Gigi On Earth

When I think of a bridge in North America, the most common image that springs to mind are bridges made for cars. Pont Champlain in Montreal, for example, is mainly for cars to get between the South Shore and the city . It accommodates cyclists and pedestrians too, but their experience involves high walls, steep hills and not a lot of space to stop and take in the view without impeding others.

The recently completed Simone Veil bridge in Bordeaux is making headlines both for being the widest bridge in Europe and for dedicating an equal amount of space to cars as to pedestrians and cyclists. However, what grabbed my attention was how the bridge was planned to be easily closed off from car traffic, transforming it into a public space.

As cities get denser, it’s important to think of all street infrastructure as a place of gathering rather than just a way to get through a city. If we think of streets simply as thoroughfares, they’ll be designed as such, optimized for motor traffic to flow through quickly and not much more. If, instead, we think of streets as places, then we can think of things like street furniture,  shops, and designing them so they are better places to be. 

This is exactly how the Simone Veil bridge was planned. The city of Bordeaux is truncated by the river with neighbourhoods on separate sides not interacted. This bridge provides a public space where both can meet and exchange.

This bridge also gives a nod to medieval bridges. When cities were walled and couldn’t expand outwards, space became sparse and dwellings and commerce were built onto bridges. Some of these bridges have survived like Pont Vecchio in Florence, but many were destroyed by natural causes or changes in urban planning thought and practice. These bridges teemed with life and activity and made me realize that maybe we are thinking too reductively of what our bridges can do and be.

Infrastructure that in the past was solely used for cars must be retrofitted with less of a focus on them to not only make cities more livable but also more sustainable. Cities have proven that urban spaces can exist in a myriad of unexpected places For example, the Bentway in Toronto converted the space under a highway into a public corridor that houses a playground, a farmer’s market, a skating rink and much more. In Montreal, paved alleyways between streets have been reclaimed as ruelles vertes where neighbours can gather to socialize and children can safely play. The Pigalle Duperré basketball court in Paris was created out of unused space between apartment buildings and refurbished with colourful paint and designs.

These spaces come to life with the help of government, sponsors or residents participating in creating a city that reflects them. It feels well within our grasp to create more dynamic spaces that can react to the needs of the city and we may find more answers looking to the past to see how cities organically grew.