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| Marienplatz, München, Germany (Photo by Google Map) |
Smartcitymakassar.com. --Makassar- Frommer’s, one
of an integrated world travel service firms, shared tips about enjoying
Munich. Enjoy the city by walk. Walk through the ‘English Garden’, one of the
largest garden spaces in Europe that stretches from downtown to northeastern of
the city, before having a glass of beer at Chinesischer
Turm or ‘Chinese Tower’. From Kaufingerstraße to Marienplatz, it is a good place for window shops. Marienplatz
is the heart of the city and a tourists and locals hub. From Marienplatz,
pedestrians could continue on to the Maximilianstraße
as a place of designer shops.
Amazing and great architectures, huge parks, and great places for
shopping are features of the center of Munich.
It is true that
the center of Munich is very pedestrians-friendly with structured land-use that
closes each other. This creates active
experience for pedestrians. Shops, café,
museum and bars, line at sidewalks to offer many options for shopping, eating
and enjoying the culture. Frommer’s also provides the same tips for cities such
as Florence, Paris, Amsterdam and Dubrovnik in Croatia. According to Time online, if you live in one
of these cities of Washington D.C., New York City or Boston, then your main
transportation mode is leg.
City Governments
or designers take important and full attention to pedestrians. Nowadays, pedestrian is one of the main
components of city design. For example,
the ‘car free city’ of China, a project that will build a new urban center for
around 80,000 people outside Chengdu, will be entirely walkable. Masdar in Abu Dhabi is currently constructing
the world’s first zero-carbon city. The
city will feature a public transportation system in place of automobiles. It will be fueled by solar, wind and geothermal
power. In Vienna and Stockholm, these
cities even are extending the space for pedestrians mainly in sidewalks.
Future city or
smart city according to Alexander Ståhle from KTH Royal Institute, Sweden, is a
place for walk, or a walkable city.
Innovative city has density, for example on land use. Good density means good public space that
connects place for interactions.
Walkability needs this density.
Density does not depend on automobiles.
The higher the density is, then the lower are automobiles use, and are conversely
the higher the bike, public transportation and walk use.
The density,
according to Alexander Ståhle, describes the smart city or even the smarter
city. Smart(er) city is a city that has
high but low cost interactions. The
places with high interactions are workplace, home, and walkspace. Highway is at the lowest position. Interaction places that require low cost are
walkspace and bikeway, followed by workplace and home. Highways and railways is the places require
the highest cost.
From the low
cost and high interaction criteria, Alexander Ståhle listed 10 technologies for
smart city. The three lowest of lists
are robot car, drone and high speed train.
While the top listed technology is the sidewalk. “It is pedestrians, not cars, that drives the
economy”, said Janette Sadik Khan from NYC DOT, and “high quality sidewalks are
the most basic element of a democratic city”, said Enrique Penalosa from ITDP,
as Alexander Ståhle cited them.
It is no doubt
that world cities realized and are competing to bring their cities really walkable. Stockholm has been transforming from industry
city (1910), tram city (1945), metro city (2010), to de-industrialized city, in
order to be walkable city in coming 2025.
In America, Canada and Australia, a firm defined a ‘walk score’ to inform
and encourage people the walkable cities.
The non-profit organization ‘Walk21’, working to connect and empower
urban governments, citizens and communities to achieve a walkable future, has
declared the ‘International Charter for Walking’. Around 4,000 people and organizations
including several mayor’s and city government singed this charter.
The city that encourages
and allows its people to choice and to be able to walk as the way to travel, to
be healthy and to relax is a place where innovations are created faster, for better
economic growth, with healthy environment, and to live. The world will tell this city. It is the world city.* (Riad Mustafa)
