The Google Street View Perspective on Public Space Transformations

A recent trend in returning the use of streets and other public space to the use of humans and other modes of transportation other than the car is more striking with some historical perspective.

1 minute read

September 2, 2015, 2:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Klyde Warren Park

Google Street View / Klyde Warren Park

A recent trend in returning the use of streets and other public space to the use of humans and other modes of transportation other than the car is more striking with some historical perspective.

Melia Robinson shares 41 examples of public space makeovers around the world—curated by a Brazilian urban planning collective called Urb-i. The team at Urb-I scoured Google Street View, for examples of public spaces remade for humans, rather than cars.   Examples from the United States include Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Times Square in New York City, a "People St." in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Atwater Street in Detroit, and Coenties Slip and Dutch Kills Green in New York City.

Robinson shares 41 examples, but the Urb-I team has produced more than 300 public space transformations from around the world.

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