Safety and quality in urban areas : strategies, tools and techniques to promote pedestrian mobility.

As a case study, the Piazza Verbano, a residential district in Rome, built mainly during the 20's - 60's period is studied; its urban quality is linked, as usual, to mobility and relationship possibilities; here, the elderly can be chosen as elective users, not only because of their frailty, but also for their large consistency and moreover, for their being optimal users of all the area outdoor spaces, since they spend a lot of the spare time they have at disposal there. In the preliminary design, it is important to consider the individual's own decision making process about walking that, in the case of aged people, is mainly influenced by the space configuration and features. Thence, it is necessary to deal with two different aspects: the urban environment propositions and the people's expectations and cultural habits. Main classes of exigencies are investigated to determine the main requirements: Safety, meant as safeguard from traffic accidents and space use risks, and Security, as safeguard from unexpected events; Accessibility, as the full reachability and use of places, services, facilities and modal interchange points; and Comfort, as physical and psychological well-being, and moreover as commodity of movement and rest. Focusing on meeting these requirements as expressed by aging people, analyses were made on the spot, to enhance the real aspects of their mobility and lifestyle; for instance, for what concerns safety, several investigations have been run to individuate main destinations, meant as everyday poles of attraction, their related distances and the most usual paths; through them, the black points and the traffic dangers they have commonly to face have been determined, together with other aspects, such as uneven walkways or unsuitable lighting, that, besides affecting negatively safety, have no positive consequences on accessibility, security and comfort issues. The study on its whole is aimed at reshaping the intermediate public urban spaces, so to create a continuous pedestrian network that, offering besides accessibility and safety, also better comfort and a good identity and belonging feeling, in order to foster not only walking but also meeting and resting. For the covering abstract see ITRD E122795.