Yesterday an Open Streets event was hosted in the James Street North area of Hamilton, Ontario. Coordinated by a number of different individuals and parties, the event saw the stretch of James, between Cannon and Burlington streets, closed to all vehicular traffic between the hours of 10 am - 3 pm. Taking the place of the regular Sunday morning bustle was pick-up games of soccer and hockey, musicians, refreshments and various other attractions. This event is among the first of its kind in this area of the city, and with a repeat in the works for September, it certainly will not be the last.
The inspiration and motivation of this event is very much aligned with theories related to New Urbanism. Emerging in the early 1980s, but with roots in the writings of resistors of American post-war urban development practices, New Urbanism is focused on the development of diverse, mixed use communities that are built around the experience of the person, rather than the automobile. After World-War II, automobile ownership ballooned and North American cities sprawled into segregated commercial centres. Dissenters, such as Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, decried the loss of communities and urban centres built around a variety of uses, industries and purposes. The idea was that the hyper-rationalism being married with post-war urban planning was actually occurring to the detriment of the benefits of the seeming chaos of classical urban development.
It was these benefits that the leaders of the New Urbanism movement saw as integral to the success of healthy and vibrant cities. Moreover, it is these benefits, such as walkability, diversity of cultures and industries, relative closeness of amenities and institutional necessities (such as schools), and generally self-sustaining communities that are once again becoming norm, or, at least, ironically heralded as the future. For example, Next Generation Consulting, an American consulting firm that specializes in the strategic youth development of firms and municipalities (and was brought to Hamilton to assist with topics and projects related to the Hamilton Economic Summit), identifies these themes associated with New Urbanism as central to the success of emerging "Next Gen Cities" in both the United States and Canada.
As the City of Hamilton continually looks to renew itself, and as an increasing number of its citizens get more enthusiastic about its potential future and engage in grassroots attempts to push it towards a better one, it is very much hoped that the requisite support is found in its political management.
In the meantime, it was a great event, can't wait for the next one.
The inspiration and motivation of this event is very much aligned with theories related to New Urbanism. Emerging in the early 1980s, but with roots in the writings of resistors of American post-war urban development practices, New Urbanism is focused on the development of diverse, mixed use communities that are built around the experience of the person, rather than the automobile. After World-War II, automobile ownership ballooned and North American cities sprawled into segregated commercial centres. Dissenters, such as Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, decried the loss of communities and urban centres built around a variety of uses, industries and purposes. The idea was that the hyper-rationalism being married with post-war urban planning was actually occurring to the detriment of the benefits of the seeming chaos of classical urban development.
It was these benefits that the leaders of the New Urbanism movement saw as integral to the success of healthy and vibrant cities. Moreover, it is these benefits, such as walkability, diversity of cultures and industries, relative closeness of amenities and institutional necessities (such as schools), and generally self-sustaining communities that are once again becoming norm, or, at least, ironically heralded as the future. For example, Next Generation Consulting, an American consulting firm that specializes in the strategic youth development of firms and municipalities (and was brought to Hamilton to assist with topics and projects related to the Hamilton Economic Summit), identifies these themes associated with New Urbanism as central to the success of emerging "Next Gen Cities" in both the United States and Canada.
As the City of Hamilton continually looks to renew itself, and as an increasing number of its citizens get more enthusiastic about its potential future and engage in grassroots attempts to push it towards a better one, it is very much hoped that the requisite support is found in its political management.
In the meantime, it was a great event, can't wait for the next one.
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