Public space for people
Sunday lunchtime. The sun is shining, the pan pipes are playing and the waiter is serving sea food and pink wine at the table next to us. If you shut your eyes you might be in a typical street cafe in a typical European town centre. And of course that’s where we are. Since Edinburgh is now asking residents for comments on how to improve their public space they might take a few tips on going European from their old rival Glasgow.
There’s a buzz about Buchanan Street which you won’t find in Princes Street or George Street and the difference has absolutely nothing to do with tram works. The secret of success in Glasgow’s shopping centre is giving people room to move. Or in other words, getting rid of cars.
Sitting under Rogano’s umbrella you can hear voices in the air and feet on the street because there is no incessant rumble of traffic. Admittedly Glasgow has done some crazy things, not least driving a bloody great motorway through the centre of the city (maybe one day it will follow the example of other world cities and dig up the M8). But it is miles ahead of Scotland’s capital when it comes to pedestrianisation.
For some pigheaded reason Edinburgh retailers have almost always opposed moves to create pedestrian shopping areas (Multrees Walk is the exception). And where cars are technically prohibited from driving you may be sure to find them parked by pavements where other cities might place cafe tables and seats.
Cars polluting ‘pedestrian’ space in Castle Street – where’s the cafe culture?
I feel depressed every time I walk past Castle Street – with that fantastic view of the castle it could be a great place to open a Rogano style street cafe (come on Oloroso, what’s stopping you?). The Grassmarket is better but there are still too many cars in what could be a great experience of the Old Town.
A barrier of cars in the Grassmarket.
So, it is good to hear that Edinburgh City Council is inviting public opinion about what to do with ‘town centres’ such as Tollcross, Stockbridge, Morningside and Leith.
But I wonder what they will do with the answers. For years good ideas have been collected and then quietly forgotten. Somewhere deep in City Chambers there are plans for Edinburgh city centre drawn up by the urban regeneration guru Jan Gehl, the Danish architect who transformed public space in the cool climate of Copenhagen (his new book Cities for People has just been published).
Much more recently Greener Leith asked local people what would make it easier to move round Leith. Ideas included expanding cycle lanes and cleaning up dog litter. But by far the most popular suggestion was to pedestrianise The Shore (see all the results here).
Lets hope this time the message gets through.
How to transform your town centre? Get rid of the cars.
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