thumb|[[Exhibition Road in London, England, where pedestrian and road traffic areas are only partially delineated]]
thumb|Woonerf Street
A living street or residential street is a street designed with the interests of pedestrians and cyclists in mind. Living streets also act as social spaces, allowing children to play and encouraging social interactions on a human scale, safely and legally. Living streets consider all pedestrians granting equal access to elders and those who are disabled. Streets are developed to simplify the tasks of the road and to create uniformity—uniform look and feel of the road reduces perception/reaction time, giving similar interpretations across roads and drivers. The design of the traffic control devices, which focus on the vehicle users, Livable streets aim to create cleaner and safer environments by creating spaces where cars are guests to pedestrians and cyclists, and by greening streets: implementing plants and greenery within the context of urban design to facilitate a more hospitable environment. Greening consists of improving the natural and built environment through reviving and developing community parks, gardens, and street trees. Establishing living streets is one way that communities can grow their urban infrastructure; further developing these urban strategies can ensure that the environmental assets deliver their full potential. This concept prioritizes the city environment, pedestrians, and community accessibility, as opposed to prioritizing movement of vehicular traffic and vehicular accessibility over other considerations. The Dutch woonerf is an example of this concept: it eliminates exclusive spaces for pedestrians and vehicular traffic, instead encouraging the whole street to be accessible to pedestrians and providing traffic calming measures for vehicles. The living environment predominates the built environment on the street; the brick streets and integrated greenery produces a nonlinear path. The woonerf street give equal opportunity for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles but pedestrians have a priority over the vehicles. This urban living street has demonstrated that it is successful in the Netherlands. Spaces create social cohesion within a neighborhood and increase the sense of community while reinforcing cultural identity. Living streets combine three significant components: being green, cool and complete. Introducing green infrastructure into urban developments can make up for the lost opportunities for groundwater to infiltrate the natural environment. Green infrastructure includes permeable pavements, these porous surfaces allow runoff to infiltrate the surface. Bioretention cells or bioswales are areas that contain vegetation that is planted in engineered soil. The soil allows for the filtration and storage of stormwater, recharging groundwater supplies. Producing tree canopies is another aspect of green street design. Street trees with adequate draining allow the rainwater runoff to penetrate the soil and slow stormwater runoff. Implementing green streets helps to reduce stormwater runoff while increasing the water quality and supply to the urban environment. Creating more resilience to climate change with a healthier community. These surfaces create a demand for air conditioning to cool structures. Increased conditioning contributes to higher electricity needs, escalating the overall demand within a city. Cool streets assist in creating cooler communities for residents within them. Through reducing energy usage, increasing water quality, and decreasing emissions. Consequently, lower temperatures reduce both emissions and temperature. This means communities may have fewer temperature-related illnesses, and the temperature of stormwater runoff reduces its impact on aquatic life in receiving waters. These lighter surfaces are also more resistant to heat degradation, and their reflective properties allow for more visibility at night. Strategies implemented within complete streets improve overall health and strengthen urban ecosystems. Complete streets create environments enticing pedestrians to walk or bike.
In the 1930s and 1940s, increased highway traffic provoked the publication of the Community Builders Handbook. Written by the Federal Housing Administration, the handbook provided a hierarchy of street types such as arterial, collector and minor access. Following this, cul de sacs and diverters were used in places such as Montclair and Grand Rapids to encourage streets to fulfill their assigned street type. The findings of Appleyard's Street Livability Study inspired the San Francisco City Planning Board to launch the San Francisco Urban Design Plan in 1971 which introduced the idea of the "protected residential area." The goal of the design was to slow down traffic to acceptable speeds in residential areas through infrastructure improvements for active transport as well as traffic calming measures. While the city's focus in street design used to be increasing the flow of motor traffic, this new approach discouraged high travel speeds. Following this plan, San Francisco developed the Protected Residential Area Program (PRA) which allowed neighborhoods to petition for traffic management measures. This encouraged community participation as well as equity and safety for all residents. The woonerf, home zone and Spielstraße require motorists to drive at walking speeds and yield to pedestrians, cyclists, and playing children who have the same rights in road use.
