This distinguishes the form from the Arterial, which
has a segregated roadway in the middle for vehicles.
March
22, 2015: Narrow Streets for People 3: A Shopping Center Example
March 15, 2015: Narrow Streets for People 2: Subtleties of Street Width
March 8, 2015: Narrow Streets for People
April
13, 2014: Arterial Streets and Grand Boulevards
You can make a street that is quite narrow, but if it is Arterial in
form, the result can be quite unpleasant.
Paris seems to have quite a lot of this. Here we have a street that
would be a quite nice Narrow Street for People, and can certainly allow
for vehicle traffic, but instead here it is in the Arterial form -- and
worse yet, is being used as a long skinny parking lot!
Another long skinny parking lot in Paris.
Don't do that. One flat surface from one side to the other. And
no
onstreet parking. Because, a long skinny parking lot is definitely
not For People.
Curbs serve a number of purposes, for drainage, as property line
indications, and also as Arterial roadway segregators. It is quite
important to be careful using curbs. Usually, if they are being used
productively, we find that they tend to be rather short, perhaps 3"
high, not the 6"-8" high curbs typical of Arterials.
Here we have typical use of curbs in Kyoto, Japan. Note the small curbs
at the side of the street. Here, it is being used as side drainage
(note the drain on the right), and also as property line delineation.
There is no "sidewalk" to speak of. Nobody would confuse this with an
Arterial format.
Here we have another street in Paris, France. This is clearly a Narrow
Street for People, and would not be confused for an Arterial. As in the
Kyoto example, we again have curbs at the sides, for drainage. The
small setback between curb and building can't really be considered a
functional sidewalk in any sense. The curb is much taller than the
Kyoto example. Although this example is overall rather successful, I
think we are beginning to imply a sort of Arterial segregation here. It
would only take a little more "curb" and perhaps a little wider
"sidewalk" and we would end up with what amounts to a cramped Arterial
rather than a beautiful and spacious place For People.
This street in Limoges, France, is generally quite nice, but I think
the use of curbs here is definitely becoming problematic. (Plus
bollards, which we will talk about soon.)
This street in Yangshuo, China, is in many ways
almost identical to the one in Limoges, including the use of curbs and
proto-sidewalks. And yet, I find this Yangshuo street to be far less
problematic. What is the difference? It appears that the main
difference is that the curb height in Yangshuo is just a little less
than in Limoges. Amazing how such a subtle thing can create such a
different effect! This is why I say that curbs can be highly
problematic.
Throughout Latin America, we tend to find quite large curbs, and
something very close to a sidewalk on the sides. This might have a
historical basis, as perhaps most roads were dirt (and mud on rainy
days) and people wanted to "rise up out of the dirt." However, today it
produces a gross confusion between the Narrow Street for People format
and the Arterial format, which is quite destructive.
This street in Cartagena, Colombia is very nice in many ways; and yet
we have this needless proto-Arterial segregation of the sort we often
see in Latin America, of what would be much better as a proper Narrow
Street for People with one flat surface.
Here's a similar sort of result in Honduras.
This street is approaching an Arterial, due to the use of curbs. Vigan,
Philippines.
Here's part of the Village Square shopping center development in
Burlington, Canada. Although this development is mostly rather
successful, it does integrate these curbs and a proto-Arterial format,
for no apparent reason at all. Just a stupid mistake. This is an overt
no-car environment.
Compare to this street, from the same Village Square development.
Here we find no curbs at all. Also note the center drainage here, which
eliminates the need for curbs for drainage purposes. I think the
no-curb solution is far better, which is perhaps why this has become
the "artists' alley" while the curbed example is not.
Here's another nice street in Italy. Note no curbs, one flat surface
from one side to the other. Again we have center drainage, which
eliminates the need for curbs for drainage.
To summarize, I would say that curbs can be very problematic, and you
should avoid them. If you are going to use them, use them in the
Japanese fashion, along the edges. Consider center drainage.
This example from the Netherlands again uses center drainage, and no
curbs of any sort. This seems to work well, and may even have some
engineering advantages since I suppose it would be easier to build one
sewer in the middle, rather than two which are also cramped up against
the sides, making construction and maintenance possibly more difficult.
