Shared space is a
traffic engineeringTraffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods...
concept involving the removal of the traditional separation between motor vehicles and pedestrians and other road users, and the removal of traditional road priority management devices such as kerbs, lines, signs and signals.
The reasoning behind the idea is that it will result in improved road safety by forcing users to negotiate their way through shared areas at appropriate speeds and with due consideration for the other users of the space, using simple rules like giving way to the right. This approach, which was pioneered and promoted by
Hans MondermanHans Monderman was a Dutch road traffic engineer and innovator. He was recognized forradically challenging the criteria by which engineering solutions for street design are evaluated...
, is based on the observation that individuals'
behaviourIn biology, psychology and sociology social behavior is behavior directed towards society, or taking place between, members of the same species. Behavior such as predation which involves members of different species is not social...
in
trafficTraffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
is more positively affected by the
built environmentThe phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings....
of the public space than it is by conventional
traffic control devicesThe Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals is an international treaty designed to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signing system for road traffic in use internationally.This convention was agreed upon by the United Nations Economic and Social...
and regulations.
The term 'shared space' was coined by
Ben Hamilton-BaillieBen Hamilton-Baillie is an architect, urban designer and movement specialist from Bristol. He is the director of his own company, Hamilton-Baillie Associates Ltd., and in this role he provides consultancy advice on traffic and urban renewal...
in 2003.
Shared Space is also the name of a European project (part of the Interreg IIIB-North Sea programme) which develops new policies and methods for the design of public spaces with streets. Hans Monderman was the head of the project's "expert team" prior to his death in 2008.
Philosophy
Safety, congestion, economic vitality and community severance can be effectively tackled in streets and other public spaces if they are designed and managed to allow traffic to be fully integrated with other human activity, not separated from it. A major characteristic of a street designed to this philosophy is the absence of traditional road markings, signs, traffic signals and the distinction between "road" and "
pavementA sidewalk , pavement , footpath , platform or footway is a path for pedestrians that is situated alongside a road or a paved...
". User behaviour becomes influenced and controlled by natural human interactions rather than by artificial regulation.
One of the principles behind the scheme, which is mentioned in an article about the increasing interest in such schemes in Europe, from the German magazine
Der SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly magazine, published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest weekly magazines with a weekly circulation of more than one million.- Overview :...
, is that road rules strip motorists of the ability to be considerate. Monderman is quoted as saying: "We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behaviour, ...The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles." Another source attributes the following to Monderman: "When you don't exactly know who has right of way, you tend to seek eye contact with other road users... You automatically reduce your speed, you have contact with other people and you take greater care." In the same report the mayor of
BohmteBohmte is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hunte, approx. 20 km northeast of Osnabrück...
, a town implementing such a scheme, is quoted as saying "We don't want the cars alone to have precedence, we want to try and make the area pleasant for everybody."
The
shared space philosophy distinguishes between the fine-meshed
slow network, and the larger-meshed
fast network. The
slow network, which is the subject of the
shared space treatment, is characterised as the street network which make public space vital and accessible. On the
slow network motor traffic is welcomed as a guest, but has to adapt to certain social norms of behaviour. The layout of the road must make this clear. The
fast or
supra traffic network, which allows traffic to reach destinations quickly, and which is designed using traditional traffic engineering methodologies, is essential if the
slow network is to function properly.
A reason for the apparent paradox that reduced regulation leads to safer roads may be found by studying the
risk compensationIn ethology, risk compensation is an effect whereby individual people may tend to adjust their behaviour in response to perceived changes in risk. It is seen as self-evident that individuals will tend to behave in a more cautious manner if their perception of risk or danger increases...
effect.
Shared Space describe the effect:
By country
Numerous towns and cities around the world have implemented schemes with elements based on the
shared space principles. Most streets in Tokyo are shared in practice, but not as a matter of scheme or principle.
Australia
Bendigo, VictoriaBendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. It is approximately 131 kilometres from the state capital of Melbourne. With a steadily growing urban population estimated at 88,031 Bendigo is currently the fourth most populous city in Victoria...
, plans (as of October 2007) to implement shared space in its city centre.
Germany
EttenheimEttenheim is a town in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.In the Middle Ages, Ettenheim belonged to the Archbishop of Strasbourg. It gained its Charter in 1302.In 1973 it was incorporated into the Ortenaukreis.- Districts :...
