Abstract
This research assesses the way main streets are perceived and used by pedestrians in an industrial, Central-European city—Ostrava in Czechia. The city has recently experienced shrinkage and changing patterns of socio-economic exchange, reason why this research is timely and needed in view of city center regeneration. Four main streets have been purposefully selected for this study. The research methods include questionnaires with street users (n = 297), direct observations of human activities and pedestrian counting. A link between business types and the way the street is experienced emerged. Results also indicate that vacant and unproperly managed spaces negatively affect the desire to walk on main streets. Furthermore, pedestrian volumes coupled with the amount of static activities determined several benchmark conditions for lively street segments. This research provides recommendations for policy-making and design and planning practice for regeneration of industrial city centers undergoing commercial and spatial transformation.
Highlights
Walkable environments are key elements of healthy, sustainable and livable communities [1,2,3]
We present the walking patterns and the perceptions of street users on main streets in an industrial and shrinking city after introducing the study site and the research methods
The average volumes of pedestrians on Ostrava’s main streets are low and indicate a low attractivity: they are three times lower than those recorded on main streets in similar-sized East-German cities [46]; and they are comparable to pedestrian volumes recorded in three-times less populated cities, e.g., in Spain or the US
Summary
Walkable environments are key elements of healthy, sustainable and livable communities [1,2,3]. The shortage of financial resources among residents in shrinking cities [16] might affect the type and variety of retail as well as the street activities associated with leisure walking or shopping [1,7] To tackle such issues, common urban design and planning strategies to help shrinking cities create more desirable urban spaces include converting underused built properties with the help of creative industries, adopting green infrastructure, adding bike lanes, pedestrianizing streets and introducing walking-friendly designs [21,22]. Common urban design and planning strategies to help shrinking cities create more desirable urban spaces include converting underused built properties with the help of creative industries, adopting green infrastructure, adding bike lanes, pedestrianizing streets and introducing walking-friendly designs [21,22] Promoting walking in such contexts is perceived as a key aspect, as it attracts middle-class families to return into urban spaces [23], with the potential to reverse population shrinkage
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