Friday, May 26, 2017
Walking Man Takeover
When we went on our walking tour a couple of days ago, the symbols used in the crosswalk lights were pointed out. When Berlin was split between the capitalist Western side and the Communist Eastern side, many aspects of the city differed on each half, including basic thing like the symbols used for crosswalk lights. When Berlin was unified in the 1990's, these differences had to be removed, and the crosswalk symbols on the Eastern side were planned to be removed. However, there was strong public outcry against the symbols' removal. In fact, its potential removal almost provoked a revolt. In the end, the "walking man" symbols were allowed to stay. This story is a clear example of how infrastructure, even basic aspects like crosswalk lights, can have a big impact on society. The symbols used for the crosswalk are today used as symbols of the city. Public opinion is a big factor in infrastructure decision-making, and this example shows that "trivial" pieces of infrastructure can have that impact. It shows how much responsibility engineers and scientist have towards maintaining public happiness, approval, and convenience in their daily lives.
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I think that this public impact matters even more in a city which has modernized and expanded as quickly as Berlin. With the large amount of construction projects taking place after the collapse of the communist regime, there must also be a lot of cooperation with the public as well as other engineers to ensure that future projects go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the walking man was interesting. I liked how it showed that even though Berlin is unified now it represents a time when they weren't and a culture that people still remember.
ReplyDeleteThe walking man was one of my favorite parts of learning about Berlin. I like that the people protested removing the walking man. It gives with old, renovated city a little bit of history.
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