Introduction

The Global Street Design Guide sets a new global baseline for designing urban streets. Recognizing that cities are places for people, the guide shifts the parameters of designing urban streets from the typical point of view of automobile movement and safety, to include access, safety, and mobility for all users, environmental quality, economic benefit, enhancement of place, public health, and overall quality of life.

Participating experts from global cities have helped to develop the principles that organize the guide. Building on the successful tools and tactics defined in NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide, this new guide addresses a variety of street typologies and design elements found in various contexts around the world.

Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, this innovative guide will inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and empower communities in realizing the potential in their public space networks. By treating streets as public spaces that integrate varied functions and uses, the guide will help cities unlock the potential of streets as safe, accessible, and economically sustainable places.

Adapted by Global Street Design Guide published by Island Press.