Page 23 - Landscape-Issue150

FEATURE

centre are treated as ‘table top platforms’
that require vehicles to slow down, ramp
up to the same level as the sidewalks
and NMT ways, proceed more slowly
across the pedestrian and NMT crossings
within the table top, and then ramp
back down to road level. This not only
means that each intersection becomes
a traffic-calming speed hump, but also
that pedestrians, disabled users and NMT
users are not required to navigate traffic
kerbs by stepping up or down; instead,
road level comes up to meet pedestrians
Designated cycle ways are disengaged from the roadway and run throughout the town centre. They have and NMT users who have the advantage
been consciously designed into the table top intersections, which also act as traffic calming devices. of a seamless circulation system.
These intersections themselves become
landscaped points of identity, rather
than the leftover spaces that usually
make larger intersections so cheerless.
Tongues of landscape penetrate into the
intersections to guide traffic movement.
All pedestrian and NMT crossings are
clearly demarcated in consistent ways
that make these movements more
predictable for motorists, especially in
a culture where recognising pedestrian
and cyclist rights is typically very poor.
We now have a basis for re-education
As a greenfields development, based more on design than simply poorly
it is possible to fully rationalise enforced regulation.
circulation at table top intersections, The intersections, too, are signposted
as opposed to retrofitting or modifying in clear ways throughout, avoiding the
established traffic areas maddening experience of way finding
and a futile search for street names.
Extending into a finer grain of
‘walkability’ priorities
The entire Westown Square is a complex
system of pedestrian routes through a
pedestrian priority zone. Thanks to the
landscape architects, expansive parking
areas are traversed by beautifully planted
pergolas, directing pedestrians from and
through these parking areas. As further
city blocks are developed, the intention
is that a finer grain of pedestrian and
NMT ways will run through each block,
bringing the additional landscaping
opportunities that go with this.

Ensuring that open space trails are well used, well-lit, carefully managed and safe is an essential part of the So, where do I park my horse…?
design process. Lights and security cameras are a fundamental component of safety and are linked into the A further layer of movement adds to
overall urban security system. Westown’s uniqueness, namely the
extensive system of parkland linkages
embedded throughout the town, and
around which its design is formed.
It will be laid out with walking trails,
running tracks, mountain bike trails and
equestrian paths, and these will be linked
to the town centre itself.
In this regard, a horse paddock has been
embedded adjacent to Paddock Place, on
Saddle Row, to enable commuting to the
town centre. It is somehow redolent of
the cowboy in a Western movie, arriving
on horseback, tying up at the hitching
rail, and sauntering across the square in
search of the saloon… n

So, where do I park my horse?

Check us out www.salandscape.co.za Landscape SA • Issue 150 2025 21