, Endingen,
HaslachHaslach is a small city in south-west Germany, in the district Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. As of 2002 it had a population of 6,862.-History:...
, and
WolfachWolfach is a city in the Black forest and part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg .- Geographical position :Wolfach lies where the 2 rivers Wolfach and Kinzig meet in the Kinzig valley...
in
BadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
(
pictures).
BohmteBohmte is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hunte, approx. 20 km northeast of Osnabrück...
introduced a
shared space road system in September 2007. One of project's goals was to improve road safety in the town.
Netherlands
There is a traffic sign at the entrance to
MakkingaMakkinga is a village in the Dutch municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the province of Friesland. As of the census of 1 January 2006 it had 1,039 inhabitants. At one time Makkinga was the largest village in Ooststellingwerf, with nearly 1,900 residents...
which reads "Verkeersbordvrij" meaning "free of traffic signs". The town has no road markings and no stop signs or direction signs visible in the streets. Parking meters and stopping restrictions are also absent.
DrachtenDrachten is a Dutch town, located in the municipality of Smallingerland in the province of Friesland.-Beginnings:Drachten began as a small community on the east side of the Drait River. There, early settlers started draining the land to use it for agriculture...
is one of the pioneer towns for such schemes. Accident figures at one junction where traffic lights were removed have dropped from thirty-six in the four years prior to the introduction of the scheme to two in the two years following it. Only three of the original fifteen sets of traffic lights remain. Tailbacks (traffic jams) are now almost unheard of at the town's main junction, which handles about 22,000 cars a day.
See also WoonerfA Woonerf in the Netherlands and Flanders is a street where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists. In 1999 the Netherlands had over 6000 Woonerven. Under Article 44 of the Dutch traffic code, motorised traffic in a woonerf or "recreation area" is restricted to walking pace...
New Zealand
Plans are well progressed to turn several innercity streets in Auckland into shared spaces . These include Elliot street, Lorne street, the Fort street area and Link Rd in Mt Eden.
Sweden
Since the
zebra crossingA zebra crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing used in many places around the world. Its distinguishing feature consists of alternating dark and light stripes on the road surface, from which it derives its name...
s and traffic signs were replaced with a spacious fountain, benches and other street furniture, the Skvallertorget square in
NorrköpingNorrköping [ˈˈnɔrɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County...
has experienced no accidents, mean traffic speeds have dropped from 21 to 16 km/h (13 to 10
mphmph is a three-letter acronym that refers to miles per hour, a measurement of speedMPH may also refer to:* Master of Public Health, a Master's degree in public health...
) and liveability has increased.
United Kingdom
In
Seven DialsSeven Dials is a small but well-known road junction in the West End of London near Covent Garden where seven streets converge. At the centre of the roughly-circular space is a pillar bearing six sundials....
, London the road surface has been re-laid to remove the distinction between the roadway and the footway and
kerbsA curb or kerb is the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway...
have been lowered to encourage people to wander across the street. A scheme implemented in London's
Kensington High StreetKensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, west London. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, dubbed
naked streets in the press—reflecting the fact that the road has been cleared of markings, signage and pedestrian barriers, has yielded significant and sustained reductions in injuries to pedestrians. It is reported that, based on two years of 'before and after' monitoring, casualties fell from 71 in the period before the street was remodelled to 40 afterwards - a drop of 43.7%.
Brighton City Council transformed the whole of New Road, adjacent to the Royal Pavilion, into a fully
shared space, with no delineation of the carriageway except for subtle changes in materials. The route for vehicles along New Road is only suggested through the location of street furniture, such as public seating and street lights. The re-opening of the street has led to a 93% reduction in motor vehicle trips (12,000 fewer per day) and lower speeds (to around 10 MPH), alongside an increase in cyclist and pedestrian usage (93% and 162%, respectively).
In spring 2008,
shared space appeared in Ashford, Kent. The award-winning scheme, delivered by lead designers
Whitelaw TurkingtonWhitelaw Turkington is a landscape architecture and urban design practice. The consultancy has a design philosophy that focuses on the creation of memorable places with a distinct identity, clear spatial form and sensitive integration within the local context....
