Shared Streets
Friend or Foe?
I was walking along Exhibition Road a while ago and with a bit of time to spare before my next meeting, I decided to stop for a moment and observe how people were using the kerb-free shared street that was implemented last year.
This notion of a ‘clutter-free’ street is not new in Holland and other places where the premise of sharing the space is thought to enforce natural human tendencies to be more personally vigilant, observant and respectful of an area that is inhabited by many human, animal and manufactured forms with similar yet competing goals.
It was interesting to see how drivers especially, were slower and more considered in their driving. Pedestrians however, spilled into the large space with much more ease and less vigilance, stepping out in front of cars and bikes and bubbling into larger formations. It was as if (and I got this feeling too) the space was ‘for them’. The removal of the kerb gave them a freedom to roam and expand. The absence of a kerb for drivers though, didn’t provide permission to stray from what appeared to be a mentally defined space — the middle of a self defined lane.
We are accustomed to being directed and facilitated in our urban environment, with artefacts that provide us with instructions; to move, stop, stand, sit, turn, step etc. These artefacts, in the form of kerbs, lights, signs, bollards etc are cognitive tools or cognitive aids that mediate our interaction with a space.
In the new system, while there are still some clues as to where you are designated to be, these are not as large and tangible as the bollards and signs that we are familiar with, but now take the form of black drain covers and kerb/street edges marked by a slightly different texture. These elements do provide some visual and sensory indication of where you are ‘supposed’ to be, but the indicators are not as strong.
What I find interesting is that our mental models of how something ‘should be’ clearly play a role here, as do cultural references. I have spent much time in parts of Africa and India where there is no delineation between car space, people space and animal space. However, in those situations, my brain adapts very quickly and I don’t even notice the lack of pavement. My mental model — and cultural memory — about those areas prepares me. Similarly, without ‘lanes’ in a supermarket or airport, we are able to navigate through the mix of people and trolleys with ease (and a little frustration!).
However, here, in the UK, where my mental models tell me that I should expect a pavement and some kind of intervention from the space, I wander in front of cars and bikes without thinking — for now at least, until I adjust.
Developers are playing with the just belief that when the space doesn’t intervene to protect you, you protect yourself. When the barriers to who ‘owns’ the space are broken down, new rules come into play. As we navigate the new layout we interact differently, we negotiate differently, and we communicate with our counterparts (man or machine) differently.
To be honest, despite almost getting myself killed on several occasions, I like the new layout as I think it forces us to be more present in the space and to acknowledge other sources of traffic more readily — it makes us change our behaviours. Now of course, there are issues around how this affects the visually impaired and other groups of people, not to mention how it interferes with the rules we teach our kids, how guide dogs are trained etc. But I’m deliberately staying away from that debate!
As a Psychologist, it’s fascinating to watch these new social behaviours evolve over time, to see how new social norms develop and to see how long it takes for one group to declare precedence over another…
- Watch this space
