MIT Bicycle Study
This is from the latest MassBike newsletter
MIT Bicycle Study
A research team in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT is interested in the changes in the perception and the design of public and private space post 9/11. In looking at public space design, changes in privately-owned space and our shifting attitudes and perceptions of security in our urban environment after 9/11, this research is taking a systematic approach to documenting changes in the public realm and at looking at the people/organizations/agencies making the decisions and the underlying motivations for these changes.
One piece of the work involves the actual mapping of urban space (and privately owned public space) in Boston pre and post 9/11. The team is documenting the addition of security bollards, fences, hard planters and walls to provide perimeter building protection against vehicular attacks and it is also tracking the loss of public space in privately-owned buildings (examples include the closure of office lobbies and the loss of the Hancock Building Observatory space and the monetary supply exhibit in the Federal Reserve Bank Building by South Station). This is where your help is needed!
If you have noticed changes in the public realm in your professional work, as a pedestrian or cyclist, or in your day-to-day observations, please send an email. Are there spaces you used to frequent that are harder to enter? Do you notice bollards or fences around buildings, parks or other spaces that never used to be there? Guards and security personnel that are new since 9/11? Send a quick list or more detailed descriptions. Any feedback is helpful!
We will not contact you or forward your email to anyone else. However, if you wish to speak further about your observations, feel free to indicate your willingness to talk with us and provide contact information.
Please send an email to Sai at sbkrish@mit.edu or Susan at scsilber@mit.edu
Thank you in advance for any assistance you can give with this research! This phase of the work is supported, in part, by a Boston Society of Architects Research in Architecture Grant. Susan Silberberg will be presenting a lecture at the Boston Public Library on Wednesday April 18th at 6pm on this subject as part of the BSA lecture series. The event is free and open to the public and you are encouraged to attend!
