Sweco puts people first in public

The key to a healthier, more productive, greener, and less polluted city could be a new planning and design strategy based on the idea of ​​shared speed in public spaces.

The pandemic has opened new horizons for us and has highlighted flaws in the distribution of street space and public spaces, as it impeded people’s travel behavior, forcing us to work from home, travel shorter distances and city on a local scale. .

Meanwhile, about 70% of the world’s population – a staggering 7 billion people – is expected to live in cities by 2050. With air pollution damaging health and ecosystems, not many residents will live in a healthy environment.

David Lindelöw, Sweco’s relocation planner and one of the report’s authors, said.

The report encourages proximity to urban facilities and services along with the concept of mobility that allows a variety of transportation to reach a destination at the same time. An example of this is the concept of a “15-minute city”: citizens should have access to education, entertainment, work and shops within walking distance or cycling from their homes.

Which way now? Healthy Choices for Our Streets and Cities – Sharing Speed, Street Space, and a Livable Future ‘is the first in Sweco’s Urban Insight series of reports on the topic of’ Urban Health and Well-Being, ‘which shows experts specific scientific insights, solutions, and insights that are essential to planning and designing urban environments Futuristic, secure and resilient.