Conference / Education / Facilities / Infrastructure / Innovation / Mobility / Mobility management / Pedestrians / Public Spaces / Research / Shared space / Urban Mobility Design

Walking the Talk at Walk21

From the 7th to 10th of October, the city of Rotterdam will play host to the annual Walk21 Conference, and international gathering of professionals, advocates and government officials working towards ensuring cities are safe, comfortable and accessible to everyone. With a focus on putting pedestrians first, the conference brings the attention back to they way nearly everyone moves and interacts with their city, shining a light on challenges to the creating welcoming pedestrian spaces, and what future impacts could arise as our cities continue changing. Mobycon is a proud sponsor of Walk21 Rotterdam, with many of our professionals attending, speaking and moderating throughout the week. We look forward to connecting with you there!

Dick van Veen

Public Spaces: New Thinking and Challenges

Facilitators: Jan Vilain, Dick van Veen, Aisaule Kerikova

Tuesday, 8 October; 3:00-4:00pm

How can we design public spaces that we perceive as attractive and safe? This session aims to answer this question with three varied presentations about public space design. When we install anti-terrorism blocks, although objectively safer, the perception of the space can be less secure. For that reason, we must be creative in our solutions. We will draw on award-winning public spaces in Belgium and, research conducted in Canada on how street furniture elements serve the pedestrians.

Drukte (in Dutch)

Facilitators: Dick van Veen, Eelco Thiellier, Jorn van Dijk

Tuesday, 8 October; 1:45-2:45pm

Drukte. De dreiging vanuit terrorisme is aanwezig. Moeten we voetgangersgebieden daarom afzetten met blokken? Wat doet dat met de sfeer en het gevoel van veiligheid? Zijn er andere methodes? Dick van Veen bespreekt dit graag met u. Drukte betekent soms ook dat de doorgang wordt belemmerd voor hulpdiensten en dat bewoners hun huis bijna niet meer in en uit kunnen komen. Op de Wallen in Amsterdam wordt de drukte gemonitord waardoor men kan bijsturen en zo leefbaarheid, veiligheid en toegang beter worden gewaarborgd. Jorn van Dijk en Eric Roscam Abbing geven u inzicht in de vraagstukken, inzichten en handreikingen voor oplossingen.

Lennart Nout

The Pedestrian Network in the 21st Century – A new approach to public space design

Facilitators: Lennart Nout, Shelley Bontje

Tuesday, 8 October; 11:15am-1:00pm

While cities worldwide are scrambling to find solutions to create more sustainable transport networks, the focus is often on bicycles, shared electric vehicles and more recently, electric scooters. However, many of the projects implemented focus on adding a single mode to a single stretch of road.

At a fundamental level pedestrian and bicycle networks are about transportation, equity and access. By virtue of walking and cycling being the most basic modes of transportation available to everyone, it is incumbent upon cities to provide high quality pedestrian and cycling environments in all locations where people are present. To deal with growing pressure, Mobycon with its partners has developed a new approach to designing public spaces, balancing place and flow, while catering for pedestrians, bicycles, light electric vehicles, cars and trucks, but it all starts with a place assessment.

In this presentation, we will guide the participants through a real-world assessment of the walking environment using a case study from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Following this workshop, planners, engineers and all other interested parties will be able to apply this framework for changing the conversation about pedestrian level of service and the character of place.

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