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file photo by Eric Jackson

City backs down on restoring traffic to Avenida Central Peatonal

by Eric Jackson

A retail merchants' movement to put an end to the Avenida Central Peatonal by restoring traffic to the street has been derailed for now. Led by the management of El Machetazo, the merchants had convinced Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro that the businesses along the brick pedestrian walkway were dying out because customers couldn't drive up to their stores. The city government, with only one represente dissenting, promptly announced that come the first of October, the Peatonal would be open for traffic again.

But only a few days later, after a storm of criticism from several quarters but most decisively from most of the urban planners in Panamanian academia and the urban development reform movement led by architect Raisa Banfield, the city voided that plan and announced that an in-depth study about the area's future would be conducted.

Much of the critique of the merchants' claim centered around the notion that the retail businesses in the area could regain the upper hand in competition with the newer shopping malls around the city, which tend to have more display floor and storage space, more parking, a bigger mix of stores and better security than the Peatonal is ever likely to offer. Most of these amenities would only be possible with a substantial amount of new capital investment in parking structures around the area and new buildings. Instead of building, expanding or improving, the general business trend along the Peatonal is to move out of the area to newer and more spacious premises.

The notion that the return of automobiles would in itself make any substantial difference was not widely accepted. Listening to arguments of traffic restoration supporters the impression left was that people making this point didn't believe in it themselves, but were looking for a rationale to remove the street vendors from the area.

Former Mayor Mayín Correa, whose administration created the Peatonal, campaigned hard on her family's radio station, KW Continente, to keep the area traffic-free. But even she and her supporters had to admit that the experiment has not been a total success. To what extent that's because a new legislative palace and developments she contemplated around the entrance to the Casco Viejo never happened is necessarily a matter of conjecture, but clearly she had a grand plan in mind and that was not shared by her successor.

In many cities around the world such pedestrian malls have succeeded, but rarely as general retail centers. Usually those old downtown business districts that revive do so on the strength of cultural and entertainment scenes, boutiques, restaurants, specialty retail stores and the upper floors of buildings being renovated into upscale residential units. In the places where such schemes have failed, holding onto concepts like automobile traffic or antiquated and doomed notions of a downtown business district's role are usually part of the fatal recipe.

Successful conversions usually involve an element of gentrification, which in turn can set off struggles between rich and poor that can be managed either badly or well. Often an arts scene in the area will thrive and become a driving force in a neighborhood's revival, but at a certain point art gallery owners or wealthier new residents will try to oust people who sell their art on the street.

It appears that the city government is going to take some months to consider all these factors, and just when they have taken the time to fully understand the implications of the decisions that must be made the 2009 election cycle will be making its effects felt. It's therefore likely that whatever action or inaction is forthcoming from the city, the Peatonal will be a campaign issue the next time that Panama City votes for a mayor and representantes.

Tourist visa changes may be short-lived
City has second thoughts on getting rid of the Avenida Central Peatonal

Urban planning in Panama, such as it has been and may become

Emancipated high school girls expelled

The strange tale of Captain Sherman

Flowing in the streets of the capital
Panama News Briefs