TBB Street Design Masterclass Recap

13 Sep 2023

In this article, we recap the Street Design Masterclass run by TBB's Eric Denholm and Curtin University Senior Lecturer Courtney Babb for students from the Transport Planning Unit.

On 12 September, TBB Associate Eric Denholm took students from the Transport Planning Unit at Curtin University through a Street Design Masterclass, alongside Courtney Babb.

The session began with a lecture from Eric on the healthy streets approach, why it is needed, and how it can help improve the design of our places.

Theory was then put to test with the students working through an assessment using the healthy streets qualitative tool out in the field. The assessment was completed for two different streets on the movement and place hierarchy. The session wrapped up with a discussion exploring what was serving people’s needs and what needed to be improved. Ideas included more shade and shelter, easier crossings, and more things to see and do.

The students had some interesting observations on the newly created shared spaces around the built environment and University lodge residences buildings. It was found that these are generally working well with people feeling relaxed, drivers were navigating with their full attention and making eye contact with people crossing. There was also plenty of shady places to stop and linger). But the students also indicated that cars were generally travelling through at higher speeds than the 10km/h posted limit. Suggestions to slow traffic included horizontal deflections, further restricting view lines, and uneven surfaces on the road pavement, particularly on the approaches to the space to slow vehicles prior to entering a people place. This showed a good understanding of transport planning considerations.

Eric's two take-home messages for the students included:

1. Be aware of the arc of influence that planners have, and the broad diversity of work and career paths one can take within the planning discipline.

2. Healthy streets is not trying to deliver an outcome where everything is gold plated. Some places are deliberately more people oriented, while others have a higher movement function. However, the framework gives you the minimum ingredients that must be addressed on all streets to create an outcome where people are encouraged to walk and cycle.

The Healhty Streets framework gives you the minimum ingredients that must be addressed on all streets to create an outcome where people are encouraged to walk and cycle.

Learn more about Healthy Streets here.