10 | Centrale to Buenos Aires

COMMENTED WALK GROUP 10

Arkak Mahdi

Mahdavi Ayda Scalcinati Simone Wall Henrietta

INTRODUCTION The approach of this study is to explore how a centrally placed neighborhood could be perceived in a contrasting way, not that central and active, due to its location between nodes that are more active and frequently used. The hypothesis is that activity in a city cannot be equally distributed and that neighborhoods affect each other, creating an unbalanced activity allocation. In this case-study in the form of a commented walk, the street via Domenico Scarlatti is chosen to mirror a street too deserted for its location.

One query that we address is the reason for people to use the secondary street of via Domenico Scarlatti, instead of the primary street Via Vitruvio and what positive and negative aspects this usage entails. We also wanted to investigate how via Domenico Scarlatti, an in-between space, and its urban environment is influenced by the surrounding nodes Centrale and Corso Buenos Aires which both holds a lot of activity.

The aim of this investigation is to understand the interpretation and mentality of users of via Domenico Scarlatti, so as to find out the main potentialities and criticalities of this street.

Using different interviews with the passers by, infromation was collected and analysed. The information was also complemented by pictorial analysis of the element which were mentioned in the interviews.

Overall, the configuration of the target group is as follows: Male: Female: Oldest: Youngest: Average age:

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The methodological approach was to use several interviews with the passersby, to collect information and perceptions. Interviews where made walking with the interviewee down the street while letting them tell us about their personal perception of the street.

This to thereafter analyze the answers from the point of view of a planner. A challenge during the interview is to avoid leading the interviewee towards specific answers and to make the talk freely about the space and to spatialize their experiences . Most people in an interview situation tend to modify their answers in order to satisfy the interviewers requests. The gathered information was also complemented by pictorial analysis of the elements which were mentioned in the interviews.

Finally, the aim of this investigation is to understand the interpretation and mentality of users of via Domenico Scarlatti, so as to find out the main potentialities and criticalities of this street.

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Federica, 27 years, PhD Università Statale I use via Settembrini because that route was less chaotic and less busy, compared for example to the parallel via Vitruvio, and we say more “on a human scale”, so I felt more protected and peaceful.

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Francesco, 30 years, Sound engineer Usually I walked along the street on the right side because it is more direct to reach coming from the station, although on this side there are no pedestrian crossing strips.

I come from the central station and I’m headed to my studio in via Benedetto Marcello. Going along this road I believe that we need to be very careful about cars, especially in the intersection that we are just passing through via Settembrini. I use this road mainly because

it is the shortest way to get to the office, initially I used the parallel road (via Vitruvio), but after some advice from my colleagues I tried to do this and I always do this.

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Claudia, 47 years, Secretary I use this road to go to work three times a week. I am pleased that it is very wide, especially on the side of the sidewalks and is less busy than the parallel Via Vitruvio. I use this road from Centrale to via Settembrini. I have a positive feeling walking this street, even if thinking about it, an element to improve could be the cleanliness, which however is not only

Anna Maria, 25 years, Student an element of this road but more general. But still, despite this first section it has two directions of travel, however it is not too busy because most of the traffic is thrown on the largest artery, so from that point of view it does not seem difficult for cars and not even for pedestrians.

Mario, 61 years, Business owner I use this path because I have a studio nearby and I believe that it is not well attended and there are not many controls by the police. I use this road between

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I use this road because I can get to the work more quickly and I discovered it by chance. Of course, it is not among the best but it leads me to my destination faster.

Walking down via Scarlatti during the day makes me feel much better while in winter when I go through

7:00 p.m. I feel much less safe. Using this road at different times depends on what I have to do in the center, however, living near here is the road that quickly takes me to Corso Buenos Aires and from there to the center.

Gianni, 65 years, Business owner 12:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and I travel from via Mercadante to Buenos Aires.

I’m coming from a meeting that took place near the station and now I’m going home. Corso Buenos Aires acts as a traffic divider as far as the quality of the spaces and the feeling of security are concerned, in the

part from the centrale to Buenos Aires not particularly known degradation but it has a different feeling compared to via Ponchielli.

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Paola, 54 anni, Janitor I walk along this road coming from via Tadino to the building where I work in via Scarlatti. Taking a general consideration I can say that the transept from

Alice, 27 anni, Architect

via Benedetto Marcello to Centrale station I do not recommend and avoid going, in fact when I go for lunch I go to Corso Buenos Aires.

