Civilised Streets

There has been an important shift in thinking in recent years about urban street design. Where the car was king, now – according to the UK government’s Manual for streets at least – people must come first. In some places, we are seeing bold changes to street design, with the emergence of shared spaces which remove physical barriers and force drivers to consider pedestrians. But do these changes create safer, more civilised streets – or scarier streets? Do they
help or hinder children, or people with impairments? We all want streets to work better for everyone – so does that make compromise inevitable? This briefing sets out the debate. It’s designed to prompt further discussion among design professionals and lobby groups in our search for civilised streets.