Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
To me that's the most central part of a great pedestrian experience - being able to wander around on foot and be constantly surprised by what you find.
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In Germany, however, the heterogeneity of the urban landscape was damaged, because the postwar replacement buildings have larger footprints, more blank walls, greater auto accommodation and cheaper, more generic facades. Also, many roadways were widened or straightened, and cores often added ring roads. The street-level experience in, say, Naples, is far superior to that of any major city in Germany.
Granted, the German cores remained extremely successful, with heavy foot traffic, high property values, high transit usage, etc. but this is more a function of German public policy/regulatory authority than design. For example, the high streets remained packed, but Germany essentially banned large-scale retail outside of city centers until recently.