Most existing Narrow Streets for People allow for vehicle access, as
wheeled vehicles are very convenient for all sorts of real-world jobs.
It might be nice to have some strictly no-car Places, but this is not
really necessary or perhaps even desirable.
Once you introduce vehicles into a Street for People, this can quite
reasonably make people a little nervous. They want drivers to behave
themselves. They don't want trucks zooming by twelve inches from their
front door. The Japanese solution is often a paint stripe or a change
in roadway surface, to create something like a "shoulder" along the
side. However, the street surface is still flat, with no curbs. This
seems to work quite well. Because there is no curb, there is no
confusion with the Arterial format. However, when a vehicle appears,
drivers just naturally understand that they are expected to stay
between the lines. Also, the areas at the sides, or the "shoulders",
can be used by people walking when vehicles are present, and are
perceived as a "safe zone" when vehicles are passing.
Also, unlike curbs and bollards, the paint stripe (or different color
roadway surface) also allows vehicles to park on the "shoulder" for
deliveries and pickups, which allows another vehicle to slip around the
other side. Thus, the road is not obstructed. This is not possible with
curbs and bollards.
This street in Tokyo, Japan, uses different roadway surfaces to
delineate a "center" section and "sides." (They aren't really shoulders
in the Arterial sense.) Note how the multiple vehicles visible here are
using the side areas to stop for deliveries and pickups, which leaves
the center section unobstructed. (The truck on the left seems to be
delivering beer.) There is actually a very small curb, perhaps one
centimeter, which is related to drainage (note drainage grates), but
this is so low as to be perceived as equivalent to something completely
flat like a paint stripe.
This street in Seijo, a residential neighborhood of greater Tokyo,
Japan, shows typical Japanese use of paint stripes. Many people here
own personal automobiles. But, at the same time, this is plainly not an
Arterial format. (Note the use of curbs against sides, but nothing
resembling a sidewalk.)
In general, I think the best solution is to have no segregation at all,
not even a paint stripe. But, if you feel the need for something,
I think the paint stripe or different color surface is a far better
solution than bollards, or anything involving curbs.
Presumably, where bollards are installed, it is because of the same
perceived need for some kind of insulation or barrier from potential
moving vehicles. I can't think of any reason to use bollards in a place
that is explicitly a no-car people-only place. What would you be
blocking, a stroller? (Perhaps a bicycle?)
Streets in Paris seem to run the gamut from very successful to outright
examples of
What Not To Do.
Here we have a street in Paris that doesn't seem like it would have
very much vehicle traffic at all -- perhaps a place that could have one
flat unmarked surface, or at least no more than a paint stripe. People
seem to perceive it as "a Place for People," and walk down the middle
of the street. However, we have both curbs and bollards! I find this
quite off-putting.
Here's another street in Paris which, in most respects, seems like a
quite nice Narrow Street for People. Note the people walking down the
middle. No curbs and center drainage. Plus, the use of what amounts to
paint stripes. But, bollards here have advanced to the point of
becoming something like anti-tank barriers. Eh?
Here's another nice street in Paris, which is so popular that it would
effectively exclude vehicles altogether except perhaps for a few
early-morning deliveries or trash pickup. Center drainage, and also the
use of something like a paint stripe. And, a wall of bollards, which
seem entirely superfluous to me and definitely problematic.
Another example from Paris, of what is actually a quite narrow street,
but with curbs and something very much like sidewalks implying Arterial
segregation. Although a simple curb is enough segregation for a real
Arterial, here we also have the use of bollards which also renders the
"sidewalk" area completely unusable as a sidewalk.
After reviewing many examples such as this, I find that the sensible
thing is to
never use bollards at all. Either the job
can be done with a paint stripe such as the Japanese example -- which,
as we have seen, allows people walking and multiple large vehicles like
trucks to interact with really no problem at all -- or maybe it would
be best to step up to a full Arterial format with a segregated center
roadway. Or, perhaps, just use an undifferentiated flat surface, there
being no real need for anything at all.
A street in Paris that is one flat surface.
Taormina, Sicily, Italy. One flat surface.
France (I think it is Paris), one flat surface, use of different
pattern roadway at sides. Center drainage.
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