Street and city
Sidewalk
city streetresidential neighborhoodopen-air shopping centerschool surroundings
A strip of the street, almost always raised above the roadway, reserved for walking.
What it solves
It separates those on foot from vehicle traffic and from the water running down the roadway. In the tropics its raised edge and its slope toward the curb keep feet dry in downpours.
Today
It is designed in zones, with a continuous, obstacle-free walking strip, a strip for trees and furniture next to the curb and a frontage strip. The surface must be firm, slip-resistant when wet and without steps between lots.
Common mistake
Cutting the sidewalk with driveway ramps, steps or posts in the middle of the path until it is useless for a wheelchair or a stroller.
Tomorrow
Sidewalks can be widened with space taken from the car and with continuous tree shade. A sidewalk where a child can walk to school alone and an older person can stop to rest is the best measure of a walkable neighborhood.
Fact A clear walking strip of 1.8 to 2.4 m is recommended in residential areas and of 2.4 to 4.5 m in centers with heavy foot traffic.
Where it comes from
- 1Ancient Anatolia present-day Turkey, around 2000 BC
The first known sidewalks appear in cities of central Anatolia about 4,000 years ago. - 2Greece and Rome Corinth and Pompeii, 4th century BC to 1st century AD
Corinth already had sidewalks, and in Pompeii raised sidewalks with drainage kept people out of the mud and dirty water of the roadway. - 3Early modern Europe Paris and London, 16th to 18th centuries
The Pont Neuf in Paris introduced wide, raised sidewalks, and London paved sidewalks after the 1666 fire and in 1766 raised them with a curb.
Masters
- Roberto Burle Marx Copacabana promenade, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1970
He designed four kilometers of sidewalk with a mosaic of white and black stone in waves that evoke the sea. He turned the sidewalk into a work of art that everyone walks on. - Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York, United States, 1961
She explained that the busy sidewalk, with shops and eyes on the street, is the basis of urban safety and trust. Her book still guides how streets are designed for people.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Street and city
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.