4.1. Street As Center

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

Urban Greenway, Multi-Way Boulevard and Avenue patterns need to serve as connectors, not as dividers.


04 1 01 Street As Center.jpg


Problem-statement: Too often in the last century, streets have been used to divide instead of unite.


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Discussion:: It is often assumed that streets are inherently dangerous, and therefore it is necessary to turn away from them and face inward toward a cell-like residential enclave. This practice is terribly destructive, promoting the idea that streets are only “car sewers” meant to convey cars away at maximum speeds. In fact streets fulfill many functions, and must do so on a balanced and responsible way.¹


We have already seen that streets are the catalysts for urban life in traditional urbanism. But 20th century post-war planning lost the distinction between through highways and urban streets, which have fundamentally distinct functions. Optimizing fast vehicular speed and traffic volume diminishes the urban experience and cuts the city along that street. The opposite — a street full of life — requires comparatively slower traffic and encourages the presence of pedestrians.²


04 1 02 Street As Center.jpg
This street forms an impenetrable barrier between its two sides. It in no way serves as a center of the surrounding neighborhood.


It helps to conceive an urban street as a long and narrow public space, much like an urban plaza. The key difference is that vehicular traffic is allowed to run through its median. All the other characteristics of an urban space remain valid, however. Those include accommodations for pedestrians along the sides (wide sidewalks), traffic-calming measures implemented by means of the geometry, complex building façades on both sides with many entrances, and so on. To emphasize the sense of enclosure, the building’s corners at the intersection should ideally bulge outwards into the intersection so as to visually define each end of that particular block. A protruded block corner is psychologically felt by everyone on the street. This suggestion is often at odds with the instincts of transportation engineers, who seek to increase vehicular speed on turning by cutting the corners (which encourages the block corners to be chamfered). There are several flaws with this approach. First, it is important to slow traffic when turning so that pedestrians can be seen and divers have time to brake. Second, in order to foment city life, the urban street must prioritize pedestrians, and should do so by employing geometries that slow down traffic.


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Therefore:

When developing on both sides of a street, make certain that the development is compatible, and that it aligns to and engages with the street. Do not turn away from the street with blank walls, parking lots or other unsuitable structures, but make the street a focus of attention and use.


04 1 03 Street As Center.jpg


Assure that all sides of streets have a Walkable Streetscape. In area with the Perimeter Block pattern, use the Perimeter Building pattern to establish well-defined spatial volumes…




¹ There are a number of studies of the importance of a street as neighborhood center — see for example Southworth, M. (2005). Reinventing main street: From mall to townscape mall. Journal of Urban Design, 10(2), 151-170.


² Many studies show that the co-presence of many people on a street makes it safer. See for example Hillier, B., & Sahbaz, O. (2008). An evidence-based approach to crime and urban design. London: Bartlett School of Graduates Studies, University College London.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). STREET AS CENTER (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Street_As_Center



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA