Engineering, Urbanism and the Struggle for Street Design

Effect of street pattern on the severity of crashes involving vulnerable road users

“…However, the Garden City movement at the end of the 19th Century instigated a movement away from the grid toward a new pattern and scale of streets that would improve safety and increase light, air, and the sense of nature in suburban communities (Wolfe, 1987), and over the last fifty years, limited access street patterns had become the predominant street pattern used for developing suburban areas in North America (Southworth and Ben-Joseph, 2003). On the other hand, increasing concerns over social connectivity, physical activities and health, and sustainability of urban transportation had again ignited debate recently on the most appropriate form for urban development (Hess, 2009;Hebbert, 2005).…”

Haussmann and Le Corbusier in China: Land Control and the Design of Streets in Urban Redevelopment

“…Once again, buildings needed to define streets through enclosure (Rowe & Koetter, 1978;Trancik, 1986), and characterize them through the design of their facades (Scherr, 1992). The street space itself became appreciated for its ability to accommodate multiple functions at once, including social activity (Bosselmann & Macdonald, 1999;Jacobs et al, 2002;Hebbert, 2005). 2 Many cities with active planning and urban design programmes now have design ordinances or guidelines that deal with façade and massing treatments.…”

Evacuation-Based Design of Urban Regions for Earthquake Disaster

“…Urban routes should be robust enough to safely resist normal and critical design loads and possess an adequate capacity to let commuting of people without interference. Efforts directed towards an efficient design of city roads are presented by [4,7,12,[21][22][23]. Another important parameter regarded in the design of cities is the ability to evacuate the inhabitants in case of natural disasters.…”