The woonerven concept of urban space planning is now becoming increasingly popular, but will it work across different settings? Learn more about the woonerf and how this innovative approach to urban design is being adapted outside its native Netherlands.

In the Netherlands and Flanders, there's a popular type of urban space planning and design that is revolutionary and innovative. It's called woonerf (plural: woonerven), and it's intended to improve road and traffic safety by blurring the line between vehicle space and public/pedestrian space. It effectively creates a shared living space where pedestrians and cyclists take legal priority over motorists traveling in the woonerf area.

What is a woonerf?

A woonerf is a public space where pedestrians, cyclists, and even children can walk, run, and play. It's also a space where vehicles can travel alongside other on-foot or pedaled road-users. A woonerf has no traffic lights, street signs, and pedestrian lanes. It has no curb and no speed bumps. It has a parking space that's spaced apart, with trees and plants and benches sharing some of the spaces in between. There are no visual indicators that will tell you where cars should go or areas that only people can use.

In 1981, Donald Appleyard published the criteria of effective woonerven in his book LiveableStreets. They are as follows:

1. Gateways that indicate that the area is a woonerf;
2. Curves that help slow down traffic;
3. Trees, play equipment, and other such amenities for the public which also serve to slow down vehicles;
4. No curbs to separate driving space from walking and cycling space; and
5. Intermittent parking to avoid forming a wall of steel between the roadway and the houses.

For drivers, that might sound like a nightmare. Woonerven are streets that look hazardous at first due to lack of traffic control devices, but woonerven have, in fact, the opposite effect of calming the traffic. The concept may seem contradictory only until its effect to traffic and road safety is shown.

Owning the Streets: How the Woonerf Works

There are several ways that woonerf work to effectively increase traffic and road safety.

1. Pedestrians and drivers work on their intuition. Since there are no signs to follow, drivers automatically drive cautiously and defensively, focusing on the street instead on other distractions inside the vehicle. Pedestrians also become more aware of their surroundings. Drivers and pedestrians alike make effective eye contact and interact with each other to determine when to stop, pass, or cross.
2. Slow vehicle speed. Top speed is at 30 kph (20 mph) or less.
3. Drivers give way. In this kind of system, the vehicles only come in second to pedestrians and cyclists in terms of right of way.
4. Develops mutual respect. Pedestrians and motorists alike learn to respect the space they share, resulting to vehicles giving way to pedestrians and pedestrians not intentionally blocking the vehicles' path.
5. Beautiful layout and design. Since it is a shared space, a woonerf is designed for ambience as well as function. Roads usually are patterned, with amenities such as street seating, outdoor dining (if outside restaurants), and ornamental trees and plants.

Woonerf  Around the World

Woonerf has been employed in the Netherlands since the 1970s. It is now found in other European countries such as Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Canada has also introduced woonerven in Toronto, and several trials were started around cities in the United States including Seattle, Boston, and Somerville.

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