Shared Space is the new Woonerf

Not a single woonerf street has been built in Holland over the past 20 years.

Enter Shared Spaced—a new concept for the design of streets that proposes re-designing traffic environments so that they become spaces used by cars, pedestrians and cyclists for both functional and social purposes. Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman began exploring these ideas twenty years ago (and has since been joined by Ben Hamilton-Baillie as the two leaders of the movement). Hans lectured at the Center last night and the two of us spent Friday driving around Copenhagen and looking at streets and projects.

Monderman's chief tactic for transforming streets is to remove most traffic signs and lights—Shared Space projects illustrate that this act encourages social intereaction among auto drivers which actually creates safer traffic environments. He also encourages the use of materials and details that indicate the street's character to its users. His studies show that if a street is "perceived" as a small town main street, automobiles will slow down—and that this is a more effective strategy than posting speed limit signs. To learn more details, visit this site: Shared Space

Currently, there are seven pilot projects underway in Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and the UK.

I find this concept really exciting. Many urban designers are of course interested in re-establishing streets as social places to be shared by both automobiles and pedestrians. But few, I think, would actually consider removing street signs as a strategy for increasing safety and social behavior.