September 4, 2025 · View original
It’s easy to romanticize the oldest parts of Europe’s built environment. But we all know they were built during a different time. A more fair comparison would be to look at how new neighbourhoods are being planned and constructed today.
So let’s exit Vieux-Nice and venture to an entirely new community currently under construction to the north of the airport called Nice Méridia. When complete, the mixed-use community expects to welcome 5,000 residents, 5,000 students, and 5,000 jobs.
I don’t know much about the surrounding area, but I do find it noteworthy that the transit infrastructure is already in place. Here’s the tram line that runs on the eastern edge of the community, on its own dedicated lanes. Transit is the clear priority here.
The community itself is a mix of different street designs. Here, for example, is a narrow street where traffic is controlled by mechanical bollards. North America really needs to get with the bollard program.
Here’s a pedestrian-only street that, at its narrowest, is roughly 12.5 meters. So a fairly generous mid-block space.
Here’s what seems to be a fairly typical through street, which clocks in at around 19 meters from building face to building face.
20 meters is not an atypical right-of-way width. It’s the dimension of most of the streets in the core of Toronto. But here, most of the space is allocated to sidewalks and green space. The space allocated to cars is roughly 6.5 meters. (I’d like to emphasize that this is a rough dimension as I was using my suitcase to pick up the endpoint of the laser.)
Finally, there’s this incredible green space bisecting the entire community. I don’t have any dimensions for it, but I can tell you it’s a spectacular amenity. With the all-white buildings in the background, it feels a bit like Miami.
Tomorrow I’ll share photos of the architecture. Stay tuned.
