Streets impact
health and wellbeing
public health and safety
quality of life
environmental sustainability
economic sustainability
social equity
multimodal access
The Global Designing Cities Initiative transforms streets for the people who use them, shaping cities that allow everyone to prosper.
Our team of designers, planners, and urban strategists seeks to inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and invite communities to imagine what is possible when we design streets that put people first.
The Global Street Design Guide supports practitioners in redefining the role of streets in cities around the world. Created with the input of experts from 72 cities in 42 countries, the Guide offers technical details to inform street design that prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.
Designing Streets for Kids captures international best practices, strategies, programs, and policies that cities around the world have used to design spaces that enable children of all ages and abilities to utilize cities’ most abundant asset – streets.
This handbook outlines the steps from initial site selection to planning, implementing, and maintaining pop-up or interim street transformations with a focus on community-driven street designs that ensure the safety and comfort of all street users.
In 2023, ten cities across four continents started designing their streets for kids. Collectively, the cohort reclaimed over 40,000 SqM of public space that prioritizes children and caregivers, engaged over 4,000 children in the process, and trained 140 practitioners.
PRESS RELEASE: International leaders shine spotlight on Wellington’s street changes
Global giants Janette Sadik-Khan (Transport Principal, Bloomberg Associates and Chair of Global Designing Cities Initiative), and Salvador Rueda (Director of Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona) arrived in New Zealand’s capital to back the sustainable street changes that are putting people at the heart of Wellington’s streets.
