Month: July 2015

arcade

Taipei Photo Tour: Huaxi Street Night Market aka Snake Alley, a covered shopping arcade in Wanhua

If you visit Lungshan Temple on a hot summer day, you can cool off in the shade of a nearby covered arcade called Snake Alley (aka Huaxi Street Night Market).  The shortest path is along Guangzhou Street, but that is a busy street where pedestrians share the road with cars and motorcycles.  Instead, take a two min stroll through Sanshui Street: The entrance to Sanshui Street is … Continue reading Taipei Photo Tour: Huaxi Street Night Market aka Snake Alley, a covered shopping arcade in Wanhua

IskandarLeave a comment
Uncategorized

Cityscape: Wenzhou Street, Da’an, Taipei

Taipei’s Da’an district is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with over 70,000 people per square mile.  Da’an district also includes Da’an Forest Park, National Taiwan University, and unpopulated areas to the south and south-east of NTU.  The areas shown here are probably over 100,000 people per square mile. Standing at the intersection where lanes 56 and 58 meet at Wenzhou street, and … Continue reading Cityscape: Wenzhou Street, Da’an, Taipei

IskandarLeave a comment
Uncategorized

Condition 2: Short Blocks – Creating an Index

“Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.” -The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Chapter 9, “The need for small blocks”. It’s a little bit tricky to define precisely what it means for a block to be short.  It appears that Jacobs’s intended metric is not so much the actual size of blocks, as the … Continue reading Condition 2: Short Blocks – Creating an Index

Iskandar2 Comments
tokyo

In Tokyo, the Pedestrian is King

[Lessons on Japanese Urbanism from French Slow TV] At 0:27  Note the very well marked scramble crossing (c.f. the arrogance of space). Lesson 1: zebra stripes can never be too wide. From 1:00 to 1:59  Note the total absence of vehicular traffic.  The numerous parked cars and bikes make clear that this is not a depopulated area. Lesson 2: its possible to build an urban street … Continue reading In Tokyo, the Pedestrian is King

Iskandar1 Comment