Woonerf: tactical urbanism for more livable streets in the Netherlands
Via Woonerfs were tactical urbanism before there was “tactical urbanism" by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia
The Dutch woonerf—a street that accommodates pedestrians, bicyclists, and people recreating, in addition to cars—was first developed by residents who took it upon themselves to slow traffic in their neighborhood.
The invention of the Dutch woonerf stands out because unlike many street design innovations from the last 100 years, it did not originate from the profession of traffic engineering but from citizens seeking to slow traffic in their community.
Dutch for "living yard," the woonerf is a residential street where people who are not in cars are given priority over people who are. This is accomplished by using physical design to slow drivers down to a near walking speed so as to not crash into strategically placed trees, bollards, bike racks, and other amenities.
A woonerf. Photo by Dick van Veen from Tactical Urbanism.
The woonerf was created when a group of residents in the Dutch city of Delft grew frustrated with the growing problems related to safety, congestion, and pollution as car use increased in their compact and otherwise walkable city. The municipality's lack of response inspired a group of neighbors to tear up portions of the pavement on their street in the middle of the night so that cars had to maneuver around the resulting obstruction at low speed.
This citizen-led, bottom-up initiative introduced a new street type to international audiences, one that returned the street to the citizens for playing, walking, and bicycling and did not give the automobile priority.
With little evidence that the intervention disrupted daily life, the municipal government quietly ignored the citizen-led initiative and advocates pursued its formal acceptance. In 1976 the Dutch Parliament passed regulations incorporating the woonerven (plural) into the national street design standards.
Today the woonerf, or a similar form of shared space, is an increasingly accepted traffic-calming measure outside North America, and it is understood by international bodies using standards and engineering practices based on common professional practice.