作者简介:
　　Findlay A. Nicol,来自苏格兰,过去十余年,一直在山东经济学院教授英语并长期担任本刊英语顾问。
　　
　　There has been a lot in the news recently about the moves that China is making to change into an urbanized society with half the population living in urban areas. When I read about this I think of one question and wonder where they are going to put all the people. I don’t mean where are they going to live – I imagine that problem can be solved by the time they arrive – but rather where are they going to walk? Being a pedestrian in the city is hard enough as it is without doubling the population. These new guys coming in from the countryside won’t be car owners (yet) and they will be so unskilled in the perils of urban life that they will fondly imagine that it is still possible to walk around this fine city. Well, I’m afraid that unless something remarkable happens in the next few years that will be not much more than a dream.
　　At one time there must have been some planning provision made in the cities for those who naively try to navigate the streets on foot. There are traces of such a system in the provision of crossings with little green and red men which are designed to tell you when it is safe to cross the street. Unfortunately the system has not been updated to take account of the volume of traffic in the streets today. There is still a ludicrous right turn on red rule which allows a stream of traffic to come pouring across the line of foot-passengers who foolishly think that they have some right of way. I understand from my Chinese friends that technically the rule does not actually allow the driver to mow down anybody who gets in his way but most motorists seem to be unaware of this. I sometimes feel that crossing the road at lights just gives the driver a target to aim at. I really don’t see how twice the number of pedestrians are ever going to get across at any of the busy junctions.
　　It will be even worse trying to negotiate the crowded pavements. It was a marvelous idea to incorporate a blind people’s strips in the sidewalks in cities. That, by the way, is what the yellow bit in the middle is intended for. The only trouble is it would be pretty well impossible for any blind person to walk along it. Have you ever tried it to see? I have. You will find that in places it is all uneven and broken – usually because it has been lifted to get to the drains underneath and not properly replaced – while you are also likely to crash into a tree planted handily in the middle, or an occasional carelessly parked car. Of course at night you would need some special sixth sense not to step on a street-vendor of some kind or even a whole portable barbecue restaurant. In the UK there is a wonderful catch-all law that the police randomly enforce against “obstructing the pavement”. I can’t imagine a situation in a Chinese city when the pavement is not obstructed. Double the number and what will happen.
　　However, it is worse than that really. Now so many customers come to the restaurants and shops in their spanking new private cars that all the shopkeepers and restaurant owners have taken over two thirds or more of OUR pavement for parking. It’s not just that cars are parked there but there is always one less than skillful driver trying to reverse in or out just when you want to go past. Then again every former pedestrian who now has a scooter or even a motorbike thinks that they can still ride on the sidewalk when the street gets blocked by the inevitable traffic jam and that all the people who are so poor as to be walking should step aside for their convenience. Especially dangerous are the silent killers – the electric bicycles that creep up stealthily behind you with never a horn or a bell to be heard.
　　Once long ago – well a few years ago anyway – some cities experimented with the incredibly intelligent concept of a pedestrian shopping zone. It was at the time that the pedestrian avenues had just been rebuilt and there were all these lovely new stores to explore. For a few days (weeks maybe?) there were to be no cars on the streets. It was to be cities’ answer to Nanjing Nan Lu in Shanghai a genuine traffic free zone. It never had a chance. Go there now and you will find it full of cars – on both pavements. True there are marked parking spaces and usually the drivers stick to them but they have to get into them by forcing their way through the shoppers on foot. The other day my heart filled with a wild Schadenfreude when I saw a policeman booking some arrogant burke who had decided to park right in the middle of the narrow passage left us outside the parking zone. I nearly went to shake his hand I was so happy!
　　There is no doubt that the cities desperately need traffic free zones which will allow pedestrians to breathe. The experience of every city in the world that has introduced these is that the number of shoppers increases exponentially and that car owners adapt to the new situation quickly. New profits are garnered by the city authorities by providing proper car-parking where drivers pay an economic fee for the privilege of getting close to the shops or decide to reduce their carbon footprint by taking a bus instead. These zones should not only be for shopping but could have small gardens with seating in them so that a trip to the downtown area becomes a pleasure rather than a dance with death. As for the crossings, well I strongly recommend the installation of new traffic lights with right filters as well as left, that allow drivers and pedestrians both to know how long they have to wait (as those in most Chinese cities do) and best of all have a complete traffic stop phase that allows pedestrians to cross two streets at once.
