一路走來

加入我們的科學愛好者社群!

本文發表於《大眾科學》的前部落格網路,反映了作者的觀點,不一定反映《大眾科學》的觀點


最近我一直在我的城市羅利四處走動,新出現的標誌告訴我走到這裡或那裡需要多長時間,這讓我感到興奮。從這些標誌——簡單的設計、塑膠結構、綁在電線杆上——我可以看出它們不是市政工程。

太棒了:遊擊方向標誌。

在一個需要標誌來告訴你往哪裡走的文化中——而且你只能透過秘密行動才能得到它們——這可能令人絕望,但包括其規劃部門在內的大部分羅利都認為這對一個試圖重塑其規模和場所感的城市來說是進一步的好訊息。BBC的這段精彩影片講述了這個故事


關於支援科學新聞業

如果您喜歡這篇文章,請考慮透過以下方式支援我們屢獲殊榮的新聞業 訂閱。透過購買訂閱,您正在幫助確保未來能夠繼續講述關於塑造我們當今世界的發現和思想的具有影響力的故事。


如何讓美國人步行

這項事業簡直堪稱 brilliant。馬特·托馬蘇洛是北卡羅來納州立大學和教堂山北卡羅來納大學的景觀建築和城市規劃專業的研究生,他建立了一家名為Walk Raleigh的小企業,並以這個名義在羅利市中心周圍安裝了 27 個標誌,在黑暗的掩護下將它們綁在杆子上。

“步行到格倫伍德南區需要 18 分鐘,”一個紫色標誌上寫著,箭頭指向羅利的一個熱門娛樂區;“步行到羅利城市公墓需要 7 分鐘,”一個綠色標誌上寫著,箭頭指向羅利最早的一些市民的遺骸所在地,這個地點經常被忽視。當然,每個標誌都有一個二維碼,連結到地圖。

托馬蘇洛的想法是讓人們以分鐘為單位思考,這使得步行看起來很明智,而不是以英里為單位思考,後者會立即讓人聯想到汽車。雖然這些標誌是未經批准的——並且已被拆除——但它們持續了一個多月,羅利規劃主管米切爾·西爾弗稱其“非常酷”。《大西洋月刊》當地報紙塞拉俱樂部當地電視臺和一個當地文化網站都對此表示讚賞,而一個已經在按照完整街道指南進行規劃的城市,又朝著正確的方向邁進了一步。

托馬蘇洛的公司cityfabric之前就致力於讓人們關注周圍環境,例如使用城市地圖作為服裝和裝飾的素材。他還剛剛在紐約開展了一個名為North Is That Way的專案,該專案涉及指向北方的標誌。《大西洋城市》中的故事談到了其他遊擊公民專案——花園、標誌等等——但遺漏了另一個專案:紐約廢棄公用電話亭中的遊擊圖書館

這些電話亭和其他遊擊專案提醒我們,儘管改善城市——以及改善步行性——的運動主要關注健康和效率,但其意義遠不止於此。托馬蘇洛已將“North Is That Way”作為自發干預專案參加了威尼斯雙年展。也就是說,托馬蘇洛的觀點與其說是功利主義的,不如說是藝術性的:重要的是要知道你在哪裡。重要的是要知道你要往哪個方向走。而且步行就是更好。

 

 

Scott Huler was born in 1959 in Cleveland and raised in that city's eastern suburbs. He graduated from Washington University in 1981; he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa because of the breadth of his studies, and that breadth has been a signature of his writing work. He has written on everything from the death penalty to bikini waxing, from NASCAR racing to the stealth bomber, for such newspapers as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Los Angeles Times and such magazines as ESPN, Backpacker, and Fortune. His award-winning radio work has been heard on "All Things Considered" and "Day to Day" on National Public Radio and on "Marketplace" and "Splendid Table" on American Public Media. He has been a staff writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Raleigh News & Observer and a staff reporter and producer for Nashville Public Radio. He was the founding and managing editor of the Nashville City Paper. He has taught at such colleges as Berry College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

His books include Defining the Wind, about the Beaufort Scale of wind force, and No-Man's Lands, about retracing the journey of Odysseus.

His most recent book, On the Grid, was his sixth. His work has been included in such compilations as Appalachian Adventure and in such anthologies as Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont, The Appalachian Trail Reader and Speed: Stories of Survival from Behind the Wheel.

For 2014-2015 Scott is a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, which is funding his work on the Lawson Trek, an effort to retrace the journey of explorer John Lawson through the Carolinas in 1700-1701.

He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, the writer June Spence, and their two sons.

More by Scott Huler
© .