Bernd Gundermann can ’ t help but wonder why the rebuilt Christchurch CBD – intended to be a ‘ people-centred city ’ – needs so many downtown parking structures
16 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA
Motorists ’ Mecca
Bernd Gundermann can ’ t help but wonder why the rebuilt Christchurch CBD – intended to be a ‘ people-centred city ’ – needs so many downtown parking structures
HAVE A BRIEF LOOK AT THIS SCENE , depicting an intersection of two four-lane roads .
We see cars , a truck and a motorbike making their way through a typical town paying attention to each other and waiting for their turn to continue their way . The illustration shows road markings , streetlights , even the hanger rods of the canopies haven ’ t been omitted ; the provided level of detail makes the picture believably realistic . Really ? Where are the people , or are these already autonomous vehicles in a world depopulated by pollution ?
Well , there are a few : a girl with pigtails trotting dangerously close to the curb , the feet of a man at the corner contemplating if he ever will be able to cross the street and a more courageous guy having one foot already on the asphalt . These citizens face the threat of being run over in their attempts to leave the city blocks to which they are obviously confined , because in this exemplar town , free movement is awarded solely to motorists .
This image adorns the cover of New Zealand ’ s Road Code . Therefore , it communicates what our government expects our young drivers to prepare for .
Although the vast majority of Kiwis lives in town and cities , the youth won ’ t get trained for the complexity of urban traffic , where pedestrians , bikers or moms with prams will be swirling in front of their cars . This title illustration suggests the simple world of the 1960s , when our precincts became bulldozed to make way for Californian style freeways , their name already promising the unlimited freedom to drive . This is the promise that motorists – and the government - still believe in .
At touristic destinations , special signage informs foreign travellers that “ Motorists have the Right of Way ” to avoid fatal encounters . How hard can it be for a government to adjust our country ’ s barbaric legal uniqueness to international standards by generally giving way to pedestrians within towns and cities ?
Changing the law doesn ’ t cost much , adapting the cities to people-centred standards in civil engineering , however , takes time and effort .
Christchurch ’ s rebuild , therefore , is the test if our society is mature enough to move up . When we look at the council ’ s beautiful brochures about the design of streets , lanes and squares , we might believe that we are already there . The imagery in these booklets is far out compared with the Road Code .
Walking the city , however , is sobering . Developers implement lots of car parking into the rebuilt CBD