Impacts of traffic calming interventions on urban vitality

Abstract

Starting from the assumption that the invasion of cities by automobiles has reduced the quality of urban life, this paper seeks to answer whether the imposition of traffic and parking restrictions helps recover the loss of quality of life. In search of an answer, the concepts of urban vitality were studied to investigate the conditions that make streets and squares more lively and attractive to people. These conditions were condensed into a matrix of criteria – applied in the analysis of a set of streets in Belo Horizonte (Brazil) – classified into five categories according to the level of traffic calming that they were subjected. The relationships between each level of traffic calming interventions were evaluated, as well as the fulfilment of these conditions and the resulting urban vitality. The analysis, avoiding usual traffic engineering indicators (speed, volume and safety), aimed to understand how the association of these measures with architecture and landscaping is reflected in the increase of urban vitality, in the ability to attract people and in promoting their permanence in public places. It was concluded that the best results for the permanence of pedestrians are achieved when combining factors of quality of pedestrian areas with more restrictive levels of traffic calming.