IHBC Yearboox 2018

40 Y E A R B O O K 2 0 1 8 the proposals (Transport for London, March 2018) showed that while a substantial majority of residents, businesses and visitors were generally in favour of the idea, 33 per cent of all respondents were opposed to it. Pedestrianisation of urban centres is, of course, nothing new. Colin Buchanan’s seminal work Traffic in Towns signalled a shift in attitude in the 1960s with the aim of creating traffic-free shopping precincts in the urban centres, and excluding through- traffic by constructing bypasses and inner relief roads. However, traffic levels continued to grow, the towns remained congested, and the detailing of these early precincts ignored the traditional palette of materials as well as the scale and pattern of historic streetscapes. Furthermore, the faster roads on the periphery favoured the growth of out-of-town shopping centres where shoppers could at last enjoy traffic-free shopping. For the past 50 years planners and highway engineers have been trying to accommodate increasing traffic densities only to find that vehicle numbers increase accordingly. Now climate change priorities and the need to reduce pollution in urban centres gives the green light for schemes that reverse this trend. As in Paris, experience shows that car ownership will fall in urban centres with good public transport systems if conditions for cyclists and pedestrians are improved at the expense of car owners. The benefits of prioritising pedestrians over traffic in historic urban centres cannot be overstated – environmentally or economically. The quality of the built environment is eroded by traffic, parking, tarmac and all the associated infrastructure. While visitors and tourists are deterred from coming, those who live and work there continue to suffer from the noise, fumes and dangers. People with small children are particularly aware that they are unsafe, preferring the out-of-town shopping malls. All businesses in the centre are affected, but particularly shops and visitor attractions. The Portas Review of 2011 highlighted growing competition from the out-of-town shopping centres and from purchases made online as key factors in the decline of traditional high streets across the country. The result was a 14 per cent fall in the amount of retail floor space in town centres from 2000 and 2011. The review argued that for traditional high streets to prosper they had to become ‘places where we go to engage with other people in our communities, where shopping is just one small part of a rich mix of activities’. The viability and quality of the town and city centre’s environment are inextricably linked. Excluding all but the most essential traffic allows former roadways to be used as amenity space which, if used well, can provide a significant draw. Good landscaping attracts not only visitors and shoppers from further afield, but also offices and other businesses. Since these still have to be serviced (deliveries, refuse collection, taxis and disabled vehicles for example) some roadways may remain in use but often as ‘shared space’. Here pedestrians are given priority, street furniture is kept to the minimum and different road users are required to interact with one another. Paving may be continuous, blurring the distinction between pedestrian areas and vehicle routes, and causing traffic to slow to a walking pace or slower, and drivers soon learn to find alternative routes. Although it is clear that private car ownership and use must decline in the long term, the effect of developing technologies such as driverless vehicles and drone- deliveries is less predictable. The effect could be as significant as the last industrial revolution, and it is essential that historic environment professionals engage with the issues and the opportunities they bring to secure the best possible outcomes. Jonathan Taylor is the editor of The Building Conservation Directory , a director of the publishers Cathedral Communications and an IHBC member. Plaza de la Constitucion, Malaga, Spain: all but the most essential traffic has now been excluded from most of the historic centre of Malaga and the streets have been repaved with natural stone to remove pavement steps, reflecting a growing trend on the continent (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)