The survey “Impact Assessment of the Opening of Avenida Paulista on Urban Vitality” was published May 20. Developed by a team formed by the Sustainable Mobility Laboratory (LABMOB/PROURB/UFRJ) in partnership with ITDP Brasil, Bike Anjo and Corrida Amiga, the study evaluated the program that restricts the circulation of motor vehicles in the two directions of the avenue on Sundays and holidays and opens up the space for the free passage of pedestrians and cyclists. Among the main results presented are:
In only 5 minutes, 950 pedestrians and 70 cyclists pass on the avenue;
73% of the visitors and 42% of the residents felt encouraged by the program to perform activities in public spaces
71% of the residents and 92% of the traders are in favor of the Opening of Avenida Paulista
“It was a unique opportunity to study and apply the impact assessment methodology. This is an internationally validated and extremely accurate methodology. We can say that the study is unprecedented in applying the methodology to understand the impact of interventions in the city, which is in constant transformation caused by a system of complex variables. The result was satisfactory – both by the learning of the entire team and by the answers found and the adaptations developed to apply the method. The impact of the program was verified by means of the analysis of indicators in the environmental, urban, social and economic dimensions, which, together, characterize the concept of urban vitality,” explains Victor Andrade from LABMOB.
* The support for this project was made possible thank to CIFF , which offered, together with iCS, a three day course on impact assessment, which was open to the grantees of both the institutions. After the course, CIFF and iCS selected, by public notice, two research projects, with the intention that the course participants apply the learned methodology.
