Naked streets are safer streets

Wayne Curtis at The Smart Set is the latest to pay homage to the late great Monderman:

The saint of the modern pedestrian revival is the late Hans Monderman. Faced with a small budget and a request that he make streets safer in part of a Dutch village called Oudehaske, Monderman did the unthinkable: He removed curbs and signs and let cars, bikes and pedestrians come together and sort it out on their own. 

It worked: The more nuanced environment slowed down drivers, and the intermingling demanded communication using body language and eye contact. Accidents decreased, traffic moved steadily. The concept — called “naked streets” or “shared space” — has been expanding across Europe, and is slowly, tentatively, making its way to American shores. It’s like 1910 all over again. ...

This approach may seem radical to some, a complete reversal of how Things Are Done. But it’s not. It’s a return to the way things once were, after a century-long misguided detour, when streets were viewed merely as sluices. It’s a return that’s long overdue. It took about three generations to eradicate pedestrians from the road, and it might take three generations to make it safe for them to come back. But the pivot is well underway.

How the Dutch roll

Wikipedia on Monderman:

His most famous design approach is the concept of "shared space", an urban design approach that seeks to minimise demarcations between vehicle traffic and pedestrians, often by removing features such as curbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and regulations. Monderman found that the traffic efficiency and safety improved when the street and surrounding public space was redesigned to encourage each person to negotiate their movement directly with others.

(h/t ArtsJournal)