Sidewalk Labs, a smart cities shop within the Alphabet corporate structure, is working to revolutionize technology's role in city planning. Sidewalk Labs recently released the street design principles it's using to guide that effort.
"Sidewalk Labs, the smart cities arm of Google parent company Alphabet, has released a set of design principles to make streets safer and more efficient as new mobility technologies come online," reports Jason Plautz.
Willa Ng laid out the four principles in a blog post posted on Medium. According to Ng, Sidewalk Labs is attempting to push the current era of critical thinking about streets (in the era of building political support for complete streets and the dawn of autonomous vehicles).
Here are the four principles Sidewalk Labs is using to guide street designs:
- Principle 1: Tailor streets for different modes.
- Principle 2: Separate streets by speed.
- Principle 3: Incorporate flexibility into street space.
- Principle 4: Recapture street space for the public realm, transit, bikes, and pedestrians.
As noted by Plautz, Sidewalk Labs will get a chance to test its principles with the Quayside development, moving forward in Toronto despite controversy. There's also a full report on the design principles.
FULL STORY: Sidewalk Labs releases street design principles
Autonomous Vehicles and Streets: A Guide to Potential Impacts
As the arrival of autonomous vehicles (AVs) becomes more of a reality, cities need to start considering how this new technology will affect streets and street networks. This brief guide provides an overview and resources on this topic.
NHTSA Cuts Could Make Roads More Dangerous
The agency is losing almost half of the team that oversees autonomous vehicle safety, among dozens of other key personnel.
US Street Design Manual Inches Toward Safer Roads
The guiding document for U.S. road design is starting to recognize the needs of people walking and biking, but safe streets advocates say more significant changes are needed to reduce the high number of pedestrian deaths and improve connectivity for all road users.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.
Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service