Street Experiments for Sustainable and Resilient cities

Overview

Our streetscape, despite its feeling of permanence in our environment, is an ideal venue for experimentation. We have come to accept traffic movement as the default function for the street. Therefore, we need to rethink its design and space distribution, go back to its original and basic function and see them as public spaces - Transform them into places for social activities, where conversations can take place and places where kids can play. This course shows you examples of remarkable changes and gives you a toolbox for implementing and evaluating street experiments yourself. We invite you on this journey to reimagine what is possible if we dare to use our public space differently.

Syllabus

Streets as Placemaking and Movement (Raising Awareness)

This week, we will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst to open people's thinking about using streets for more social purposes and answer the question, "can functions of mobility and public space co-exist and simultaneously increase the liveability of cities?" We will visit a brief history of the evolution of streets, both in concept and using historical examples, and see how ideology influences people's willingness to reshape the street for different functions. Surprisingly, even automakers see the limitations of cars and are taking steps to hedge against different mobility futures by investing in street experiments and shared mobility.

Getting to Know Street Experiments

This week, we go around the world to see practical examples of street experiments in action. In doing so, we see how experiments can be categorized into 4 different typologies in ascending functional complexity: simple street re-markings, alternative uses of parking spaces, reconversion of sections of streets, and the opening of entire streets to uses other than motorized traffic. We then pose the question, "How can tactical urbanism help create healthier streets?" leading us to find that bottom-up initiatives can be powerful instigators of change.

Implementing Street Experiments

This week explores how street experiments are implemented, from start to finish, and we will learn about the challenges along the way. We find that street experiments are often the starting point for the transition of public space, and these experiments give people the chance to experience, to really feel the changes immersively, rather than just seeing plans on a board. We learn how to approach strategic problems by using tactical urbanism techniques, and how colorful and eyecatching spaces can do its own marketing. Finally, we make the connection between culture and street design, framing experiments in the context of "mobility culture" and asking us how real world laboratories can explore existing culture and explore new cultures.

Evaluating Street Experiments

This week, we ask "are we really challenging mobility systems with these relatively small scale experiments?" Despite all the colorful experimentation taking place around the world, not all experiments lead to permanent changes. We will explore how experiments can serve as short term actions through which alternative structure, cultures and practices are explored. We then look at the five characteristics of the city street experiments: Are they... radical, change-driven, feasible, strategic, and communicative? They are an initial step in the assessment framework since street experiments are so complex. Finally, we are challenged to involve citizens in the experimentation process, and you will learn that buy-in of the community is essential to the long-term success of making experiments permanent.