Urban Design Project Part 1

Urban design is supposed to be for and about people.
For anyone visiting Victoria Embankment however, it’s clear that the space is dominated by cars.

The road splits the water from the parks and buildings, and the noise and pollution keep people away. I felt any intervention needed to address the traffic problem if it were to be successful.

So I have chosen the road as my element, and inspired by Paris, I want to encourage people to develop new relationships with the built environment along this stretch of the Thames by quite simply banning traffic on Sundays.

Let’s take a look. Here are some photographs of the Victoria Embankment today. Lots of traffic and pollution. Very few pedestrians using the wide riverside walkway. Rubbish and neglected areas. Unused facilities.

Here’s what it could look like on a traffic-free Sunday. Cyclists instead of traffic. People dancing. Crowds enjoying music at the bandstand. Local communities using the space for festivals. Skateboarders practising their tricks. Once people have come to re-appropriate the space, they might be encouraged to come up with ideas for the unused plinth just as they did for Trafalgar Square.

Such a move would require little infrastructure, but it would involve a lot of community involvement.

The smiley faces here represent local bars and restaurants who would be glad of the extra trade, and who could be persuaded to get involved to promote it. To create awareness, the first traffic free Sunday should be advertised as part of a big event, such as the Jubilee Celebrations next year, or possibly a new annual festival every May 24, Queen Victoria’s birthday.

The orange face here is The Farmer’s Club, whose members might like to help organise a Farmer’s market here.

Inspired by the bandstand, local dance groups might like to show off their cha-cha, merengue, waltz, tango and jive skills here. Further along, space could be reserved for rollerblades and skateboarders.

I see it as an evolutionary rather than a prescriptive system, empowering people to develop new relationships with a space that has potential to be developed further.

We were told not to worry about cost, but I am a practical person and on the day the government announces massive spending cuts, this is a project which could actually still happen because it would cost very little.

It would be the first step in “healing” this part of the city.