Pedestrianising the city
ZHA's design for London's Regent Street
Our Healthy Cities event attracted some top speakers to an audience of government, health professionals, academics and councils.
Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects, Patrik Schumacher, opened the discussions with a presentation on 'Walking London' which showcased ideas on how to 'green the Capital' and provide healthy pedestrianised spaces. The idea of designing cities with the pedestrian as the most important factor is still surprisingly novel. Since the mass purchase of cars in the 1960's, city and town planning has always put the car at centre-stage.
Patrik showed many street-scape images, but perhaps one of the most important was that of Regent Street - one of the most air-polluted streets in the UK, and what it would look like if it became car-fee. He also demonstrated how London could be divided up into a mapped area to show which roads and areas might be re-developed for interest architecturally and for the planting of trees to provide healthy arteries across the city. Patrik's full presentation will soon be able to view on our web site.