For years, the majority of residents in Florence have
advocated a more pedestrian- and cycle-friendly city, not only to reduce
pollution levels but also to create a more vibrant, energetic urban centre.
Their requests were recently answered.
Officials from Palazzo Vecchio have announced that
more areas in Florence will become pedestrian in time for the city’s Feast of
Saint John, the city’s patron saint, on June 24. Champion of the move is the city’s
mayor, Matteo Renzi, who recently announced that piazza Pitti and via
Tornabuoni will go totally pedestrian in the days leading up to the ‘fochi’ so that Florentines ‘can celebrate their patron
saint, the traffic-free.’
With these hubs slated to be cleared of the thousands
of vehicles and buses that pass daily, residents are breathing a sign of
relief-though not all of them.
Groups against the pedestrian-only zones have already
started mounting campaigns to halt the changeover to motor traffic-free zones.
According to the city’s revised pedestrian master
plan, piazza Pitti will become a pedestrian-only zone between Ponte Vecchio and
via Guicciardini. This will decrease traffic along lungarno Torrigiani, yet
increase it on via dei Bardi. The next step in the plan is to extend the
traffic-free zone to via Maggio and via Tornabuoni. When work in piazza Santo
Spirito, scheduled to be completed by June 24, is over, the traffic ban will
also be extended to this piazza; that ban will include even the vehicles of
disabled motorists.
The new pedestrian-only zones will necessitate a host
of changes in the public transportation network. Ataf will have to change the
route of two electric buses that service the historic centre, C3 and D.
The situation becomes more difficult along via
Tornabuoni, where the routes of the highly used bus lines 6, 11, 36, 37 and T1,
which connect the Oltrarno with the historic centre, will have to be modified.
Although officials are still studying alternatives, the local press reports
that any change in the routes of these buses will slow the current schedules by
two to three minutes. Ataf workers, who will strike on May 23 due to the
possibility of privatizing the local public transport service, have also
theorized that Ataf may even loose passengers from the overhaul to these
routes.
Closing via Tornabuoni to all but pedestrians has been
met with support from the luxury boutiques along Florence’s most famous fashion
street. However, says Marco Paoletti from the Le Vie della Moda Committee, the
‘local administration must ensure that people can easily reach the city
centre.’
Among the naysayers, local merchants argue that public
transportation to the historic centre must be ensured, as do delivery trucks. A
group comprised of local professors, architects and art historians has opposed
the move, maintaing that buses should be allowed to service these areas to
ensure an easy commute to the city centre; they say the small electric buses
already in use in the historic centre would be the most suitable solution since
they do not pollute. The disabled living in the Pitti and Tornabuoni areas
argue they will have a tougher time getting to and from their homes.
Mayor Renzi anticipated fierce opposition to limiting
these areas to pedestrians. ‘The future of the historic centre is having more
pedestrian areas: it is not possible to go everywhere in your car,’ Renzi said
in a post on Facebook in early May. Regarding protests to the pedestrian zones,
he later told the press: ‘We know about all of the protests, but we are
convinced of this decision because we are doing it for Florence.’
That Florence needs more room to breathe is not a new idea, but making
these areas pedestrian-only affects merchants, commuters and the disabled. What
do you think about the decision to make piazza Santo Spirito, piazza Pitti and
via Tornabuoni pedestrian-only? Do you support the city administration’s new
urban pedestrian plan, or do you think it will present more difficulties doing
business, reaching and living in Florence’s historic city centre? Send your
thoughts to inbox@theflorentine.net.
