Swanson School of Engineering

Walking around the city of Florence it is clear the streets were made before the modern automobile was introduced. Considering the history of the city this makes perfect sense. Florence was formed long before cars were even a concept let alone a reality. The most comparable comparison were horses and carts, but this method of travel was reserved for wealthy individuals. Given the time period in which central Florence developed, the city was designed to be very walkable, a feature which still exists today. Due to this walkability, even in modern times cars are not a necessity. However, when cars do use the streets, it tends to inconvenience pedestrians. This can be seen in two ways. Primarily, cars require pedestrians to strictly stick to the skinny sidewalks causing congestion and awkward social interactions. A secondary effect is parking. Since the streets were designed before the need for street parking, the skinny lanes allow no space resulting in people parking on sidewalk. This further antagonizes the skinny sidewalk issue. Looking at Florence in a historical perspective it is completely understandable we it was built this way but living in Florence in the modern day is inconvenienced because of this design choice.