Work of Daniel Sauter

[J.H. Crawford]

Hi All,

This came to me recently and I thought that others would
be interested to see it. It basically validates the work
that Donald Appleyard did nearly 30 years ago.

Regards,

Joel



Integration and exclusion in public space: An empirical study using the example of young families in their residential environment

Daniel Sauter, Marco Hüttenmoser

Summary of the main results (extract from the final report)

Topic

Despite increasing mobility and individualization, the neighbourhood relationships and the residential area are still highly important for the social life in urban areas, especially for young families, their children and older people. However, the usability of the residential area is often restricted by street traffic, which prevents social encounters and interactions in the neighbourhood. Since the beginning of 2002, the construction of strolling zones in Switzerland has opened up opportunities to design increasingly more public spaces with mixed-use functions, allowing the co-existence of traffic and people, and thus, fostering integration potential. This project aims to determine the effects that traffic and different types of streets have on neighbourhood relationships, the use of public space and the subjective feeling of being integrated. Structural, discursive and subjective aspects are analysed. Because of the difficulty in determining Integration from an objective viewpoint, the term integration potential is used, meaning conditions that promote integration.

Methods

Three different types of streets are included in this study, which was carried out in socially-mixed residential areas in the city of Basel: 1) one street with a speed limit of 50 km/h and a relatively high density of traffic, 2) one street in a speed-30 km/h-zone and 3) three strolling zones (maximum speed 20 km/h, right of way for pedestrians, and children's play basically allowed). Within these three strolling zones, one had only recently been adapted to the new regulations, and two, known as residential streets, have existed for over 25 years, thus allowing long-term effects to be considered. Regarding the type of buildings, the population composition, and rents, all the streets are comparable. This investigation is based on a written survey of residents living on the different streets, and on observations of the activities in the public space, which were documented by photographs.

Main results

The more traffic-calmed and attractive streets are (i.e. the less motorized-traffic, the lower the speed limit, and the lower the parking density), the higher the potential for integration becomes. Strolling zones have higher integrative potential than speed-30-zones and the latter higher than speed-50-streets. This can be shown, for example, by the frequency of neighbourhood contacts. Residents who live on traffic-calmed streets have considerably more contacts and more intense social relationships with their neighbours including those neighbours who live on the opposite side of the street than residents on the other surveyed streets. The separating effect of the street is especially reduced for children. Despite the fact that interactions are more regular and more intense, the participating residents living in strolling zones do not feel the negative aspect of social control. The participants living in the traffic-calmed streets also feel safer, and they use public space more often. While only 24% of residents living in speed-50-streets claimed to linger occasionally in the street, 37% in speed-30-streets reported doing so, and 51% in strolling zones. Families generally use the public space in their residential environment more often than persons from other household types. Moreover, children who are allowed to be outdoors on their own stay considerably longer outside than other children, their playing area encompasses the whole street space, and their physical activities are more vigorous. Residents living in a street defined as a strolling zone feel better in their environment and reside there longer than people in other areas. On the other hand, a significantly higher percentage of residents living in speed-30 or speed-50 streets declare that their street is no different from a normal street, that they are living there only temporarily, or even that they would like to move. Moreover, about 30% of those living on the speed-50-street define themselves as "not very well" integrated or "not at all" integrated. The same statements were made by only 13% of residents of strolling zones and 14% of those living in speed-30-zones. The residents who feel the most integrated are those on the two 25-year-old residential streets. It is interesting to know that socio-demographic characteristics have a lower influence on integration potential than does the type of streets people live on. Only in isolated cases can a significant and independent influence on integration potential be attributed to age, gender, nationality or social status. A distinction might be noted between families and persons from other household types, especially regarding the frequency of neighbourhood contacts and the use of public space.

Recommendations

As shown by the examples of strolling zones in residential areas, easily accessible public spaces and traffic-calmed streets offer high integration potential. Their creation should therefore be fostered throughout Switzerland. Special attention should be given to the design to include play areas for children and areas for adults to meet and socialize. Requiring minimum financial investment, strolling zones not only promote integration potential; they also improve the quality of life for all the residents.

More informations about the project

The research project examines the integration potentials of public and semipublic spaces in the urban neighbourhood. Of special interest is the impact of trafficcalmed neighbourhood streets (interaction or "strolling" zones) on the lives of young families.

Background
Despite increasing mobility and individualization, the neighbourhood and the residential area are still highly important, especially for young families, their children and older people. However, the usability of the residential area is often restricted by street traffic, which prevents social encounters and interactions in the neighbourhood. Since the start of 2002, construction of strolling zones has opened up opportunities to design public spaces increasingly as mixed-use space, allowing the co-existence of traffic and people, through which according to the idea behind this study integration and physical activity can be fostered.

Aim and method
The project aims to show how improved accessibility and availability of public spaces in which people can meet, play, walk and bicycle, impact the integration of specific groups and their physical activity. What processes and conflicts does this trigger? What forms does the integration take? What factors influence success or failure? Three surveys will provide some answers to these questions. Residents of urban neighbourhoods in the city of Basel will be asked to participate in a written survey; observations will be made in the street space; and finally, interviews with institutional actors, such as city government and neighbourhood associations, will yield information on the process of implementing strolling zones.

Significance
We expect the project to produce practical findings on how and where social exclusion and integration take place in public spaces in urban residential areas. Due to the various uses and demands on public space, objections and conflict are to be expected. As plans are already in place to construct interaction zones in numerous Swiss cities, the project will provide information and impetus regarding the conditions, impacts and limitations of such measures and make suggestions as to the best way to implement them.

Proposal no. 405140-69148

Grant CHF 120'000.-

Duration 01.09.2003-31.05.2006

Daniel Sauter
Urban Mobility Research
Mühlebachstrasse 69
8008 Zürich
Tel. [phone]
<mailto:daniel.sauter@...>daniel.sauter@...
Dr. Marco Hüttenmoser
Dokumentationsstelle "Kind und Umwelt"
Kirchbühlstrasse 6
5630 Muri
Tel. [phone]
<mailto:huettenmoser.marco@...>huettenmoser.marco@...





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J.H. Crawford                                         Carfree Cities
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