Rethinking urban streets: from transport infrastructure to liveable spaces

The streets of our cities were designed to enable us to get from one place to another as quickly as possible. But is this still their only function? Experiences in some European cities have shown that urban streets have a different potential: they can influence the quality of life in communities, improve social cohesion and enhance biodiversity. Understanding how to harness this potential is the aim of the European REROAD project, coordinated by Eurac Research.

The research involves nine partners and includes three case studies – among them the city of Bolzano. Collaboration between the research partners and the city administrations officially began with the project’s kick-off meeting last week at NOI Techpark.

Over the coming months, with the support of the relevant municipal departments, the Eurac Research team will map the streets of Bolzano, defining certain categories and assessing their potential for transformation. A participatory “Urban Living Lab” initiative will then be launched, involving the municipal administration, citizens, businesses and researchers. The aim of the meetings will be to build knowledge and identify measures to be integrated into municipal planning tools, with a view to managing the road network in a way that prioritises urban greenery and the social function of streets.

“For a city administration, working with research institutions is always a source of innovative ideas, so we are delighted to launch this new project. Dialogue with other European cities will also allow us to learn from other experiences and better integrate the project’s themes into the city’s development vision,” said the Mayor of Bolzano, Claudio Corrarati, regarding the project.

Across Europe, there is growing attention on the role of public space in pursuing environmental and social justice objectives. Data collected from similar projects show that the renaturalisation of urban spaces and the adoption of nature-based solutions (NbS) promote biodiversity and resilience to climate change – consider the role of green spaces in restoring permeable areas to cities.

These interventions also have significant effects on quality of life: they improve air quality, combat heat islands and create recreational and social spaces. “To tackle climate challenges, we need an integrated vision in which nature, technology and energy reinforce one another. This is the approach we adopt with the City Council in all our collaborative projects,” said Wolfram Sparber, Director of the Institute for Renewable Energy at Eurac Research, at the opening event.

“The project is ambitious because it links the transformation of public space with the issue of inequality. In this research, we can do so by relying on partners who have gained practical experience in the sustainable and circular regeneration of public spaces, such as Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. It is an important growth opportunity for Bolzano,” said Rocco Pace and Chiara Pellegrini of Eurac Research, the project coordinators.

REROAD involves six European universities and research centres, alongside the cities of Bolzano, Coimbra (Portugal) and Granada (Spain). It takes place within the framework of the European Driving Urban Transition (DUT) programme and is co-funded by the Ministry of University and Research.