Today, and after another “presentation” of a Strategic Plan that supports everything that the Obrim el Center platform has been saying in recent months, we find ourselves with an opinion article by the Councilor for Commerce of Dénia, Sandra Gertrúdix, which we sincerely appreciate.
The mayor says, verbatim, that "although, I insist, this is a plan for all businesses in Dénia", it is necessary to go through the "dilemma of the pedestrianization of streets like Marqués de Campo". And then he affirms that "by car you only go to carry out fast and very localized procedures (bank procedures, very specific and previously decided purchases, visits to professional offices)". That is, one goes to the center of Dénia, where there are bank offices, professional offices and other types of establishments, to work and carry out procedures and make fast and very local purchases. And so you need to access. By car
The councilor also reflects on what it means to "go shopping" and concludes that this act consists of "walking and looking at windows, entering the stores calmly, taking advantage of the afternoon in Dénia to have a drink, also, in a bar, being able to do it accompanied of the kids". Perfect. We can not agree more. When you have free time, you go for a walk with your family if the weather is good and the children are not at school.
Gertrúdix also makes an explanation about the car parks and the lack of signage, and we could not agree more with her. And he concludes by stating that "we have in our hands a professional and very clear roadmap: that Trade Plan with which we are committed to providing the city, as one of the special measures to combat the crisis derived from the pandemic."
We are pleased to see that the councilor's opinion coincides point by point with ours. Now the only thing missing is that - since the dynamics of the center of Dénia have finally been understood - all these reflections come true and the Government team reopens to traffic Glorieta and Calle Marques de Campo in the same way that it has been doing in recent years: from Monday to Friday open to work; on weekends and holidays closed to stroll and enjoy the rest time.
What is obvious is obvious…. What Denia needs and by far is having shopping centers, and even the dumbest people in town know that, since shopping centers attract many people from the locality where they are located and from nearby towns. That's why we go every weekend to Gandia Benidorm Valencia etc etc because Denia is dead which is to say little
And where are the shopping centers located? Those monstrosities that have been invented so that we do not stop buying and buying, and leave the car parked without paying. Park, buy and load in the car. It is beautiful that the city is to walk around, but there are also many businesses and people working in those businesses. And if you can't park near those shops, you take the car and go to the shopping centers. And in those monstrosities that politicians have consented to build, the staff is adored, it also infects more of all contagious diseases (because they are closed places) and unnecessary spending most of the time.
The later Denia becomes one of THE CITIES THAT WALK, as there are already many in the world, many in Europe and many in Spain, the more it will lag behind in the preferences of quality tourism. The recovery of the space that for decades has stolen the car from the citizens is an urgent and UNSTOPPABLE measure.
There are hundreds on the net. I think pedestrianization reactionaries need to broaden their readings.
La Vanguardia article ...
Why it is important that cities are 'walkable'.
If you have walked through the small streets of a central neighborhood in a big city, you will have faced its greatest enemy: the car.
"The car, once an instrument of freedom, has become a prosthetic that endangers our lives, wastes our time and generates polluting gases," said Jeff Speck, urban planner and designer.
The more walkable a city is, the better, the stronger the ties that are generated in the community, from supporting small businesses to getting children to reaffirm their social relationships by arriving at school on foot.
In this sense, the European community works through the Stars project on sustainable mobility to school, to facilitate the change of habits in the way of traveling to class and that it is increasingly done by bicycle or on foot.
According to the Walk this Way study, developed by the Brooking Institution in Washington DC on the economic impact of pedestrianization, urban 'walkable' places have a much more active economy than non-walkable ones.
“Fostering a higher level of 'walkability' is important, not only because of the health benefits associated with walking, but also because making areas more 'walkable' generates economic activity, increases the values of properties and tourism, improves the mobility and increases the quality of life of users ”, indicated Gerardo Arreola, in The Review magazine.
Also, residents of places with more pedestrian areas have lower transportation costs and better access to transportation infrastructure. Metro stops, bike lanes and even electric buses adapted to small spaces are some of its benefits.
“They are areas where children can play, the blind can roam safely and do all the uses that the city allows. We free up 70% of the space occupied by the motorization ”,
“A place where the uses and functions that the city allows can be carried out. Games, parties, economic exchange, political demonstrations… ”Without these areas, the city would essentially not exist.
https://www.lavanguardia.com/vivo/ciudad/20160805/403688378255/ciudad-caminable-peatonal-diseno-urbanistico.html