Street Reclaiming Through Design

David Engwicht

In this section we will explain the 6 design principals for street reclaiming (click to jump ahead):
— Create rooms rather than corridors
— Reduce traffic oriented devices
— Evolve a unique personality for each street
— Create ever-changing streetscapes
— Build ambiguity AND legibility
— Don't master-design. Design after use

We will then look at:
— What the city can do
— What residents can do
— Dealing with cut-through traffic.

Introduction

Reclaiming through design must build on and work hand-in-hand with reclaiming through activity. The goals of reclaiming through design are to:

— Further encourage traffic to slow down by increasing the intrigue and uncertainty factor already in place because of neighborhood activity in the street

— Encourage even higher levels of neighborhood activity

— Send a clear message to motorists that the street is a shared space: a space for both movement and neighborhood building activity.

Rule 1. Create rooms rather than corridors

Cities, like houses, have two types of space: 'movement' space and 'exchange' (or living) space. In a house, the corridors are primarily for movement and the rooms for exchange (conversations with friends, meals, reading a book, etc.) No one asks an architect to design them a house with lots of big corridors and tiny rooms. It is popular wisdom that corridors 'are a waste of space' because what we value in the house is not moving but the living that takes place in each room. To minimize corridors and maximize living space, architects combine the two into the one space so that rooms become both a place for exchange and a place for movement.

Early city builders used the same technique to reduce the need for 'movement corridors'. Public living space and movement space were combined and streets and public squares were treated as 'outdoor living rooms', not as 'corridors'. This arrangement dramatically improved the efficiency of the city and enriched the social, cultural and economic life of the city. The people who needed to pass through these outdoor rooms helped enrich the life of the room, and vice versa. All great streets have this feeling of being in a room. [ for pictures in a pop-up window]

The same design principles used to create a great indoor room are used to create a great street or 'outdoor living room'. These design principles can be applied to all city streets including major arterials. Unlike traditional traffic calming, these design techniques do not necessarily have to change the physical geometry of the street. They rely primarily on changing the psychological feel of the street. They send clear messages about the dual functions of the street, as both a movement corridor and an outdoor living room for social and cultural activity. They also contain much higher levels of intrigue and uncertainty.

— Floor: Changes in floor design can signal your entry into a new room. Borders around the edge of the room help define the room. Rugs or other floor patterns can create rooms within a room.
[ for pictures] Floor designs can be a work of art and create a focal point. [ for pictures]

— Walls: Walls define a room and give it a feeling of enclosure and intimacy. You can strengthen the 'walls' of an outdoor living room with landscaping, sculptures, play equipment or banners.

— Entryways: Grand rooms have a grand entryway. Entryways proclaim that you have crossed from one space into another. In crossing the threshold you are transformed into a guest. [ for pictures] An entryway can be created into your outdoor room with markings on the roadway; 'portals' in the form of decorated poles, sculptures or wall structures that visually narrow the road at that point; overhead banner or sculpture that increases the perception of passing through a narrowed space to enter a larger space.

— Ceiling: Ceilings also produce a feeling of enclosure and intimacy. You can create a transparent ceiling for a street room with: overhead banners; tree canopy; lights; flags; overhead sculptures; a shade structure; etc. [ for pictures]

— Furniture and art: A room does not feel lived in until it contains furniture and art. [ for pictures] Furniture and art can encourage play. [ for pictures] It can also be temporary and movable. [ for pictures][top^]

Rule 2. Reduce traffic-oriented devices

A room (as opposed to a corridor) contains high levels of intrigue and uncertainty. Part of the uncertainty factor is working out the rules of etiquette - do you take your shoes off or leave them on; which chair can you sit in? Listing these rules of etiquette on a big sign at the entryway to the room would destroy this uncertainty and more importantly, depersonalize the space. People do not put 'Keep Right' (or 'Keep Left') signs on their lounge room furniture. How we are to behave while in a room is conveyed by the overall layout and 'feel' of the room.

