Monderman, Legendary Street Designer Passes

Hans Monderman, a speaker at November's CNU Transportation Summit in London, passed away recently from a fight with cancer. Monderman will forever be known as a radical visonary in the field of urban street design. His invention of "Shared Space," was an experimental approach to slow vehicular traffic after more conventional attempts failed. Shared Space is a design concept that eliminates traffic signs so that drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists have to negotiate for right of way. Though a seemingly catastrophic idea on the surface, Shared Space projects enjoyed astounding success, forcing drivers to slow down by half their speed and use eye contact and body language with other users of the road. The design also was found to reduce waiting time for pedestrians to cross a street. Monderman had a hand in over 120 Shared Space projects in his native Dutch Province of Friesland; today more and more European cities are incorporating Shared Space design into their streets.

A recent TIME Magazine article takes a look back at his life.