These cities have implemented traffic calming measures, have dedicated auto-free zones for pedestrians and cyclists, enforce lower travel speeds, and have limited and more expensive parking compared to the United States. They have no turn on red, a concept the United States has had since the 1970s which has led to a drastic increase in pedestrian and cyclist injuries. Street design in the United States tends to focus more on travel speed of motorized vehicles. In these European countries, the mindset is that motorists should anticipate the actions of pedestrians and cyclists. Their traffic calming measures have had a significant impact on traffic crashes: Dutch neighborhoods have seen traffic crashes reduced by up to 70% in some areas, whereas a study looking at Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands found that traffic-related injuries in traffic calming neighborhoods fell by about 53%.
These studies and ideas have changed some of the mindsets and ideas of street planning and design in the United States. Some planners and designs in the United States now see the street as a place to live, gather, and play instead of a means to get from one place to another. They have started to address how to make streets clean and safe for everyone, and a place where the community can gather and socialize. These cities have found that even though the United States has a history and culture associated with using motorized vehicles as a means of commuting, policies and infrastructure can influence people's actions and habits.
Post-COVID city
thumb|A car-free play street in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, May 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked proposals for radical change in the organization of cities. Barcelona was one city that proposed a radical change. The Manifesto for the Reorganisation of the city after COVID-19 was published during the pandemic, in April 2020. One hundred sixty academics and three hundred architects signed the manifesto, written by architecture and urban theorist Massimo Paolini. The manifesto inspired other Spanish cities to publish their own version adapted to the local context: Granada, Zaragoza, Guadalajara, the Basque Country and the initiative Ciudades Sostenibles.
Design
thumb|Membrane diagram resembling high traffic street
thumb|Membrane diagram resembling low traffic street
The design of the living street aims to promote safe walking and cycling, emphasizing pedestrians. Living Streets are achieved by restricting car use and parking, diminishing convenience to motor vehicles. Decreasing vehicular traffic increases the appeal for Sustainable modes of transportation. This is accomplished through better infrastructure, traffic calming, integration of walking and cycling with public transport, policies that encourage mixed-use development, regulations that are sensitive to more vulnerable populations and commuters, and community traffic education. Proponents believe a successful design cannot simply be individual measures taken but a combined, comprehensive approach that implements all these factors into a fully integrated and incorporated design.
Environmental design
thumb|Stormwater management along a sidewalk
Environmental design elements in a living street provide strategies to mitigate stormwater runoff and reduce the urban heat island effect. Pervious pavement promotes healthy runoff by increasing infiltration through the soil layers before reaching a resting state. Providing shade and stormwater management can lead to a longer infrastructure life, saving replacement costs and turnover for the surfaces. Implementing environmental design strategies improves the quality of life by reducing air temperatures and pollution and improving water quality. Other traffic calming measures include raised intersections and pedestrian crossings which bring the vehicles to the pedestrian level, indicating cars do not have full ownership of the road and must be vigilant of other road users. Chicanes, narrower travel lanes, and roundabouts purposefully slow down cars to safer speeds. Extensive car-free areas, wide, well-lit sidewalks, refuge islands for crossings, crossing signals, and zebra crossings provide safe and convenient facilities for more vulnerable road users. The woonerf in the Netherlands incorporates some of these traffic calming techniques but goes further in that it uses the concept of the shared street where separate spaces are not defined and pedestrians have access to the entire street. Developing the street more by filling in the "street wall" is another design measure to encourage walking and cycling. This concept consists of filling in the empty spaces and large parking lots often found adjacent to streets to make the street not only more attractive or inviting but also more accessible to these active commuters. Further design strategies such as medians can serve as a safety net for pedestrians and indicate pedestrian presence for motor vehicles, while reducing lane and land width and bulb-outs can decrease a pedestrian's crossing distance. Speed bumps and traffic circles can make the street seem like less of a highway. Advocates suggest establishing strong neighborhood centers with local accessibility - instead of creating separate commercial and residential areas, which promote car use through increased trip lengths – that will lead to more sustainable and livable conditions.
Benefits
thumb|Coexistence zone in [[Madrid, Spain.]]
Living streets are sustainable from an economical, environmental, and social view. They can promote public health through the different modes of active transport offered as well as social equity through enhancing livability for all users. The design is intended to reduce traffic danger and increase safety using modes of active transport that have minimal noise and air pollution and use far fewer non-renewable resources compared to motorized transportation. By reducing the number of cars and incorporating public and active transport, living streets can move more people with the same or less amount of space than the current street since these modes take up far less space than cars, whether in use or in storage.
