Transit Oriented Development | Universidad Simón Bolívar

2011

Institution:

* Universidad Simón Bolívar

Course:

* Studio 7 equivalent.

Case of Study:

* Petare / Caracas

Teaching Staff:

* Ignacio Cardona / Instructor

* Yacira Blanco / Instructor

* Pablo Cabrera / Visiting Professor (Universidad Mayor San Andrés, Bolivia)

*

In Caracas, 20% of travel in the metropolitan area involves a private vehicle. These occupy 80% of the traffic space (with an occupation index of 1.2 people/vehicle). In comparison, the other 75% of the journeys in Caracas involve public transportation or walking, which only occupies 20% of the traffic space. The absence of systemic planning and design for the city’s mobility, both for cars and pedestrians, has gone side by side with uncertain planning of public space systems.

This Studio addresses the study of the city from the approach of Transit Oriented Development. The course uses digital tools (mostly Rhinoceros and Grasshopper) to parametrize different mobility strategies in order to incentivize livable, vibrant, and sustainable communities.

Although the course has mobility at the core, the studio-based environment allowed the generation of a think-tank where other variables -such as flood mitigation or affordability in housing- overlap with mobility strategies. Ultimately, the urban project emerges from the thoughtful, innovative, and systemic overlapping of different systems.