‘Context-sensitive design’ makes headway with planners, engineers

New Urban News Article with images, graphs, tables, 6/1/03

Since the 1980s, new urbanists have been trying to persuade state and local governments to approve narrower, slower-moving streets — key elements in walkable places. Considerable progress has been made toward this goal, which is central to the development of sociable, human-scale communities. But state transportation departments — powerful arbiters of much that gets built — have a long way to go.

The most encouraging aspects of the campaign to civilize America’s streets are:

• Numerous studies have been carried out that provide well-documented support for the argument that in urban settings, conventional street standards generate danger and discomfort, especially for pedestrians.

• Studies have also demonstrated that pedestrian-friendly or aesthetically pleasing elements such as tree-planted medians, on-street parking, and narrower street widths are not necessarily hazardous to motorists.  

• State transportation departments are gradually endorsing “context-sensitive design,” especially for streets and roads running through centers of communities.