THE IMPACT OF PEDESTRIANIZATION SCHEMES ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AT CENTRAL AREAS

Abstract

It is well known that pedestrianization schemes are quite often implemented at central areas which are characterized by significant traffic and environmental problems. The impact of such schemes includes, among others, the improvement of the accessibility level of the land use system in the area for the pedestrians, the separation of traffic from pedestrians flows, the overall improvement of air pollution emissions due to traffic, the resolvement of the visual intrusion problem, and finally, the provision of a safe environment for the vulnerable road users. Such a pedestrianization scheme was properly designed within the framework of two research projects which were carried out by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the city of Katerini which is located in northern Greece, and for the city of Rhodes which is located on the island of Rhodes. The majority of traffic and environmental problems are concentrated in both cases in the city center where all main activities are located, and also through traffic was recorded. More specifically, there are high pedestrian flows, poor geometrical characteristics, improper structure of the road network (a mixture of grid and radial system) and also need to bypass the city center. All the above reasons led to the implementation of the pedestrianization scheme in the central area in Katerini (1993) and the design of a similar scheme in Rhodes (1994). Within the framework of this paper an attempt is made to present the impact evaluation of the pedestrianization schemes on the environmental aspects.