Similarly, concrete islands, official signage and standardized road markings destroy intrigue and uncertainty and depersonalize a space. They are design elements associated with a 'corridor', not a 'room'. Even traditional traffic calming devices are traffic-oriented devices that convey the message that the space is owned primarily by traffic. Rather than these standardized devices, it is possible to convey messages to motorists through 'human artifacts' and the overall feel of the street. For example, a red kid's tricycle on a post is more effective in conveying a message than an official sign 'Warning, Kids Play Here'. The motorist must slow down to absorb the visual clue and work out its meaning. [ for pictures] [top^]

Rule 3. Evolve a unique personality for each street

The red tricycle on a post will not work if every neighborhood uses it to indicate the presence of children. Standardization destroys intrigue and uncertainty (one of the reasons why standardized traffic signage should be minimized.) Motorists are encouraged to act more like a guest in rooms that exude the personality of residents - and that means giving a certain freedom to residents to decorate their own outdoor living room. One way cities can minimize their liability exposure while still encouraging resident involvement is through the use of the 'blank canvas' approach to design. This is where the city designates the physical location and dimensions of reclaiming devices (ensuring that safety is not compromised) but leaves it up to residents what they put in these prescribed spaces. This also avoids the pitfall of resorting to legalistic guidelines. (Three examples of the 'blank canvas' approach are discussed below). For even more detail about the reasoning behind the 'blank canvas approach' see the article What is Second-Generation Traffic Calming? ) [top^]

Rule 4. Create ever-changing streetscapes:

Ever-changing streetscapes will keep speeds lower than static streetscapes by increasing the unpredictability and intrigue factors. No matter how innovative the reclaiming of a street, if it remains static for too long, intrigue will be lost and the environment will become predictable. Speeds will automatically rise. It is therefore important to not only promote high levels of human activity in the street (which has a high intrigue factor and is often unpredictable), but to have design elements that are unique, movable and change on a regular basis. Some ideas of how to do this are discussed below. [top^]

5. Build ambiguity AND legibility

We discussed above how streets and public spaces serve a dual function: getting places (moving) and neighborhood-building activity (residing). These two functions of moving and residing are contradictory. Traditional planning was based on removing conflict and contradictions. Yet, as we have argued, the genius of placing these contradictory functions in the same space is that they enrich each other. They make the journey more pleasurable and residing more interesting.

It is arguable that the most interesting urban spaces are those with the greatest levels of ambiguity. Spaces where every element has a singular and very obvious function are inflexible and boring. They cannot be adapted to the unique and varied needs of those using the space. So people don't use them. They do not engage the imagination because everything has already been interpreted by the designer. They lack intrigue and uncertainty. [ for pictures]

To create great streets that attract human activity, we must deliberately plan for ambiguity. This can start with avoiding at all costs traffic devices and standardized road marking. But it should include encouraging residents to blur the boundary lines between public and private space. It also means finding ways to build multiple functions into every element in the street. For example, a bus stop may also become a community gathering point.

Deliberately building ambiguity does not mean destroying legibility (the ability to read the purpose of a space and the rules of etiquette). Quite the contrary. Spaces containing 'good ambiguity' subtly invite people to participate in a wider range of activities. The 'rules of etiquette' for using the space are implicit in the design rather than being a list of official signs saying 'No this' and 'No that'. [top^]

7. Do not master-design. Design after use

There are two major problems with master-designing public spaces of any kind. Firstly, there is a temptation for the designer/s to see their job as rationalizing the meaning and functions of the space. They tend to strip out any ambiguity and preclude potential users of the space being able to adapt the space to their unique needs.

Secondly, the design process almost always excludes 'those at the margins' — children, the elderly, people with disabilities — the very people who have lost the most with the decline of public space. So how can we plan the reclaiming of a street in a way that overcomes these two problems?

Firstly, any 'master plan' should be a 'backbone' or 'blank canvas' plan. In other words, what is the bare minimum we need to do that will get activity happening in the space? Using the backbone analogy, the interventions must be substantial enough so that the users of the space can start to hang some flesh on it. The second stage of the design process is for the designer to find ways of enhancing that activity (hence the term 'designing after use') without over-prescribing the space. In this way those 'at the margins' participate in the design, not through some rational planning process, but by the way they use the space. [top^]
 
What a city can do

Create 'blank canvases' for reclaiming

— Universal Anchoring Device. This is a device embedded in the roadway or sidewalk which allows a wide variety of street reclaiming devices to be quickly attached or changed (banner poles, sculptures, etc.) The city can control where the devices are located. Maximum sizes that can be attached are stamped on the anchoring device. Either the city or residents can create devices that plug into the Universal Anchoring Device.