Landscape Architects, replaced a section of Ashford’s former four lane ring road with two-way streets on which drivers, cyclists and pedestrians have equal priority. Unnecessary street furniture, road markings and traffic lights have been removed and the speed limit cut to 20mph.
The scheme has vastly improved safety records since it opened. As of summer 2009, there have been no reported accidents.
The success of the Ashford scheme is evidenced by local councils across the country putting forward plans to adopt the same approach – including Southend-on-Sea, Staines, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Hereford and Edinburgh.
Another proposed scheme in London is the redevelopment of
Exhibition RoadExhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It is named after the Great Exhibition of 1851 held in Hyde Park to the north.The road runs between South Kensington tube station and the location of the exhibition in the park...
which is home to a number of world-class institutions. The local authority say they want the area to be a comfortable and attractive place in which to live, work and visit. They plan to use
shared space principles to integrate vehicle and foot traffic, whilst preserving the road's important function as a vital transport link serving people from the whole surrounding area. There have also been trials in
IpswichIpswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex...
, with
shared space being a key feature of the design of the new
RavenswoodRavenswood is a new district within Ipswich, Suffolk, UK. It is sited on the old Ipswich Airport to the south-east of the town. It is easily accessible from the junction 57 of the A14 ....
community being built on the site of the former
Ipswich Airport-History:The site of Ravens Wood was purchased by the Ipswich Corporation in 1929 with the intention of creating a municipal airport for Ipswich, with construction starting in the following year. The airport was officially opened by H.R.H...
.
United States
In
West Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index...
planners are reported to have removed traffic signals and road markings and brought pedestrians into much closer contact with cars. The result has been slower traffic, fewer accidents, and shorter trip times.
Road rule influences
In answer to a direct question about the role of local legislation, a member of the
Shared Space Expert Team replied: and added:
Road rules, particularly those concerned with priorities at unsigned junctions, vary in different jurisdictions (see "road rule codes of the world" and "traffic"). For instance, many European countries operate on the basis of
Priority to the rightPriority to the right is a right-of-way system, in which a driver of a vehicle shall give way to vehicles approaching from the right at intersections...
, this means that in the absence of road signs, cars
entering from side roads on the nearside have priority over cars on the main route. This establishes an assumption that main road traffic must keep at a speed that will allow them to yield to entering traffic coming from the nearside. In contrast, in the US, UK and Ireland main road traffic is always assumed to retain priority. Also, in contrast to most English speaking countries, where a fault liability system operates to decide who pays compensation for losses due to road traffic collisions, some Northern European countries, including the Netherlands, use a risk liability system where a conflict occurs between a motor vehicle and a vulnerable road user. Thus there is a legal assumption in some of these countries that motorists are automatically considered liable, to some extent, regardless of fault, for injuries and property damage suffered by cyclists or pedestrians.
Proponents
- Hans Monderman
Hans Monderman was a Dutch road traffic engineer and innovator. He was recognized forradically challenging the criteria by which engineering solutions for street design are evaluated...
, Netherlands.
- Ben Hamilton-Baillie
Ben Hamilton-Baillie is an architect, urban designer and movement specialist from Bristol. He is the director of his own company, Hamilton-Baillie Associates Ltd., and in this role he provides consultancy advice on traffic and urban renewal...
, United Kingdom.
- John Adams
Professor John Adams of University College London, is a professor of geography and leading theorist on risk compensation and an environmentalist...
, The United Kingdom.
- David Engwicht
David Engwicht is a social innovator and a significant international leader of efforts to reduce the negative impacts of motor vehicle traffic on cities and towns. He is a proponent of shared space schemes. He is considered one of the fathers of traffic calming and claims to be the inventor of...
, Australia.
- Martin Cassini
Martin Cassini is a TV programme-maker and traffic writer who advocates reform of our traffic control system...
, United Kingdom
European "Shared Space" project
The Shared Space project is sponsored by the
European CommissionThe European Commission acts as an executive of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.The Commission operates in the method of cabinet government, with 27...
to develop methods and policies for tackling road safety, community severance and congestion issues, and for enhancing economic vitality in streets and public spaces.
Ben Hamilton-Baillie is, as was Hans Monderman before his death, involved in the project as a
shared space expert.
