Preference 3. Sensitively integrated mobility and parking design
Homes are for humans, but many residential neighbourhoods feel like homes for vehicles. When they and their infrastructure dominate too much, there is a reaction against it.
Walking and cycling routes should be clearly delineated, attractive and feel safe, integrating visually discreet parking and traffic infrastructure (scaled down, softened with greenery and broken up).
In York’s Derwenthorpe development, streets are carefully designed with clearly delineated zones for front gardens, walking, parking and driving. In this street the structure is readable and understandable for users. Parking bays are interspersed with trees and limited by the number of available parallel-parking spaces so that parking does not dominate. The narrow carriageways give a strong visual message to drivers to slow down, allowing cyclists to safely share the space.
Intrusive traffic infrastructure and parking is viewed as ugly.
Amongst the factors most often insensitively designed is the integration of traffic infrastructure and parking. Visually dominant over-sized roundabouts (top left) too often deny the opportunity for a human scaled gateway to new developments. In a combination of visually intrusive and chaotic ways, parking can dominate both when over-provided for (top right) and under-provided for (bottom left). It can squeeze out space for a high-quality walkable public realm and for human habitation (bottom right)..