Skyway
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In an urban setting, a skyway, catwalk, or skywalk, is a type of pedway consisting of an enclosed (or covered) bridge between two buildings. This protects pedestrians from the weather. These skyways are usually owned by businesses, and are therefore not public spaces (compare with sidewalk). Skyways usually connect on the second or third floor (American numbering convention), though they are sometimes much higher, as in Petronas Towers (though this skyway is often referred to as a sky bridge). The space in the buildings connected by skyways is often devoted to retail business, so areas around the skyway may operate as a shopping mall. Non-commercial areas with closely associated buildings, such as university campuses, can often have skyways and/or tunnels connecting buildings. The largest network of skyways is in Minneapolis, 8 miles of skyways connecting 69 blocks. Nearly every building in the city's downtown core is skyway accessible. Skyways in Calgary, Alberta have a longer total length of 16 km, although the systems are discontinuous and do not connect as many downtown buildings. On a smaller scale, terminals of large airports are often connected by skywalk systems, as at Manchester Airport.
Some cities have the equivalent of a skyway underground, and many locales have mixed subway/skyway systems; see underground city.
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[edit] Early examples of skywalks
- Copenhagen, Denmark: skywalk connecting courts building to adjacent uses, 18th century
- Faaborg, Funen, Denmark: skywalk in centrum, 18th century
[edit] Environmental factors
Besides pedestrian safety and convenience, the chief reasons assigned by urban planners for skywalk development are decrease of traffic congestion, reduction in vehicular air pollution and separation of people from vehicular noise. A number of cities (for example, Spokane, Washington) have given intricate analysis to skywalk systems employing computer models to optimize skywalk layout (Carbon monoxide dispersion analysis in downtown Spokane, ESL Inc., Sunnyvale, (1973))
[edit] List of cities with notable skyway/skywalk systems
| City | Length | Blocks Connected | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, Georgia | 14 blocks | ||
| Bangkok, Thailand (between Skytrain National Stadium/Siam/Chid Lom stations) | >2 km | ||
| Calgary, Alberta (+15 or +30 Walkway) | 10 miles (16 km) | ~64 blocks | map |
| Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 15 blocks | map | |
| Cincinnati, Ohio (Skywalk) | 1.3 miles (2.1 km) | 15 blocks | map |
| Des Moines, Iowa (Skywalk) | >3.5 miles (5.6 km) | 30 blocks | map |
| Detroit, Michigan | 10 Buildings | ~ 8 blocks | map |
| Duluth, Minnesota (Skywalk) | ~17 blocks | map | |
| Edmonton, Alberta (Pedway) | ~13 blocks | map | |
| Hong Kong (footbridges) | |||
| Houston, Texas (skyways are a small part of the larger Houston Downtown Tunnel System) | >6 miles including tunnels | ~35 blocks (95 total) | map |
| Leeds (was constucted partially in the 1970s to the South of the city centre and was never completed now largely demolished except for small sections at the Bank of England building, offices off Infirmary Street and Millgarth Police Station that are out of bounds to the general public and Leeds Shopping Plaza which is accessible to the public) | |||
| London, Barbican Estate and London Wall | map | ||
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | ~30 buildings | ||
| Paradise, Nevada (skyways connect several hotel/casinos along the Las Vegas Strip) | |||
| Minneapolis, Minnesota (Skyway) | >8 miles | ~80 blocks | map |
| New York City, New York | West Side Highway (multiple times) | ||
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 16 blocks | map | |
| Rochester, Minnesota (Skyway) | ~17 blocks | map | |
| Rochester, New York | 20 buildings over 13 blocks | map | |
| Saint John, New Brunswick (Skyway) | 15 blocks | map | |
| Saint Paul, Minnesota (Skyway) | 30 blocks | map | |
| Seattle, Washington | 3 blocks | map | |
| Sioux City, Iowa | 13 blocks | map | |
| Spokane, Washington | 16 blocks | ||
| Winnipeg, Manitoba (Winnipeg Walkway) | 18 blocks | map |
More cities and details: Montgomery, Michael R. and Richard Bean, "Market Failure, government failure, and the private supply of public gods: the case of climate-controlled walkway networks," in PUBLIC CHOICE, Vol. 99 (1999), pages 403-437.
[edit] See also