Currently seven European partner authorities, from five countries, are sharing knowledge on
shared space:
- From the Netherlands Emmen, Haren
- Places :* Haren , province of Groningen, Netherlands* Haren , province of North Brabant, Netherlands* Haren, Belgium, part of The City of Brussels municipality, Brussels, Belgium* Haren, Germany, Lower Saxony, Germany...
and FrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known as Frisia. In order to distinguish it from the other Frisian regions, it is commonly specified as Westerlauwer Frisia, Westerlauwer Friesland, West Frisia or West Friesland...
- Oostende from Belgium
- Bohmte
Bohmte is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hunte, approx. 20 km northeast of Osnabrück...
from Germany
- Ejby
Until January 1, 2007, Ejby municipality was a municipality in Funen County on the north and west coasts of the island of Funen in southern Denmark. The municipality included the island of Brandsø, and covered an area of 163 km², and had a total population of 10,046 . Its last mayor was Claus...
from Denmark
- Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
from the United Kingdom
Criticisms
There are certain reservations about the practicality of the
shared space philosophy. In a report from the
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
it was commented that traditionalists in town planning departments say the schemes rob the motorists of vital information, and reported that a spokesman for the Royal National Institute for the Blind criticised the removal of familiar features such as railings, kerbs and barriers.
Shared surfaces, which are generally used in
shared space schemes, can cause concern for the blind and partially sighted who cannot visually negotiate their way with other road users, as the lack of separation implicit in these features has also removed their safe space. There have been similar concerns raised by other groups representing some of the more vulnerable members of society, including
Leonard Cheshire DisabilityLeonard Cheshire Disability is a major health and welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1948 by RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire VC.In 2006–7 it had a total expenditure of £143 million, placing it in the top 30 of UK charities.-History:...
, the
Royal National Institute for Deaf PeopleThe Royal National Institute for Deaf People is charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people. The head office of RNID is in Islington, Central London . Its President is Lord Ashley of Stoke. The Chief Executive is Jackie Ballard...
and
MencapThe Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the UK that works with people with a learning disability.-Profile:Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers...
, who have noted problems when negotiating a route with motor vehicle users, leading them to challenge its fundamental premise.
The November 2007 issue of the Fietsersbond (Dutch Cyclists Union) newsletter criticises
shared space schemes as encouraging the bullying of cyclists by motorists, giving examples of people who feel less safe as a result.
Monderman has stated that these objections are more a matter of communication than design, stressing the importance of consulting such people during the design
stage.
See also
- Bicycle-friendly
"Bicycle-friendly" describes policies and practices which may help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic...
- Complete streets
In urban planning and highway engineering, complete streets are roadways designed and operated to enable safe, attractive, and comfortable access and travel for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transport users of all ages and abilities are able to safely and comfortably...
- Hans Monderman
Hans Monderman was a Dutch road traffic engineer and innovator. He was recognized forradically challenging the criteria by which engineering solutions for street design are evaluated...
- Living street
A living street is a street in which, unlike in most 20th century streets, the needs of car drivers are secondary to the needs of users of the street as a whole. It is a space designed to be shared by pedestrians, playing children, bicyclists, and low-speed motor vehicles...
- New Mobility Agenda
The New Mobility Agenda is an international institution which, although a virtual and open collaborative project today, was originally set up by an international working group meeting at the Abbey de Royaumont near Paris in 1974 with the support of the Parisian OECD to challenge old ideas and...
- Risk Compensation
In ethology, risk compensation is an effect whereby individual people may tend to adjust their behaviour in response to perceived changes in risk. It is seen as self-evident that individuals will tend to behave in a more cautious manner if their perception of risk or danger increases...
- Sustainable transportation
- Renaat Landuyt
Renaat Julien Landuyt is a Belgian socialist politician. He is a member of the SP.A.Renaat Landuyt became a licentiate in law in 1982 and has been an attorney since then. He was first elected to the Belgian House of Representatives in 1991, where he served until 1999. From 1995 to 1999 he served...
, Belgian Minister of Transport has ordered a study group to observe the consequences of the implementation of shared space in Belgium. http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF09122006_011
- Traffic calming
Traffic calming is the slowing or reduction of motor-vehicle traffic to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and improve the environment for residents. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming...