VIRTUAL: Livable Cities – New York
Abstract
Accessible and attractive public space makes a city livable. Comfortable pedestrian routes planted with trees are a significant factor in increasing physical activity among city residents, including those with a motor disability. One of the most often encountered obstacle in pedestrian mobility are bulges caused by tree roots that lift paving slabs in search of air and water. Another problem are impermeable surfaces often destined for mobility and flash flood after intense rainfalls. Therefore, there is still a need for new ways out to increase climate resilience and develop urban tree friendly comfortable pedestrian mobility sidewalk systems. The paper focuses on permeability of original prototypes of a sidewalk called ‘Pavepro’. The study covers rainwater flow and retention analysis of three variants of a paving slab, varied in terms of openings’ system design. According to the national and foreign guidelines, the designed system adopted the value of torrential rainfall intensity at the rate of 150 l / m2 / h. The results showed significant differences in the values of the obtained flow rates. All variants met the established assumptions regarding the required water flow and retention. The possibility of reducing the slab’s openings should be considered, which could positively affect the walking comfort parameters. The study results will be used in further modeling of the rainwater flow and accumulation.
Magdalena Wojnowska-Heciak – Graduated in 2010 at the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Poland. In 2018 defended PhD thesis ‘Development and management trends for the waterfronts located at the rivers in urban agglomerations’. Gained experience working as an Assistant Professor at Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the Kielce University of Technology. Currently joined Department of Landscape Architecture at Warsaw University of Life Sciences.