Compare and Contrast Two Views of How Social Order Is Produced in Public Spaces Essay Example
There are many different ways in which social order can be produced in public spaces; I will look at two of these views. The views I have chosen to compare and contrast are those of the Buchanan report and Monderman’s thesis. These are two different views of how social order is produced in relation to traffic management. I will look at the areas these views share in common, as well as their differences and I will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of both views.
The Buchanan report was created by Colin Buchanan, an engineer in the early 1960’s when he was commissioned by the UK government to work on a report for the Ministry of Transport. This report was the Traffic in Towns report (1963). In this report Buchanan was given the task of finding a way for road infrastructure to be matched with that of vehicle demand. “A future of choking road congestion was feared unless the rapid rise in demand for car travel was matched by an increased supply of roads” (Silva, 2009, p.327). Buchanan’s approach was to restrict car use in towns. This meant that cars and pedestrians would be segregated from one another. “Cars were afforded their own generously proportioned network and pedestrians were safely tucked away in residential blocks often terminating in quiet cul-de-sacs” (Silva, 2009, p.329).
Monderman’s thesis was created by Hans Monderman, “a Dutch engineer who in the 1980’s devised the principle of the ‘naked street’” (Silva, 2009, p.325) . This approach was different to that of segregation which was archetypal in Buchanan’s approach, in that it used the ‘shared space’ philosophy. Monderman believed that far from being segregated from one another vehicles and pedestrians should be able to coexist and negotiate space between them. He did this through removing much of the ‘traffic calming measures’ that were in place. “The trouble with traffic engineers is that when there’s a problem with a road, they always try to add something. To my mind, it’s much better to remove
The Buchanan report was created by Colin Buchanan, an engineer in the early 1960’s when he was commissioned by the UK government to work on a report for the Ministry of Transport. This report was the Traffic in Towns report (1963). In this report Buchanan was given the task of finding a way for road infrastructure to be matched with that of vehicle demand. “A future of choking road congestion was feared unless the rapid rise in demand for car travel was matched by an increased supply of roads” (Silva, 2009, p.327). Buchanan’s approach was to restrict car use in towns. This meant that cars and pedestrians would be segregated from one another. “Cars were afforded their own generously proportioned network and pedestrians were safely tucked away in residential blocks often terminating in quiet cul-de-sacs” (Silva, 2009, p.329).
Monderman’s thesis was created by Hans Monderman, “a Dutch engineer who in the 1980’s devised the principle of the ‘naked street’” (Silva, 2009, p.325) . This approach was different to that of segregation which was archetypal in Buchanan’s approach, in that it used the ‘shared space’ philosophy. Monderman believed that far from being segregated from one another vehicles and pedestrians should be able to coexist and negotiate space between them. He did this through removing much of the ‘traffic calming measures’ that were in place. “The trouble with traffic engineers is that when there’s a problem with a road, they always try to add something. To my mind, it’s much better to remove