Asphalt Art Creates Safer Streets for Pedestrians
Low-cost, DIY solutions to increase pedestrian safety result in surprising and colourful streetscapes.
Tactical urbanism has been applied in cities around the world as a way of raising awareness of poorly designed public spaces. From creating public spaces to increase pedestrian safety, this measure improves neighbourhoods in colourful ways.
Asphalt art can create safety for pedestrians as many streets in the United States, for example, do not even have adequate crosswalks. Colourful and playful surfaces are made to catch the attention of motorists in an effort to slow them down.
In South America, tactical urbanism serves to organise public space, as seen in the example from Bogota. Without intervention, this intersection would be very chaotic, causing extreme difficulties for pedestrian activity.
As well as creating safety and systemic changes to streetscapes, asphalt art also promotes more community-driven neighbourhoods by providing more space for social cohesion.
Reclaiming space lost to cars is fundamental as streets are ultimately public spaces — especially in areas that are densifying. In the future, we hope to see even more cities around the world becoming creative to move past car-dependent urban forms, and create more public spaces for their citizens.
