Over 133 million pedestrians pass through Times Square every year . The high level of foot traffic has resulted in US $ 4.8 billion in annual retail , entertainment and hotel sales , with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square .
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STREET FIGHT – HANDBOOK FOR AN URBAN REVOLUTION , BY JANETTE SADIK-KHAN AND SETH SOLOMONOW , VIKING , NEW YORK , 2016 , 348 PGS .
This is the story of Jannette Sadik-Kahn ’ s tenure as New York Transport Commissioner , from 2007 to 2013 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg . Not your typical Landscape Architectural read , except for the fact that Sadik-Kahn was instrumental in turning Manhattan ’ s streets into places , and re-imaging transport so it was about feet , ferries , buses , bikes and the subway as well as motor vehicles . Haven ’ t heard of her ? You should have , so read on . It was Sadik-Khan who famously ( in Landscape circles anyway ) transformed Times Square into a plaza for the 365,000 people who walked through the area every day . Presaging the temporary and transitional projects that have been so significant in Christchurch post-earthquake , initially the plaza wasn ’ t made out of kerb , channel , granite paving , fancy furniture and trees planted in complex grids of subsurface plastic substructure . Instead , it was made cheaply to test the veracity of the idea by painting the road to change its purpose , and using trees in planters and $ 11 plastic movable chairs . It was so successful that it has been given a permanence of form and materiality , and 480,000 pedestrians now pass through the square every day . Significantly , these changes also speeded up traffic flow and led to a 63 % reduction in traffic accidents and pedestrian injuries ; making it a very multi-dimensional success .
As well as Times and other squares the book also traverses the addition of nearly 630 kilometres of bike lanes to New York City ’ s streets , traffic calming , getting pedestrians over the road and a myriad of other topics as well ; almost all of them interesting and contributory to landscape practice in the public realm . Somewhere between a political manifest and a how-to guide in both design and process terms , I found the book a refreshing change . Although it discusses form and character , its focus isn ’ t on the minutiae of materiality or space , but rather on the bigger picture of safety , economy and the way people live their lives and how these inform changes to the complex matrix that is transport . As such , the book is a testament to people-centric , politically lead spatial planning and design . It is exciting to see what is possible where there is the will and the leadership .
A recent article on TV3 ’ s NewsHub suggested that Auckland ’ s traffic system was broken , and the Christchurch Press just headlined opposition from local businesses to part of Victoria Street being pedestrianized . These are the same issues that Sadik-Kahn faced , even if the numbers of users she had to consider was exponentially larger . If New York can move some way to solving these problems then there is no excuse for us being unable to do so in New Zealand . This book does not contain all the answers , but it contains some of them , asks some key questions and with accessible good-humour backed by the facts , highlights processes , potentials and pitfalls . I recommend it , am pleased it is on my shelf and have already discussed it with clients . It was $ 30 well-spent . �
Reviewed by Neil Challenger , May 2016
Over 133 million pedestrians pass through Times Square every year . The high level of foot traffic has resulted in US $ 4.8 billion in annual retail , entertainment and hotel sales , with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square .