The Greenway HEALING FINALIST

  • Lily Whitmarsh

The pandemic has taught us many lessons about our societies and our ability to rapidly adapt to new ways of living. We are beginning to understand the benefits of a slower lifestyle to both ourselves and the planet, with a huge reduction in motorised travel having a knock-on effect on pollution levels. The greenway is an urban plan that tackles longstanding issues around urban mobility and congestion, through the lens of COVID-19 recovery. With dedicated one-way pedestrian and cycle lanes, each separated by rows of 2m wide street furniture elements, people can move around the city more confidently and more sustainably. Designed to be adapted for use in cities worldwide, the implementation of a greenway relies on cooperation from key stakeholders to decide on a bespoke solution for their individual area. It then proposes using the same community’s waste streams to create bespoke versions of greenway street furniture for the newly pedestrianised zones. Donated plastic waste can be combined with other materials to form the base of the modular furniture components, creating a closed loop system of manufacture as well as promoting a sense of ownership.

Initial development work using photos of empty streets during COVID-19 lockdown.

Final competition entry entered into the Non-architecture HEALING competition calling for ‘alternative designs for quarrantine cities’. See it here.