DIY Streets design approach
1. Reclaiming space
The street is not simply a thoroughfare for cars. A fundamental principle is that a street should be designed as a place in which people can meet, socialise and play.
2. Designing for people
Local people will use the space more than anyone else and the DIY streets approach puts them at the heart of the design process.
Too often people feel disconnected from the decisions which impact on their street. By encouraging ownership of design proposals the hope is that the designs will respond to how people want to use their street and they will continue to take care of their street into the future - ensuring the quality, appearance and individuality of their street is maintained. This means less reliance on maintenance by local authorities.
3. New rules
Until recently, traffic calming schemes have focused almost exclusively on traditional physical methods such road humps. New theories espouse the benefits of ‘shared space' and psychological traffic calming. Common sense, anecdotal evidence and observation all tell us that driving speeds are influenced by elements such as surface texture, street activity, sense of space, sight distance and so forth. For example a wide, long, straight, flat, empty street will have a very different impact on traffic speed to that of a narrow, short, curved, paved, busy street.
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