How ill-conceived parking policies ruin the pedestrian realm of the city
In my November post on street design I have pointed at certain features of modern Russian architecture that undermine the creation of good public spaces. Namely I mentioned deep setbacks between buildings and the right-of-way that are used as parking lots. Thus buildings face the street not with pedestrian-friendly frontages but with hoods and tailpipes of parked cars.
The difference between pedestrian-oriented and car-oriented development is not usually striking to a passer-by. It is a background that creates a certain atmosphere in the city or on particular streets. Like stuffiness in a room – one wouldn’t notice how stifling it was until the window is opened.
To ‘open the window’ and illustrate the difference between pedestian- and car-oriented buildings I’ve created pairs of photographs showing the same places but with different placement of buildings relative to the street. Let’s have a look!