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As city planners look for more efficient ways to move the masses — a solution that typically doesn't put automobiles first — the physical landscape must evolve to accommodate different modes of transportation. A concept originating from the Netherlands, a woonerf is a 'living street' where pedestrians take priority.
Through traffic-calming measures, low speed limits, and the removal of signs, lights, and curbs, users of the street are forced to interact with each other and share the space. The result is a street that minimizes the segregation between pedestrians, cyclists, and motorized traffic.
Perhaps the largest implementation of the Dutch concept can be found in the municipality of Emmen, Netherlands. Nearly the entire street layout was designed according to woonerf principles in the 1970s. The idea has been embraced across Europe, including in the United Kingdom, which generally coins such living streets as "home zones." North American cities have been testing woonerfs as well; Toronto has implemented a woonerf as part of its massive waterfront revitalization project and Seattle's four-block Bell Street Park has created a more dynamic streetscape.
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