Lucrezia, 58 years, Housewife I often have medical visits here in via Settembrini and I always arrive very early when it is still closed. Then in the meantime I take a tour of the shops that are located here in via Scarlatti. I know the road, I would not come by myself after 3:00 p.m., but if you want to find drugs, it is there, in the central, behind it, they offer it to you. I would not recommend it to my little daughter to go for a ride downtown, because for me it is not safe, because of the shops. In fact, they are all Chinese, but looking at the city of Milan today and

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We work in an architectural firm in via Scarlatti where we deal with exhibition setups and use this street from the Centrale station to the studio where I work and then during a lunch break to go to the supermarket located in via Settembrini. I see this road as a passing

road, which leads from Buenos Aires to the Centrale station inserted inside a very mixed neighborhood.

Furthermore, there are no large public spaces to stop, the only one is in via Benedetto Marcello where the market is also held this week.

Francesca, 51 anni, Janitor 38 years ago it has changed a lot. Before, it was really beautiful as a city. All this area near the central station in the evening is full of prostitutes, I read that taking centrale as center, they divided the area for prostitutes and nationalities, everyone has their slice and this seems enough to me to understand how the area and the way is. It is also beautiful at this time but I come there because there is a doctor or I will not come in this area, even if it is Corso Buenos Aires, even though here we are already outside the Buenos Aires area.

I use via Domenico Scarlatti because I work in this building. I arrive in the morning by car and find that it is a fairly accessible road from this point of view even if there is little parking. I believe that via Domenico Scarlatti is a well served road, in fact you can find

everything and nothing is missing. Every now and then I look around as there are many non-EU citizens who are in the area but otherwise I have positive feelings going the way to come to work.

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“In the meantime I take a tour of the shops that are located here in via Scarlatti.”

No seafty space for the biker.

To much space for the car.

Tightly parked cars makes it difficult and unsafe for pedestrians to cross the street.

“Going along this road I believe that we need to be very careful about cars, especially in the intersection that we are just passing through via Settembrini.”

Dangerous pedestrian crossing because ther are no traffic light.

“I know the road, I would not come by myself after 3:00 p.m., but if you want to find drugs, it is there ...”

“Furthermore, there are no large public spaces to stop, the only one is in via Benedetto Marcello where the market is also held this week.”

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This sketch represents a possible design solution for the area now used as a car park and on some days as a market.

We are in an area well served from the point of view of public services, on one side we have a Centrale station served by a large number of railway lines and two metro lines and numerous bus lines and on the

other Corso Buenos Aires with a metro stop. For this reason we can remove the parking part and create a pedestrian path that can also host temporary activities such as the market.

A bike path has been inserted into it, removing the parking lots on one side of the road to make it easier to use the bicycle in this section.

CONCLUSION When studying the answers of the interviewees the first noticeable pattern is that there are several perceptions of the street Via Domenico Scarlatti.

Although, a common feature seem to be the diversity of the street. It is diverse when it comes to the different users, its spatial design and feeling. It is interesting to study how the frequently used nodes Centrale and Corso Buenos Aires affect the urban space in between them. Via Domenico Scarlatti is a central street that somehow appear to be too sleepy in relation to its location. The reasons for using the streets says a lot about its character; it is better than the heavily trafficked ones and it is more time efficient than others. In other words, there is no real enjoyment in using the street, it simply functions as a link between two more important nodes in the cities network. When analysing the interview material it seems that the further you get from the two nodes the more negative the perception of the street gets.

Furthermore, the traffic situation when it comes to pedestrian crossings is another issue. There are no traffic lights and pedestrians needs to cross a three lane road in order to walk down the street.

When looking at perceived safety, during some hours, especially at night, the middle part consisting of a park on one side and a big parking lot on the other gives the impression of not being that safe since

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there are a lot of sight barriers such as hedges and parked cars as well as an absence of eyes on the street from residential buildings. The activity support is concentrated close to the nodes, leaving the middle part in an close to deserted state. Even if the design of the street itself and its situational factors are being mentioned it is of importance to highlight that social factors could contribute just as much to the feeling of insecurity in the urban space. The encounter with people that seem different from yourself is a known trigger for insecurity and the multicultural cluster at Via Domenico Scarlatti will create this diverse environment.

As the conclusion shows, Via Domenico Scarlatti could favour from some interventions in order to improve its condition and perception. To remove the hedge around the playground would improve the visibility and could result in an increased used and perceived safety. In addition, making some sections of the street only pedestrian to gain a more balanced distribution of space and to focus of strategic planning with urban art works and seating opportunities could make the street function as an urban space in which people wants to stay. Interventions to create a more frequently used node in between the two already existing ones, that is to distribute the flows more evenly, could improve the user experience of the street.