Wandsworth Living Streets

What makes side road junctions pedestrian-friendly? ForewordThis post has a companion written by Robert Weetman. We have been working collaboratively on something which we think needs to be more widely known, but we also thought it might be fun and …

We're pleased to report on a project that Mark has been working on with Robert Weetman for Manchester City Council.

This post sets out some ideas that developed from this work and which will hopefully start to explain what "pedestrian-friendly" is, and how we can design better side road junctions.

#thursdaythoughts | Mark Philpotts You may have heard the term "forgiving kerb", but what does that actually mean? Well, it's quite easily shown with a video - in this one it's me on a West Midlands cycle hire bike on the top end of th...

Here's a little description of what "forgiving kerbs" are all about from @rantyhighwayman.bsky.social, including a short video of such a kerb line in action.

www.linkedin.com/posts/markph...

It's easier to blame the loss of parking on cycle lanes than on fellow motorists, isn't it?

A green speech bubble graphic. Text reads: It’s powerful that two in three of the top things that grown-ups love to do with their children is being outside and getting active, especially for the school run. Easy, safe and attractive journeys for all are what we need to deliver. - Chris Boardman CBE, National Active Travel Commissioner.

Our poll results are in... parents' top three things to do with their kids are:

🌱 Spending time outdoors (68%)
🎲 Playing games (65%)
🚶 Going for a walk (60%)

Active Travel Commissioner @chrisboardman.bsky.social wants to get more families active this #InternationalWalkToSchoolMonth

Playgrounds are car infrastructure

ADPH London’s new Active Travel & Health statement is out! A practical resource for public health teams to lead change locally. It sets out the case for walking, wheeling & cycling to improve health & reduce inequalities.
📥 Read more: bit.ly/4pNLZ8T
#ActiveTravel #PublicHealth
@willnorman.co.uk

A recent survey showed:

✅ 74% of bikehangar members cycle 🚲 more since having a space

✅ 77% have either reduced their 🚘 use, sold their 🚘, or chosen not to own a 🚘

✅ 90% say since having access to secure bike 🚲storage, it’s made it easier to choose cycling 🚲

The wait is FINALLY over!

Our new book “Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation” is NOW AVAILABLE worldwide through RIBA Publishing wherever fine books are sold.

From Paris to Bogota, from Manila to Montreal—when women lead, cities thrive: www.modacitylife.com/women-changi...

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

Illustration of the precinct shopping centre in Coventry, with its shiny 1960s architecture, walkways and colourful flower planters

“An example of the town of the future is Coventry.... Traffic and pedestrians are kept apart and the roads are planned to let traffic flow smoothly”

(Our Land in the Making, 1966)
Artist: Ronald Lampitt

On Sunday, #Zürich residents voted 52.8% in favor of increasing parking fees for cars according to weight.

The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)

Direct democracy!

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Two decades after the Cheonggyecheon motorway removal, this waterway is now deeply embedded in Seoul’s identity: as a place to meet, walk, breathe and enjoy. For other metropolises dealing with aging auto-infrastructure, it is living proof of what’s possible when a city dares to let go of the road.🔚

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Critics initially worried removing a major artery would cause gridlock. But in practice, impacts were mitigated through expanded public transport, traffic control measures, and changes in road usage. Some traffic “evaporated” rather than being displaced. Bus and metro use increased post-restoration.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

Nighttime photos of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Downtown Seoul, a former motorway restored into a linear park with wide footpaths, terraced seating, accented lighting, and abundant greenery.

In the heart of Seoul, a ribbon of water now threads through where an expanse of asphalt once stood. The Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration, which replaced a major elevated motorway with an ecological and recreational corridor, has become a powerful case study in placemaking and traffic evaporation.🧵

Drivers, don't do this. To anyone on a zebra crossing, not just little kids going to school. You're supposed to *stop*, not slow down to a crawl and play chicken with the pedestrians. Related, if a driver does this to me, I start walking extremely very slowly, all the while maintaining eye contact.

Fantastic progress being made by Camden Council team in the pedestrianisation of Camden High Street.

Removing the traffic has made it so much safer - and now the street is being made welcoming and fun.

World’s major cities hit by 25% leap in extremely hot days since the 1990s Capitals from London to Tokyo need urgent action to protect people from deadly high temperatures, analysts say The world’s biggest capital cities are now sweltering under 25% more extremely hot days each year than in the 1990s, an analysis has found. Without urgent action to protect millions of people from high temperatures, more and more will suffer in the dangerous conditions, analysts said. From Washington DC and Madrid to Tokyo and Beijing, the analysis shows a marked rise in hot days as the climate crisis intensifies. Overall, the assessment by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), found the number of days above 35C in 43 of the world’s most populous capital cities rose from an average of 1,062 a year from 1994-2003 to 1,335 from 2015-2024. Continue reading...

World’s major cities hit by 25% leap in extremely hot days since the 1990s

A better world is possible

paved sidewalk with grey squares next to green space on left and cafe tables and trees on right.

Light brown sand/park with trees overhead.

Grey pavement and green space and picnic tables.

Here's one of Barcelona's famous superillas, or superblocks, on Rocafort-Consell de Cent. All of this used to be asphalt and space for moving and storing cars. Now it's green, quiet, calm, and safe.

“Private car use also exacerbates inequity, with most of the benefits accruing to car users and most of the harms falling on others, particularly the most disadvantaged.”

Cars as commercial determinants of health Transport is important for health.

The harms from transport are due to private cars/vans and lorries - Cacophony (noise), Carbon emissions, Casualties from collisions, Community severance, Concern and social isolation, Congestion, Contamination (of air and ground), Conurbation design and Couch potatoes www.fph.org.uk/blog/cars-as...

Today was one of my favourite lectures, on how evidence influences debates.

Case A: 79 people died as a consequence of smart motorways (2010-2024). That's sufficient to pause the policy.

Case B: In the first year of the Welsh 20mph scheme 900 fewer people were injured. There's still contestation.

Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity - Nature By analysing the smartphone data of 2,112,288 participants, in particular observing and comparing the activity of the same individual in two different environments, we find that increases in the walkability of environments result in increases in daily physical activity, providing evidence of the importance of the built environment on physical health.

There's a really nice new study using phone data from Americans who relocated from one city to another to look at the effect of walkable environments on physical activity. E.g., people move TO New York and walk more, they move FROM New York and walk less www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Car crashes into historic city wall in Norwich A white Audi crashed into a historic city wall near Carrow Bridge in Norwich.

Car driver damages part of medieval city wall.

Perhaps these vehicles ought to be speed restricted?
www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/2550150...

There's always space if you're prepared to be bold.

Excellent thread 🧵

Active travel really is a public health issue rather than a transport issue.

The personal and societal benefits from being more active is immense and we need to make it much easier and pleasant.

It's also not about sport, but just being active & walking or cycling when we can.

Urbanists OUTSIDE North America Worth Following! Join the conversation

NEW STARTER PACK! This time I’m hoping to encourage and support global urbanists from OUTSIDE North America here on Bluesky, so hopefully this will help! Who’ve I missed? Just joined? Let me know! I’ll keep updating, so please keep checking & sharing this pack! And let’s try using #GlobalUrbanists.

Active travel is a public health issue.

We really really need politicians at all levels to understand that building decent bike lanes won't just help a few Lycra-clad blokes: it will have a massive impact on people's health long term.

Terrific position statement on Active Travel & Health by the London Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH London). 👇

@londonls.bsky.social
@wandsworthcycling.bsky.social

Hahah. No.

Also, it isn't just how they are designed for the location, how the road network is arranged is more important IMO - if that's not looked at, a continuous footway won't work.