Students' proposals for the revitalization of the Albertov campus in accordance with the principles of shared zones will be on display daily in the building of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences (Horská 3, 4th floor of Building B) from 11 January 2024 until 2 February 2024, when, among other things, the faculty will hold an Open Doors Day.
University campuses represent an ideal environment for the application of the concept of shared zones, or an urban and transport approach to the implementation of public spaces based on the integrated use of this space by all types of users. Their aim is to create quality conditions for pedestrian or cyclist movement while significantly improving the architectural quality of the public space, without the need to exclude car traffic. Moreover, the principles of the shared zone have been proven by hundreds of implementations in other EU countries, but also in the USA and New Zealand, for example.
As of 1 January 2024, the concept of shared space has been incorporated into Act No. 361/2000 Coll. on Road Traffic, which is the result of the work of experts from CTU in Prague, Ing. Vojtěch Novotný, Ph.D. (CTU FD), and doc. Ing. arch. Karel Hájek, Ph.D. (CTU FSv), who, among other things, have demonstrated the importance of linking individual expert disciplines in order to improve the quality of life for all of us. From the very beginning, CTU itself actively supported the introduction of the shared zone into the Czech legal norms and we are rightly proud that it has succeeded.
In order to give graduates of both faculties the opportunity to get acquainted with this new approach to designing public spaces, a new elective course "Designing Public Spaces according to Shared Space Principles" has been created at Faculty of Transportation Sciences, in which students can try out the real design of a shared zone on a specific case study in interdisciplinary teams of "traffic engineers" (students of CTU FD) and "architects/urban planners" (students of CTU FSv).
"Public spaces are not just transport infrastructure, but have many other functions. Therefore, any street space or public space should always be designed at least in collaboration between an urban architect and a traffic engineer. This is a practice that is often lacking in the Czech Republic, and therefore we are glad that at least students of both faculties can try such cooperation and then apply it in their further professional life," says Ing. Vojtěch Novotný, Ph.D.
Faculty of Transportation Sciences intends to build on this successful project by creating a new bachelor's degree course explicitly focused on sustainable mobility and quality of life.
For more detailed information about the shared zone, see www.sdilenazona.cz.