— Street entryway frameworks. The city may put a pole on either side of the entryway and have two wires connecting them above the street. The upper one to hang 'devices' and the bottom one being the lower limit. They may also put frames on the posts in which the residents can put banners, landscaping or other devices. Residents would be encouraged to change the entryway on a regular basis. The city may have competitions for the most creative entryway treatments.
— Recycling road space. Where it is appropriate to remove road space (e.g. for road narrowing or round-about), these spaces should be left as a blank canvas rather than being master-designed by the city or by the key activists in the street. The city may provide some materials with which the community can 'paint their canvas' — loose seats, landscaping on wheels, etc.
Encourage creation of quality reclaiming devices.

— Divert funds from fixed physical traffic calming devices to employ artists to create movable reclaiming devices.

— Hold competitions for the best reclaiming devices created by residents (awards night, yearly 'best of' book, travelling exhibition).

— Create a 'Street Reclaiming Home Delivery Van' that visits neighborhoods. It would have information on programs such as the Pace Car but also have pictures of what others are doing to reclaim their street. It would collect visual images to share with other neighborhoods. If the city had movable devices available, it may even be the booking agent for these devices.

Clearing house for movable devices

— Encourage residents to donate devices to a central store.

— Neighborhood swap meetings.
Integrating Street Reclaiming into existing Traffic Calming Program.

— Ask residents to try street reclaiming before moving to the more expensive (and potentially divisive) traffic calming. Hold a block party to teach them the general principles and demonstrate how it works. (See Instant Reclaiming.)

— Those streets that are implementing some kind of self-help program such as the Pace Car may be automatically entitled to have Universal Anchoring Devices installed in their street, giving them automatic preferential access to movable Street Reclaiming devices. [top^]
 
What residents can do

— Residents agree to all park their cars in the street, starting on a given night. You may even decide to park the maximum distance allowable from the curb. If needed, protect the first cars by putting a trailer full of landscaping on the corner - or ask the city to help you create a bulb-out.

— Put something unusual in your car parking space in the street. If the space must be used to park a car, put something unusual on the car.

— Have everyone paint a life size portrait of themselves on ply cutouts that are articulated with bolts at the joints. Each week rearrange the 'dummy residents' into some simulated group activity in the street. Take it in turn - household by household.

— Take it in turns to decorate the entryway to your street. (Roster this so everyone only has to do it once or twice a year.) Have your street vote on the most creative arrangement at the end of each round and make the winner the guest of honor at a block party.

— Create a special Celebration Chair that is placed outside people's houses where one of the occupants is having a birthday, anniversary or has achieved something special. Put the details on a blackboard beside the chair.

— Erect a community notice board on a street corner. Add chairs to create a meeting place.

— Put loose chairs out in your street. Paint them wild colors. Loose chairs are much better than fixed seating because they help the space to be ever-changing. People also like to use loose chairs more than fixed seating because it allows them to arrange the seating to suit their needs at the time. [top^]
 
Dealing with cut-through traffic

Some streets do have a problem with lots of cut-through or out-of-town traffic. You will not solve this problem by getting angry or even putting up signs like 'slow down -this is our street'. As noted in the section on Using Activity, these tactics turn the motorist into your 'enemy' and the natural reaction is for them to flee - fast.

You must convince the motorists using your street to act as a guest in your 'outdoor living room', and you will only achieve this by treating them as a guest (even if you would like to see them disappear altogether). If you can get them to feel like a guest, they may think twice about wearing out their welcome by coming too often or acting inappropriately.

— Create an entryway or series of entryways so they know they are crossing the threshold into someone's living room. Use some of the other design techniques to make your street into a series of rooms.

— Think of fun ways that you can use to establish a more civil relationship with the motorists. For example, bring a string quartet into your street at peak traffic time and give motorists a piece of cake on a plate. When they eat the cake there is a message underneath printed on the plate; Welcome to our home street. Be our guest, but please don't wear out your welcome.