Reinventing Transport

Shared-space design for streets and intersections deliberately creates a sense of uncertainty about who should proceed first. Such uncertainty is not a bug, it is a feature, as they say. In a well designed scheme, the results are said to be almost magical. The removal of clear-cut rules and signs and traffic lights prompts caution, low speeds and a negotiated approach to right-of-way instead of a rules-based approach. But there may be a problem.  Some of the most vulnerable users of streets don't seem to like shared space. It makes them feel ... vulnerable . In a comment on my post on Shared Space designs in Japan, David Hembrow (author of   a view from the cycle path blog) points out the Dutch cycling advocacy groups are not too keen on Shared Space: "Don't get too excited about Shared Space. I've yet to meet anyone here in the Netherlands who is enthusiastic about it. In fact, there is much criticism of it due to it having lead to a reduction in safety, ...

The shared space (or 'naked streets') approach to street design was developed in the Netherlands right? The late Hans Monderman was the pioneering hero who extended it to some surprisingly busy roads and intersections, correct? And it has been popularised and applied in the UK and elsewhere by Ben Hamilton-Baillie , hasn't it? Or did shared space emerge in Japan? In a recent Ecohearth post explaining the shared space idea , Dawn Marshallsay includes this sentence: It could be said that Tokyo led the way, as most of its roads follow the shared-space principle, although they were not purposefully designed to reduce accidents. Actually, it is mainly small side-streets that are like that, not most roads, but you get the point. Here are some examples photographed during my short visits to Japan. (Scroll down for more discussion after the pictures) Near Fukuoka airport and a subway station. Near Tokyo University and Ueno in central Tokyo. In Nishitokyo City, ...

Shared space street design is a fantastic innovation. But most excitement about shared space (or “naked streets”) seems to focus on the counter-intuitive phenomenon of “ safety through uncertainty ”. I think another important lesson from shared space has been neglected. A key benefit of shared space is that it expands the urban public realm. And this is done with little or no loss of transport utility. This point was emphasized by shared-space pioneer, Hans Monderman , but is often forgotten or under-emphasised. This "public space dividend" is also relevant to many more streets than shared space itself will ever be applied to. Many street-design innovations can yield such a dividend if they create spaces where speeds stay below about 30 km/h. This would allow a surprising amount of what we now think of as traffic space to become part of the low-speed public realm. How? I try to explain in an article, " Earning a Public Space Dividend in the Streets " ( pdf ), ju...

Fun, art and gleeful spontaneity in the streets feature in this delightful and inspiring 20 min talk. The playfulness here is not just in the streets but with the streets . Ted Dewan at euroGel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo . The potential highlighted here for life in streets is in total and utter contrast with the automobile dependent landscapes in my post below . Ted Dewan is the pioneer of ' road witching '. Towards the end of the video he makes some connections with David Engwicht 's 'mental speed bumps'. David also promotes safety through intrigue and uncertainty. Ted's talk also mentions the emerging possibilities of Shared Space . All of this is about reclaiming at least some of our street space as public realm again. It is about treating streets as places not highways. Do you think these ideas are relevant in the rest of the world, outside rich western cities? I think so. Hat tip to the wonderful How We Drive blog .

Four decades ago, French leaders wanted to remake Paris to suit the needs of the car. But in recent years, Paris has been reclaiming its streets for life's rich pageant, not just motor traffic. This Streetfilm (from the Livable Streets Network ) offers a wonderful visual tour of Paris's traffic-calming efforts. You will need a flash plug-in to see it. The whole archive of Streetfilms is well worth a good look.