At the end of 2021, Jardim Monte Verde, a community in the outskirts of Recife, Brazil, reclaimed almost 800 square meters of road space for people. This transformation project included creating 11 new, safer crossings, as well as road safety measures such as speed humps, narrow traffic lanes and extended sidewalks. The new space also included vibrant colors and a place for people to gather.
The results were immediate. The number of people walking in the road dropped by 98%, and the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit dropped by half. The community also approved of the changes: 84% of people interviewed now feel safer crossing the street. So far the neighborhood is also helping to care for the space by watering the plants and maintaining the furniture. GDCI was incredibly proud to be part of this project together with Prefeitura do Recife.
Soon after we finished this project, Recife experienced catastrophic rain, flooding, and landslides that killed several people in the Jardim Monte Verde community. Weather events like this are tied to climate catastrophe, and are a reminder of why we need to make streets that are safer for low-carbon transportation like walking and cycling.
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The Streets for Kids Reverse Periscope is a do-it-yourself tool that encourages planners, city officials, and others to experience the obstacles and attractions of city streets from a child’s perspective.
As part of a collaboration between Agenzia Mobilità Ambiente Territorio (AMAT), Bloomberg Associates and the Global Designing Cities Initiative, the City of Milan has developed an innovative public space program named Piazze Aperte or “Open squares.”
These handbooks distill GDCI’s experience implementing and evaluating street transformation projects in cities around the world, and are an important step in changing the decades-long embedded practice of implementing and evaluating street transformations from a car-centric point of view.