Health
The design of living streets makes it easier for people to satisfy the need for daily physical activity since they can walk or cycle as a part of their commute. Walking and cycling provides a form of physical activity and accounts for numerous health benefits that can combat current concerns for public health. In comparing obesity rates with walking and cycling for commuters between countries, studies show that the countries with a greater number of cyclist and pedestrian commuters tend to have lower rates of obesity. Lack of exercise can also lead to other chronic health problems like diabetes or heart disease. In addition, walking and cycling can reduce the number of cars on the street, bringing a reduction in air, water and noise pollution as well as carbon emissions. This cleaner air may also reduce asthma and other respiratory diseases in urban areas. The CLAN study conducted by Carver and Crawford in 2008 revealed that the built environment and street design can also play a role in the health and wellbeing of children.
Safety
Government injury rate statistics from Californian cities and European countries show that higher numbers of cycling and walking may increase safety. Public health consultants such as Peter Jacobsen suggest this is because there is a greater awareness of cyclist and pedestrian movements so motor vehicles are more prepared to react and avoid crashes. In addition, motorists may also be cyclists or pedestrians themselves which makes them more sensitive to the needs and rights of these more vulnerable groups. As a result, children living near these streets will be healthier individuals since they have a greater and safer exposure to the environment around them and are able to develop relationships and interact with various individuals.
Equity
Living street designs are intended to serve all users. The concept hopes to advance livability for the entire community by envisioning the street as providing multiple benefits for several types of users instead of simply a means for motorized traffic to get from one place to another. This investment in public infrastructure also seeks to provide more economical alternatives for the user since they can rely on other modes of transportation to get from place to place. A significant deterrent to active transport is a lack of traffic safety, especially to groups of society like the elderly and children who are more vulnerable to these dangers and, with current streets, often need more protection from car traffic. Increased walking and cycling in these groups would improve their physical activity and expand their mobility and independence.
In addition, current streets may have uninviting landscapes or be unsafe to walk or bike on, meaning driving a car is often the only safe or practical option. There is no place to gather or congregate or for children to play, and it is hard for the more vulnerable groups like children and those with disabilities to travel in anything but the car. Since lower income or senior citizens may not be able to afford or operate cars and rely on other modes of transportation to move around and be independent, living streets provide more economical and independent modes of transport. In addition, implementation of street trees, foundations, and plazas can allow people to gather and enjoy the street in a shared and communal experience.
Around the world
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
!Local name
!Maximum speed (km/h)
!class="unsortable"| Details
!class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |Australia
|Shared Zone
|10
|
|
|-
|Bike boulevard
|30
|Described by the Department of Transport (Western Australia) as "an innovative program designed to make cycling safer and easier". Bike boulevards are marked with blue-and-white Safe Active Street road patches at major entry points.
|
|-
|Austria
|'<br />("Living street")
|
|Similar legislation as in Germany
|
|-
|Belgium
|Woonerf, erf (Dutch)<br />Zone résidentielle, zone de rencontre (French)
|20
|Usually same grade, parking is only allowed in marked places.
|
|-
|Canada
|Woonerf
|
|
|Woonerfs are planned for Toronto, where they have been approved for the West Don Lands community and are being discussed for Queens Quay along the waterfront, Honest Ed's redevelopment in Mirvish Village and for Montreal, where one will replace an alley covering the former course of the St-Pierre river in Saint-Henri.
|-
|Colombia
|Calle cívica or calle de encuentro<br />("Civic street" or "encounter street")
|10–20
|Pedestrians, children and cyclists are encouraged to use the complete space.
|
|-
|Czech Republic
|' ("Residential zone")
|20
|Usually same grade, parking is only allowed in marked places.
|In Czech law since 2001
|-
|Croatia
|'<br />("Traffic calm zone")
|10
|
|
|-
|Finland
|Pihakatu<br />("Yard street")
|20
|Pedestrians have absolute right of way. Parking is only allowed for bicycles and mopeds or in marked places.
|The first living street was introduced in 1982 in Forssa.
|-
| France
|'<br />("Encounter zone")
|20
|Usually same grade, parking restrictions not specified
|The first living street was introduced in 2008.
|-
|Germany
|Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich<br />("Traffic calming area")
|6
|Vehicles should not travel faster than a pedestrian speed. If not same grade then street usable by pedestrians. Parking is only allowed in marked places. Pedestrians, including children, may use the entire street and children are permitted to play in the street
In everyday language, a Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich is also (falsely) called a Spielstraße ("play street").
|Under German traffic law motorists in a Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich are restricted to a maximum speed of 7 km/h.
