Why Superblocks Are Peak Urbanism

It even sounds like a WWE event, so maybe Americans will also be on board with it.

[machnefan]

notice how 'massive underground road with rgb lights' wasn't mentioned as one of the solutions

[agytamas]

Ayyy, finally an Urban Planning video

[maxwellstarcevich]

I studied architecture at university and work in the field. From my perspective, superblocks are great, and we need them in a lot of cities. But it is important to note that they are not a "one size fits all" solution as is suggested here. You'll notice that they work very well when created within existing high density urban fabric (like Barcelona). But very few cities have pre-existing density approaching that of Barcelona. So the primary challenge in most sprawling cities is to get rid of separated zoning laws and increase healthy density.

If you took a 1950s American neighborhood today and created a super block, it simply would not work as intended, as most distances are too far to walk and houses are separated from other uses.

I don't mean to dunk on the superblock idea, it's a really great tool. I just want people to know that it is not fit for every context. These things are always very complex and what's right for one place isn't always right for another.

[nabilfreeman]

They tried implementing some of the superblock ideas here in London recently. They encountered huge resistance and many of them were rolled back. I noticed that you mentioned mixed zoning - a lot of the super blocks only had houses in them and no shops or schools. Wonder if this is why they failed.

[NishTheFish]

Phoenix with superblocks would be the greatest thing since sliced bread

[hiyazekku]

Speaking as a rural American car owner (who would like to remain as such on both accounts), I think cities transitioning over to and planning around pedestrian life is actually a wonderful idea. Cars are convenient for the area I live in, and even make it convenient in the first place. Exhaust and occasional run ins with wildlife aside, cars don't have the same negative effects out here. Car traffic in cities is a different story. From the perspective of a visiting driver, driving in cities is tedious and annoying. I'd much rather visit a city and park safely in some allotted space for doing so and travel around the city itself by other methods.

[debu]

Sounds suspiciously logical and easy to implement; no wonder this'll never happen in most countries.

[noradrenalin]

"All you need is a political leadership not made of car centric boomers"
Me, a German: "Sounds easy enough"
BMW, Audi, Volkswagen: "Allow us to introduce ourselves"

[nuabioof]

Step 5 : remove sealed ground as much as possible to turn your superblock into a sponge city : more green space less heat retaining asphalt. Trees are basically magic at this point lowering so much the temperature during heatwaves and they look cool

[omegaRST]

I live in Las Palmas, another spanish city, and just realized that the recent rennovations to the city center were exactly turning it into a superblock. I use my car often and it has been great, I usually park on the outskirts of the super block and just walk around it for shopping, hanging out in parks and meeting people in restaurants. The main street that used to be a massive road is now a huge almost entirely pedestrian central street with stands music greenery and people walking around. I would never go back

[alexc.]

As far fetched as it may seem for super blocks to appear in America, most universities have a very similar design to that of the super blocks described. They are primarily areas where you can walk to classes and parking is meant mostly for the few commuters who got to class and residents living on campus. Of course every campus is different and some are more spread out or more self contained, but I think a lot of Americans have at least one point encountered this pedestrian friendly design at one point on these campuses.

[GeahkBurchill]

4:28 “vote for a political party that is pro-decongestion…”

Me, an AMERICAN: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙃 we don’t have those here!

[cwtrain]

"Phoenix, or Miami, or other affronts to God..."

Lived in both cities. Can confirm.

[alexanderriedelsheimer]

Ahhhh, no. Living in Germany and not in Berlin or Singapore, I have to suffer the results of cityplaning that only follow the recomendations of this limited video. It is missing the key ingredient for superblocks to work, cheap, efficient, RELIABLE, omnipresent PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE.
In my city non of the above exists, the result, the inner city is dying, Shops are closing and I have not visited it for the last 6 month.

[Frangoose]

Some suburbs near me have closed off their streets downtown to make room for outdoor dining areas per lockdown restrictions. Even when indoor dining reopened, the streets remain closed to allow for more pedestrian traffic and outdoor dining. I would be happy if it stays this way indefinitely.

[plutaya]

When it comes to getting things like this properly implemented, a key factor is spreading the word. If people don't know that current cities are a problem, they won't understand why a solution to them is necessary. Just make sure to do your best to tell the people around you that things could be better, and that you can all work towards making it that way.

[samowen]

“The silent majority: non-drivers”

*cries in phoenix*

[koenigistmeinname]

Right when you introduced the point safety, a cyclist in front of my window on the street was almost run over by a car. What a coincidence.

[QuintonMurdock]

During Covid my home town got sorta superblocked on the Main Street. The town realized nearly every resturaunt would die on Main Street with social distancing ordinances. So they closed down most of the streets that spurred off like 3 blocks of Main Street on the north side and used it for public gathering space and resturaunt patios which after most of the restrictions were lifted the streets weren’t taken back. It didn’t hurt traffic and it brought the town together and helped local businesses. From what I understand, until some idiot petitions the Main Street will remain slightly less car friendly

[spiderpickle]

Crazy how over a century ago, before cars, my city was already set up like this with streetcars as widespread public transport that could take you within walking distance of anywhere else in the city. It's almost like people knew how to plan before car culture corrupted everything.