PSU Delft 2014 : Markenlei Video: Potterstraat, Utrecht (Netherlands)

Through his YouTube channel, Mark Wagenbuur published a very interesting video explaining the evolution of a crucial street in Utrecht, Potterstraat. As automobiles began to dominate the landscape, old European city centers with their narrow streets could not easily accommodate vehicular movement. With old footage and maps Wagenbuur illustrates how Potterstraat grew much wider as buildings were demolished in order to better allow car traffic to flow. He then goes on to show how this strategy was used all over Utrecht, as the entire city center landscape was altered not only to better accommodate vehicle travel needs but also to establish parking lots.

I found the video really thought provoking as it is always interesting to see how cities change over time. This is especially true as the age of the automobile set in. This is very clear as anyone walks around U.S. cities with freeways running through them and parking lots everywhere including throughout downtown. Anytime I bike under or over the Brooklyn Queens Expressway here in New York City I wonder what use to be there, how many buildings had to be demolished to allow this massive freeway to be built. You can also see how numerous streets here were over built. Although just as in Utrecht where parking lots have been turned into public plazas, New York City through the Department of Transportation's Plaza Progam has began to re-purpose underused or overbuilt streets to public space open for all. If anything the video gives hope that all is not lost with the demolition of so much infrastructure to accommodate cars as Utrecht began to re-establish the old street grid, rebuild housing, and construct a more a human scale city center.

Here are three images that show how the landscape of Detroit was

change over the years to better accommodate vehicles. The alterations

to the landscape are pretty remarkable. The full story as well

as the photos can be found on Streetsblog.