First trials occurred in 1977, incorporated into traffic laws in 1980.
|-
|Iceland
|Vistgata
|15
|Vehicles should not travel faster than 15 km/h and must yield to pedestrians, cyclists and children at play. If a pedestrian is near, the allowed top speed is walking speed. Pedestrians are however not permitted to un-necessarily hinder the travel of the vehicle. Both beginning and end of living streets are marked.
|Introduced into law in 1985 [https://www.althingi.is/altext/107/s/pdf/0499.pdf]
|-
|Italy
|Zona residenziale
|30
|Vehicles should not travel faster than 30 km/h without interfering with pedestrians or cyclists. Both beginnings and endings of living streets are marked.
|Introduced by the legislation on traffic in 1995. Actually it is seldom fully implemented like in the original Dutch model; very often a "Zona 30" is only indicated by a street sign and the speed limit.
|-
|Ireland
|Crios Mall<br />Slow Zone
|30
|A self-contained grouping of houses with single or multiple entry points for vehicles. Such areas often have green areas or play areas within them. The needs of vulnerable road users are merely "deemed to take precedence over those of motorists".
|A "slow zone" differs from a "shared space"; as such, no shared space attributes are necessarily put in place, unlike other countries. Instead, other traffic calming measures are installed, such as speed bumps.
|-
|Mexico
|Vía de tránsito mixto ("Mixed transit road")
|10–20
|Installed only if the street has limited parking areas, is paved with some speed-limiting material or possesses some kind of traffic-calming measures and is designed with a single grade to favor intermingled use.
|
|-
|Netherlands
|Woonerf
|15
|Usually same grade
|
|-
|New Zealand
|Shared Zone
|
|Similar to Australia
|
|-
|Norway
|Gatetun ("Street yard")
|15
|
|
|-
|Poland
|Strefa zamieszkania<br />("Residential zone")
|20
|Pedestrians (including playing children, even without parental supervision) can use entire street and have absolute precedence over vehicles. Parking is only allowed in marked places. Speed calming devices do not have to be marked using road signs. The sign that marks an end of a living street also obligates a driver to give way to other participants in road traffic
|
|-
|Russia
|'<br />("Living zone")
|20
|No through traffic or parking with engine running.
|
|-
|Serbia
|Zona usporenog saobraćaja ("Decelerated-traffic zone")
|10
|Vehicles should not travel faster than a pedestrian speed and without interfering with pedestrians or cyclists. Both beginnings and endings of living streets are marked.
|Introduced by the legislation change in 2009, with first living streets introduced in September 2010.
|-
|Slovakia
| ("Residential street")
|20
|Usually same grade, parking is only allowed in marked places.
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Spain
|Calle residencial ("Residential street")
|10
|Traffic zones that are primarily intended for pedestrians and where the following special traffic rules apply: the maximum speed for vehicles is set at 10 kilometers per hour and drivers must give priority to pedestrians; vehicles may only be parked in places designated by signs or markings; bicycles and, where applicable, personal mobility vehicles (PMVs), may travel in both directions, unless otherwise determined by the competent authority; pedestrians may use the entire traffic zone and therefore pedestrian crossings are not marked; games and sports are permitted. It will always be accompanied by a speed limit sign (R-301), which limits the speed to 10 km/h.
|
|-
|Zona de coexistencia
("Coexistence zone")
|20
|Traffic zone primarily intended for pedestrians, where the following special traffic rules apply: the maximum vehicle speed is 20 km/h; traffic is shared by vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians; pedestrians have priority, may use the entire traffic zone, and therefore pedestrian crossings are not marked; bicycles and, where applicable, personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) may travel in both directions, unless otherwise stipulated by the competent authority; vehicles may only be parked in designated areas marked by signs or signs; games and sports are not permitted.