#pedestrianization

#pedestrianization

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) unveils a new vision for the Ensemble Immobilier Tour Maine-Montparnasse, a large-scale urban retrofit that transforms a closed 1970s retail complex into an open, pedestrian-focused piece of Paris. Commissioned by the co-owners of the Montparnasse Commercial Centre and the CIT Tower, the project unfolds in parallel with the ongoing redevelopment of the adjacent Montparnasse Tower, led by Nouvelle AOM. The two interventions aim to recalibrate one of the most contested sites of the city, shifting it from an inward-looking megastructure to a permeable urban district grounded in daily life, movement, and public space.

Like many American cities, the streetscape in downtown Brooklyn was for a long time very heavy on the street: a great place to park a car or drive through. But over the past 20 years, the area itself has gone from being a 9-to-5 shopping and business district to one where a growing number of people live 24-7. Since 2004, more than 22,000 housing units have been added to the neighborhood, changing its character so much that its old streetscape just wasn't cutting it.

When he takes office next year, Zohran Mamdani will be the first mayor of New York City in decades not to own a car. Mamdani-who bikes and rides public transit to work-wants to make city buses both faster to ride and free, building on a fare-free pilot he helped run in 2023. He also plans to expand the city's network of bike lanes, add more car-free streets in front of schools, and wants to pedestrianize more areas in Manhattan as congestion pricing has reduced traffic.

The city's plans to overhaul Kimlau Square in Chinatown reclaims more streetscape from cars for people, but residents urged officials to think bigger in an area that is predominantly pedestrian. The redesign unveiled on Tuesday would flip the plaza from the east to the west side of the Bowery, near Worth Street, and straighten out the seven-way intersection around it.

"Pretty much all our customers walk here or come by public transportation," he noted.

Brussels is home to the largest share of young citizens in the EU, alongside an ambitious pedestrianization project to close streets around Grand-Place.

The public consultation invites feedback from residents, businesses and the wider public on the proposed changes, which include new cycling routes and improved pedestrian spaces.