　　
　　最近,很多新闻都在报道,说中国正在向城镇人口占总人口数过半的城市化社会过渡。听到这个消息,我想到了一个问题:他们打算怎么安置这些涌进城市的人?我的意思不是说这些人将要住到哪里——我只是在想,也许这些人到了城里,住房问题自然会马上解决——可是今后他们到哪儿去散步?在城市,就算人口不增加一半,做一个步行者都是比较困难的事情。这些从乡下来到城市的人们,应该没有私家车(至少现在没有)。他们应该也不擅长应对城市中的各种危险,还天真地以为在这个美丽的城市到处散散步仍然是可行的。我担心在未来的几年里,除非有不寻常的事情发生,不然这种美好的愿望就只是一个梦而已。
　　在过去,城市确实为那些想要步行穿越马路的人们制定过规矩。在一些十字路口就可以看到这样一种装置,上面有一红一绿两个小人交替亮起,提醒行人什么时候穿越马路是安全的。不过,遗憾的是,这些装置并没有根据现在马路上交通流量的增加而随之进行改进。而且,现在仍然存在一个荒唐的行为,就是允许一连串的车辆在红灯时右拐并驶向正在步行过马路的人群。这些行人还傻乎乎地认为他们有一定的通行权呢。我从我的中国朋友们那里了解到,从法律意义上来讲,那些规章制度并没有真的允许司机可以任意地冲向挡他们路的行人。不过我想,大部分的司机还没认识到这一点。有时候,我甚至觉得我在绿灯亮起穿越马路时,变成了一个司机们瞄准的靶子。我实在无法想象当穿越交通繁忙的路口的行人数量增加一倍时是什么情景。
　　如果你想尝试通过拥挤的人行道,那情况更糟。在城市的人行道上加上盲人行进区域是一个非常不可思议的想法。顺便说一句,盲人行进区域就是人行道中间那条黄色的路砖铺成的路。这条路惟一的毛病就是,对于任何一个盲人来说,在这上面行走几乎是不可能的。你们试过在上面走的感觉吗?我还真试过。你会发现某些地方根本就是凹凸不平甚至是被损坏的——通常是因为修下水道时被挖开,然后没有被恢复原位。有时候你还可能撞上路中间的一棵树,或者一辆随随便便停在路中间的汽车。当然,到了晚上,估计你得发挥特殊的第六感,才能避免走到广告牌之类的东西上,甚至有时还会撞上临时搭起的烧烤摊。在英国,有一项非常好而且很全面的法律政策,就是警察会不定时地检查并处理妨碍人行道通行的行为。在济南,我没法想象出人行道不被妨碍的情景,更想象不到人口增倍后会发生什么事情。
　　然而,还有比这更糟的。如今,很多人都会开着他们崭新的私家车去餐厅吃饭或者逛商店。所有的店主都会在属于“我们”的人行道上划出三分之二或者更多的地盘用来停车。还不单单是车停在那里的问题,有时候还会有技术不太熟练的司机在行人想经过的时候倒车进去或出来。还有,原来是行人,现在拥有一辆小踏板或者一辆摩托车的人,也会在马路上塞车的时候移动到人行道上来行驶。这样的话,在人行道上行走的可怜的人们就要退到一边为他们让路。尤其危险的是那些无声杀手们——那些不知不觉行驶到你的身后,并且听不到一声喇叭响的电动车。
　　很久之前,反正就是几年前,有些城市曾经尝试过一个非常明智的想法,就是建成步行商业街。那时候商业街刚刚扩建完,所有新建的商店都等着人们的光顾。在几天的时间里(或许是几个星期?),路上没有任何的车辆行驶。那时候的商业街将可以与上海的南京路媲美,那可是名副其实的步行街。但是它们现在应该没这个机会了。现在去那里,你会看到两旁的人行道上挤满了车。没错,那里是有划好的停车区域,司机们也会按规矩停车,可是他们要先穿过正在步行中的买东西的人们,再停进停车位。前几天,一股强烈的幸灾乐祸的感觉充斥着我的内心。我在街上看到一个警察正在给那些强行停在停车区外本来是留给行人的很窄通道的中间的汽车贴罚单。我当时真想过去跟他握握手,我实在太开心了!
　　毫无疑问的是,城市急需增加一些步行的区域,让行人们可以好好地喘口气。世界上任何一个采用这种方法的城市都会有这样的经历:购物的人的数量成指数增加,车主们也会很快适应这种新的环境。城市当局应该提供一部分正规的停车区域,车主们若想得到可以离商场更近一点的特权,就要缴纳相应的费用。这样的话,政府就会有一部分新的收入来源,没准还能让那些车主们改变主意,决定减少他们的碳足迹,改乘公交车出行。这些步行区域应该不只针对购物,还应该有一些提供座位的小公园。这样的话,在市区游览就成为一种乐趣,而不是与死神共舞了。至于十字路口,我建议城市安装新的交通灯装置,增加右转和左转分流指示灯。这样可以让车主和行人都知道他们需要等待多长时间(就像大部分中国城市的信号灯装置一样)。信号灯要留充足的时间给行人,最好设置让行人可以一次穿越两条街的时间。