in cities and, by 2030, that number is expected to hit 60 per cent or higher. What’s more, according to the “State of the World’s Cities 2010/2011” report published by UN Habitat: “Between the year 2000 and 2010, over 200 million people in the developing world will have been lifted out of slum conditions.” India, China and Africa are all witnessing the rise of a new middle class, aspiring to the kind of lifestyle to which people in the West have been so long accustomed. This is one of the largest population migrations the world has ever known and we’re all watching it happen. In these economies, the emphasis is on high- level transport and infrastructure planning, to meet the changing needs of their people. Lifestyles are becoming increasingly energy-hungry and home ownership is on the rise. For example, in Oman, Atkins has recently planned a new city district for Suhar in order to meet the needs of a growing populace while also attracting investment and driving economic growth. The more mature markets of Europe and North America, meanwhile, are coping with the increased expectations of a well-established population, as they strive to retain that population and maintain
economic stability. This means paying greater attention to issues surrounding public realm – from more shared public spaces to improved pedestrian and cycling options.
What does this mean for the cities in which we
live? It means we’re facing some intriguing challenges and some truly remarkable opportunities. Business, transport, infrastructure, climate change and a host of other practical issues need to be addressed in our march to urbanisation. Add to this the various socio-political and economic pressures we face today and city planning becomes more complicated than ever.
The people paradigm Planning a city is more than just designing buildings and creating suitable infrastructure. It’s more than water, power and roads. It’s about the ebb and flow of the people who will live and work and travel within that space, and anticipating the way in which all of these pieces will both intersect and interact. If the needs of the population are not understood, the original spirit of a plan can be lost. It’s an essential distinction: masterplanning can
play a key role in the long-term agenda of a city or region. Take the recent redesign of the crossing system at London’s Oxford Circus, by Atkins. On the one hand, the iconic crossroads was notorious for heavy traffic and pedestrian congestion, a frustrating bottleneck of shoppers and tourists. Any plan to update the site had to solve these fundamental issues in order to function.
“BUSINESS, TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND A HOST OF OTHER PRACTICAL ISSUES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED IN OUR MARCH TO URBANISATION”
3
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44