National Geographic
Sept 17 2004

Travel Column: Armenia’s Lesson in Street Life

TravelWatch
Jonathan B. Tourtellot
National Geographic Traveler
Updated September 17, 2004

A small experiment in Gyumri, Armenia has shown how easy it is to
turn an urban dead zone into an appealing, living place.
Gyumri boasts two Soviet-era monumental, lifeless city squares. You
know the type: asphalt deserts walled by concrete office facades,
beloved by urban planners and hated by travelers on foot. In a remote
corner of one square, a Gyumri company recently installed just three
things: a park bench, a street lamp, and a seesaw.

Men sit on a bench in Dilizhan, Armenia. In another town, just such a
streetscape is sprouting in a once barren plaza.

According to the New York-based Project for Public Spaces, magic
resulted. Kids flocked to the seesaw, parents in tow. Parents began
to chat with each other. Soon street vendors set up stands next to
the bench, drawing more people. Three tiny seeds had bloomed into a
garden of street life. Any visitor entering that square would
automatically gravitate toward the lively corner.

Modern cities abound in dead zones; some are even handsome. But it’s
people that make a town worth visiting. Nothing makes a town or city
more appealing for tourists than lively, pedestrian-friendly streets
and squares.

It’s a lesson Europe seems to be learning, as city after city there
has created car-free zones. In the ultra-motorized U.S.–despite
success stories like San Antonio’s riverwalk–cities have been slower
to embrace the idea of streets that are more populated by people than
by traffic. Yet all you need to do is set aside a few blocks and
provide ways for people to do what people like to do–eat, drink,
talk, play. Tourists show up. Businesses thrive.

As the Gyumri experiment shows, it doesn’t take much to turn a square
with nothing into a square with something. Bring on the seesaws.