What if our streets were for the people?

Public space should be part of the plan, not leftover space.

Carlisle Street is at the heart of everyday life in Balaclava. It is a place to shop, meet, eat, commute and
spend time. As the area continues to change and develop, there is an opportunity to think not only about new buildings, but also about the quality of the spaces between them. What if public space wasn’t something left over after buildings, roads and parking were planned? What if it was considered from the beginning as an essential part of the neighbourhood?
Looking overseas, Barcelona provides an interesting example of how a different approach to streets can create more space for everyday public life.

Learning from Barcelona’s Superblocks

Barcelona’s Superblocks rethink the traditional relationship between streets, traffic and public space. Instead of allowing through-traffic to move freely along every street, several city blocks are grouped together, with most through-traffic directed around their perimeter.

Within these areas, vehicle movement is reduced and greater priority can be given to pedestrians, cyclists and local access.

The idea is relatively simple: if less street space is required for through-traffic, some of that space can be returned to the people who live, work and spend time there.

From traffic space to public space

The difference can be seen in the way movement is organised.

Rather than every street functioning primarily as a traffic route, internal streets can become slower and more pedestrian-focused.

But the change is about more than reducing cars. Space previously dedicated primarily to movement can instead accommodate trees and planting, seating, play, walking and places for people to meet. Streets begin to perform two roles: helping people move through the neighbourhood while also becoming places in which people can actually spend time.

Creating space for everyday community life

The resulting public spaces demonstrate how relatively ordinary streets can contribute to everyday community life.

People can sit under trees, children can play, neighbours can meet, pedestrians have more room to move, and nearby shops and businesses can benefit from greater activity at street level.

This is what makes Barcelona relevant to a conversation about Balaclava. It is not necessarily the physical design of the Superblocks that needs to be replicated, but the thinking behind them: streets are valuable public spaces, not simply corridors for movement.

So, what could Balaclava learn?

Balaclava is not Barcelona, and a model developed for one city cannot simply be copied into another.

But as Balaclava continues to change, the Barcelona example raises an important question:
Could future development contribute not only new buildings, but also better public spaces for the neighbourhood?

For Balaclava, this could mean starting with what already makes the area valuable and building upon it.