U.S, PEDESTRIAN MALLS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30541, 9 September 1964, Page 8

U.S, PEDESTRIAN MALLS

“Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Pomona, California, decided they were not going to let their town centres deteriorate without fighting to revitalise them,” said Mr I. G. Dudding, of Wellington, in a paper on “Urban Revival in New Zealand,” presented to the symposium. “In what were really community renewal programmes financed jointly by the local authority, the local businessmen’s association and the property owners involved, each took the logical steps necessary to convert their main streets into pedestrian malls,” he said. Mr Dudding was giving instances of American cities which had converted their main streets into pedestrian malls. STEPS OUTLINED Steps considered necessary in the United States to convert a shopping street to a pedestrian mall were:— Development of alternative routes or the improvement of existing streets so vehicle traffic could - be by-passed. Provision of adequate offstreet parking. Provision of rear access for . goods delivery to shops in the mall. The final step of converting the street to a pedestrian mall, with particular emphasis on attractive landscaping. The result was not electric

in either town, said Mr Dudding, but ■ pedestrian counts increased substantially and retail turnover also increased. Property owners rehabilitated buildings worthy of conversion and some demolition and rebuilding was done. “Currently, land developers are buying up blocks of properties and building proposals will result in each town having in its downtown area the traditional place for shopping. Mr Dudding said New Zealand major cities were over 100 years old, laid out in accordance with planning thought of their day. Some, including Wellington, were highly regarded by town planners throughout the world as historic examples of planned settlements demonstrating the importance of a system of parklands in urban development. Until the last war they were able to cope fairly efficiently with technological advances, growth of population and business. Today, however, they were no longer either convenient or efficient, he said. MORE FOR CARS “There will be an increasing pressure for the accommodation of the motor-car. Already space requirements for urban motorways, parking buildings and servicing facilities for vehicles are contributing to the loss of population in central areas;

“Our shopping streets have become arenas for daily conflict between' the pedestrian on the one hand and passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and private cars on the other.

“Very soon I predict the pedestrian is. going to rebel and demand places or streets of his own where he can shop or carry out his business in comfortable conditions. “The alternative is that he will give his patronage to modern suburban shopping centres, encourage the growth of more of these and so bring about the decay, and possibly the death, of midcity retailing areas,” said Mr Dudding.