WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE PUBLIC REALM?

“It’s the bit we all share. It’s the open park, the sheltered street, the pedestrian square, the quiet enclave or tree-lined verge. These are the places that shape our feelings of wellbeing. This is our shared kingdom. Our collective realm.”

Griff Rhys Jones, President of Civic Voice.

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Some of these many aspects and recent achievements are analysed in our publication Streetscapes.

 

DO WE ALL FULLY SHARE ITS RICH CHARACTERISTICS?

The nagging question remains: do all of us fully share the rich characteristics of the public realm? There are vulnerable people who may not.

 

“As we age, we tend to become less physically able, but also, which may not be so obvious, less confident in our mobility. Everyday tasks and even walking about the neighbourhood can become more challenging.

 

It is really important that elderly people are able to feel safe as well as comfortable when they cross a road. If they don’t, they won’t even try. They will simply stay at home and become less and less independent.”

Dr Max J Western, Co-Director, Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Change at the University of Bath.

 

 

HELP FOR VULNERABLE PEDESTRIANS

This website puts forward practical suggestions to help provide provide safer, more convenient and comfortable road and traffic lane crossings for vulnerable pedestrians. There are several applications, such as improved crossings at both side-road junctions and roundabout junctions, and at cycle lanes. The theme logically extends to continuous crossings and places where pedestrians have priority.

 

These are not new issues but public attitudes are changing and so this is the time to consider them again. We put forward practical steps for immediate action drawing on a recent technical visit into Swiss practice by highway, traffic engineering and urban design experts.

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This website is organised to explain first the context of the project, exactly what we suggest and how it can be done. Finally we have notes on who we are.