Abstract:
There has been growing interest in the UK in redesigning main urban streets, in order to meet new policy objectives relating to efficiency and sustainability. Traditionally, engineers design their preferred scheme, and then seek public approval through a ‘consultation’ exercise. In areas of intense street activity this can result in strong local opposition, sometimes resulting in proposals being abandoned. The paper describes an interactive street design exercise which was developed to deal with these more contentious situations by directly involving local stakeholders in developing design options. The exercise involves a combination of physical and computer-based design aids and has three stages. First, participants are given a briefing about the area, the current conditions, and any minimum design requirements (e.g. associated with local policy objectives), and discuss how they would like to see the area improved. Next participants divide into smaller groups, where they are provided with a large scale plan of the street, at 1:250, and a series of acetates and blocks depicting different features (e.g. parking bays, bus lanes, seating) to scale. Each group is asked to develop street layouts that they feel meet both the minimum requirements and their aspirations for the area. Finally, each design option is entered into a GIS-based computer program that displays the street layouts, and is presented on a large screen for collective discussion. The outcome is either a preferred option, or a small number of options, that can be further developed by the engineers and then put forward for formal public consultation.
