Urban Street Design Guide

Abstract

Over the coming century, the challenges borne by cities and the burdens placed upon their streets will multiply in quantity and complexity. Growing urban populations will demand that their streets serve not only as corridors for the conveyance of people, goods, and services, but as front yards, parks, playgrounds, and public spaces. Streets must accommodate an ever-expanding set of needs. They must be safe, sustainable, resilient, multi-modal, and economically beneficial, all while accommodating traffic. In response to these unprecedented demands, cities around the country are developing an innovative body of practice and expertise to design for and around the special characteristics of the urban environment. From New York’s Times Square to Chicago’s Wacker Drive to Spring Street in Los Angeles, a better approach to and understanding of street design is taking root in our cities.