Cyclist Deaths Beg the Question: "Who is the City For?"

A spate of recent cyclist deaths on London's streets brings the conflict between road users into high relief. Sam Jacobs argues that "brute engineering" alone isn't enough to resolve the conflict, we need to utilize intelligence and creativity.

November 25, 2013, 10am PST | Jonathan Nettler | @nettsj

Roads, Jacobs argues, "civilise us" and reflect our societal priorities. But as a rash of recent cyclist deaths in London - several after collisions with trucks - illustrate, how we determine ownership of our streets may need adjustment to reflect our changing transportation priorities. "How can the variety of road users - pedestrians, bikes, cars, trucks - co-exist in a safe and civilised way?" he asks.

"The cyclist/lorry conflict is the most extreme of examples. In extremis, it exemplifies a crisis in the nature of our city's streets. Currently we imagine roads as a universal resource, a system that makes little differentiation between its users, or the nature of their use. Those interests, I'd argue, are not all public."

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"It's time to refigure the design problem if the London Street"

Published on Monday, November 18, 2013 in Dezeen