Investigating urban form, and walkability measures in the new developments: the case study of Garnizon in Gdansk

Sustainable transport choices are gaining much attention as they may support the global shift towards reducing the carbon footprint and developing more energy-efficient cities. The relation between urban form and sus- tainable transport has been discussed by academics and practitioners and there is a consensus that specific pa- rameters of urban form can encourage walking and discourage car use. Following global recommendations on sustainable development, countries take steps towards strengthening pedestrian accessibility by implementing spatial characteristics of walkable neighbourhoods, but also by mobility and urban design strategies. This issue, however, is not properly recognised in countries with short experience in sustainable urban development, such as former socialist countries. In Poland no studies on walkability-related parameters of urban form have been carried out, hence the knowledge in this field is limited. This paper aims to address this gap by providing evi- dence of a newly built urban district located in Gdansk, Poland. We present the Polish case with three examples of new urban districts from Western Europe, that are designed as sustainable and walkable environments. The methodology is based on the descriptive case study. It includes characteristics of design parameters namely the components of the “walkability index” as well as mobility solutions and urban design guidelines. The results show the current position of Garnizon development in relation to the Western European cases with regard to the existing post-communist legacy and allow for indicating differences and possible shortcomings. Additionally, the study results can be discussed in the context of improving the quality of the housing environment in Poland through pedestrian-oriented development strategiesPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Supermanzana in Practice: Ability to Create People Friendly Spaces upon the Example of Selected Barcelona-Based Projects

This paper is a result of an in situ study carried out in September 2017 in Barcelona. Its objective was to assess the effectiveness of the spatial policy of the city in terms of promoting sustainable mobility, traffic restrictions, increasing the share of public spaces, and improving basic ecological indicators, such as biodiversity, the area of green spaces, or air pollution. The analysis focuses on measures implemented within the scheme of the concept of 'a superblock' (original 'supermanzana') on the example of two selected neighborhoodsof Barcelona: Gracia, and a part of El Poblenou, demarcated by the streets: Carrer de Badajoz, Carrer de Llacuna, Carrer de Tanger, Carrer de Pallars. Special attention was paid to the ability of the changes implemented to create people friendly spaces, where people wish to stay, and subsequently to their ability to create positive functional and spatial changes, especially on ground floors of buildings. The paper shall give the reader a sense of the exact scope of implemented measures, presented on the example of selected analytical layers, such as transport, public spaces, visual information, street furniture, etc. The study results demonstrate an improvement in terms of the majority of the urban and ecological indicators referred to above; nevertheless, the assessment in terms of the actual increase of the attractiveness of the place and its ability to create people friendly spaces, is not explicit. In El Poblenou in particular one can observe certain weaknesses in this respect, which could be particularly disturbing considering subsequent plans of the authorities of Barcelona to implement the concept of 'a superblock' in other parts of the city within the scheme of the urban grid of Eixample. Doubts are additionally raised by the legibility of the new traffic network in this location, which constitutes an impediment in uninhibited and intuitive moving around for city inhabitants themselves. A similar spectrum of measures does not always bring about the same results. The assessment of the quality of public space cannot be limited to some selected figures, which confirm – as they must – effective implementation of the assumed goals, much to the satisfaction of the authorities who are behind them. Such an assessment carried out independently from other placemaking factors, such as the plot ratio, the diversity of the functional programme, spatial relations in the existing development structure, which should be adjusted to man's scale, or – finally - the quality and character of greenery projects implemented, will never be credible.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version