Street
Reclaiming -
Creating
Livable
Streets
and Vibrant Communities
by
David Engwicht
(New Society Publishers,1999)
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Street reclaiming, livable streets…what a curious notion. Of those you know, who has this theme as one of their crusades? As evidenced by our surroundings, not many. Yet, what a brilliant, fundamentally obvious concept; public space and transportation corridors designed primarily for people, secondarily for their vehicles. The inverse is so ubiquitous in our county we seem to simply accept it as if it were a natural occurrence like rain or wind.
I have huge respect for someone who can clearly articulate big ideas / visions / passions / in casual conversation and also have them be the guide and a focal point in their work. David Engwitcht has done this. The book is a very digestible, and healthy overview of what's possible with the pavement and concrete out there that is largely dedicated to the automobile.
This book is for anyone who:
• appreciates neighborhoods where people know and interact with others on the block;
• values the sense of belonging to a community;
• values the feeling that their children are safe to explore their neighborhood;
• values spontaneity.
An excellent, local example of the outdoor, social dynamics that Engwicht addresses in his book, is San Luis Obispo's "Downtown Center" between Marsh and Higuera streets. The next time you are there, take a moment to notice how many places there are for people to stop and commingle relative to the square footage of the outdoor space.
But Engwicht takes the concept a step further by suggesting that the very street in front of your house is your outdoor living room, is available to you now, and in regarding it as such, your neighborhood will come alive with spontaneous, social interaction.
The transformative implications are far-reaching: if the public space on your block caters to spontaneous exchanges and unplanned social interaction (benches, for example, cause this to occur), your neighbors lose their sheen of anonymity and become characters that can enrich your life or simply reduce the sensation that you live on a block where you don't know (or dare interact with) the people 4 doors down from you. Urban space can be developed that generates a sense of belonging for its occupants. Engwicht's book beautifully illustrates this in detail.
An in depth supplement to Engwicht's work was published in September of 1996 by the Journal of Architectural Education titled: "Czech Town Squares: Ten Spatial Patterns" by Laura Joines ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
In this work, Joines (coincidentally my wife) has identified and distilled 10 key design elements that facilitate a social and economic vitality in Bohemian Town Squares. These town squares continue to prosper as they have for 100's of years and have not been radically changed by the automobile. If you find yourself in the Czech Republic, make sure you visit the Medieval towns of Southern Bohemia and observe first hand, the effect of public spaces that were not actually designed, but evolved as spaces for people to thrive.
Philip Novotny
