“The streets are teeming with life and prosperity”: for this Englishman, Toulouse is an ideal city (or almost)
By Gabriel Kenedi
Published on
“This city is generally not cited as an example. Corn the quality of the street layout is astounding“. Passing through Toulouse on the occasion of Zero Carbon Forumthe londoner Nicholas Boys Smith love at first sight for the architecture and urban planning of the Pink City.
“The buildings in the city center are all beautiful! »
Think tank director “Creating streets”, this Englishman is the champion of a “gentle density” through numerous publications distributed across the Channel. And the least we can say is that downtown Toulouse caught the eye of this urban planning specialist.
In a long and detailed post on the Creates Streets Twitter account, Nicholas Boys Smith describes an almost ideal city center, which should undoubtedly make many Toulouse residents proud and react! The publication has also been widely taken up and commented on on social networks.
“The buildings in the city center are almost all beautiful”, he remarks in his Twitter thread, while extolling the merits of the famous Toulouse brick, “which is large and flat (like a Roman brick) and comes in in a beautiful range of ochres, reds, pinks and oranges. You can understand why the French call it ‘La Ville rose’,” he says.
“Pedestrians first!” »
In addition to the beauty of the buildings, Nicholas Boys Smith was also seduced by the developments made in the hypercentre.
“The overall strategy is to put people first. Cars are allowed in much (not all) of the city center, but they are second-class citizens compared to the teeming hordes of pedestrians, cyclists or scooters.
“The 20 km/h speed limit is in effect (almost?) everywhere, but cars and mopeds (lots of mopeds) drive carefully because they have to. Look how close this moped is to the buggy. It would have given most road engineers in the UK or the US a heart attack, but it’s actually a very safe street,” he adds, referring to Rue Alsace- Lorraine.
While passing rue du Taur, he remarks: “Here is another street where cars are allowed but where the layout allows them to slow down. Look closely: you will see a car in the distance. In front, children walk safely on the roadway.
“Great trees with benches below”
“It seems there is no not many parking spaces in the city center (although there is a bit longer). But it certainly does not harm the vitality of stores. On the other hand, there exists many places to park bikes (including city rental bikes),” adds the director of Creates Streets, also impressed by the tree-lined heritage of the Pink City.
“Wherever the city opens, on plant great trees with benches below. The combination of trees and these ocher bricks is downright magical, even against an autumnal slate sky,” he slips into his thread.
Shops on every corner
The Londoner is also impressed by the many brands that have a storefront in the city center. ” All the nooks and crannies where it is possible to set up a store do!“, he exclaims. And to add: “Have you noticed that there is no garish paint or ugly signs cluttering the city? The details matter”.
“The streets of the city teem with life, prosperity and movement, fulfilling the role that cities have played since the dawn of history: efficient places where people come to buy, sell, work, walk and having fun, day and night”.
“Happy, delicate, exquisite Toulouse! »
While some may find the description of Toulouse by this urban planning specialist as a little too idyllic, this publication has at least the merit of highlighting the Pink City, and recalling some of its assets. Nicholas Boys Smith, however, brings some nuances as soon as he moves away from the hypercentre.
“Here is the sad flip side of the coin. As soon as one moves away from the city center, Corbuséan urbanism, roads and not streets and architecture without a face and without barcodes are essential: the enemy of sustainable life and of all feeling. of belonging to this world. It could be anywhere & therefore it is nowhere”.
This does not prevent him from ending with a formula which could possibly serve as a slogan for Toulouse Tourisme. “Happy, delicate, exquisite, Toulouse! ». And to conclude with a wonderful “The Pink City”. What else ?
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