By Vrej Haroutounian

The 21st century was a transition point in Yerevan as more and more personal vehicles began to be imported into Yerevan. An increase in auto traffic occurred in Yerevan during this era, as more than 45,000 cars are imported into Armenia every year (Interviewee, 2011). Roughly half of these cars, based on the population distribution of the country, naturally end up in Yerevan.

The master plan implemented at this time is the one still in use from 1986. Auto circulation throughout the city center is not adequately addressed in the plan, considering the low number of automobiles in the city at the time it was commissioned. In 1988, the rate of car ownership in Armenia was 67 cars per 1000 people (French, 1995). “Automotive use after independence came to a halt due to fuel shortages that took place. Once the economy stabilized, automotive traffic in the city increased sharply, and continues to do so as more infrastructure is built for the automobile” (Interviewee, 2011).

Train lines have been removed and converted into roads, for the purpose of creating access to previously public land that would be privatized to create new developments such as the area above cascade accessed by the new highway. Private minibuses took over the duty of mass public transportation. Numerous side effects, such as congestion, smog, and heat island effect in the summer were resultant from the running cars and lack of tree canopy in the city center.

As businesses began claiming public spaces outside of the building,the phenomenon of the encroachment of cafes and restaurants onto the sidewalk creates a very pedestrian-unfriendly experience in Yerevan. This, coupled with an increase in automobile traffic, the widening of auto traffic lanes and the parking of cars next to the already cramped sidewalks,challenges the pedestrian experience of Yerevan.

The addition of undergroundand overhead auto passes addresses the increase in auto traffic;however, this is a reactionary solution innature, which also increased advertisement billboards throughout the city. The streetlights, which used to be pedestrian scale, have all been increased to auto scale. Roundabouts at street intersections have been removed to add lanes to accommodate the increase in traffic. Auto traffic increased in the city center of Yerevan in the 1970s, creating a need for street wideningin certain areas. It has increased further, given the fact that more then 25,000cars currently enter Armenia every year.

Yerevan has transformed into a city designed in reaction to the personal automobile, an interesting facts considering most major progressive cities in the world are trying to convert their auto-based urban planning to mirror what Yerevan used to be pre independence, a walkable city with adequate public transportations and low traffic congestion.

Yerevan is meeting the demands of automobile culture, at the expense of pedestrian circulation. As the auto lanes become wider, the sidewalks become smaller. Parking structures in new developments are built underground to accommodate a limited fraction of residential parking needs, creating further parking demands on the cities urban landscape.

In the early part of the Soviet era, buildings were designed with central courtyards. Entrances into the residential buildings were from the rear, which surrounded a central courtyard. These courtyards were semi-private spaces that separated the public space of the street from the private space of the personal apartment unit. This space was reserved for the residents of the buildings that surrounded this area and was used for recreation and socializing. The central courtyards consisted of playgrounds and recreational rest structures.

These central squares decrease with the construction of Khrushchev and Brezhnev era buildings. After independence, they were further hindered by the construction of new building development and car garages built by the residents to house their automobiles. Parts of the courtyard space, even though extensively reduced in scale, still survive in the form of small, covered picnic table areas that are used by residents to gather and socialize, and small makeshift playgrounds.Once again, this issue is closely connected with the increase of the automobile in the city.

50,000 people a day use Yerevan Metro, built in the 1970s and 1980s. There are plans for its expansion targeted at increasing its ridership. Private passenger vans (marshutkas) began to provide cheap transportation to citizens after the Dark Years. The tram system was eventually disassembled in the Rabid Construction yearsand modified for electric buses. Designated passenger drop off and loading lanes were added along major streets in the last few years which are never used by marshutkas or busses who never fully enter the drop off areas and constantly create traffic congestion around the bys stop areas.

Given the size of Yerevan, a well-planned public transportation system that integrates the Metro, buses, and bicycles can reduce auto traffic significantly. Yerevan, in its Garden City layout, can easily make public transportation a viable alternative to the automobile. Policies that reward and promote public transportation have multiple benefits, such as reducing the effect of urban heat island effect, reducing pollution, lowering road maintenance costs and ending traffic congestion. Positive health benefits are also realized in the general population due to lower stress levels and an overall more people friendly and spatially just city.

Bicycles are a valid solution to Yerevan’s traffic issues, considering its size and weather conditions.These factors mirror cities in which bicycle infrastructure is well integrated, such as Copenhagen. Bicycles reduce ambient noise levels in the city, increase the health of the community, emit almost no greenhouse gasses, and require very little infrastructure to implement. There are grassroots efforts by civic society engaged in promoting the bicycle, and their efforts should be supported and strengthened. Pedestrian sidewalks need to be planned in a more effective fashion, allowing for a comfortable walking experience. Building codes should be enacted for businesses with entrances from the sidewalk that are more uniform and well thought out. Street trees should be protected and added throughout the city, providing shade to pedestrians, ecological benefits of shelter for small animals and reductions in pollution.

Sources:

French, R. A. (1995). Plans, pragmatism and people: The legacy of Soviet planning for

today's cities. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh.

Yerevan interviewee: This title is used for one of 20 anonymous experts interviewed during semi-structured interviews conducted in the summer of 2011.