Shared Space
The following papers explore some inter-related Shared Space themes in more detail. Danish governmental restructuring has opened new opportunities for local engagement in decision making at a municipal level, highlighting a shift away from centralised control of traffic design towards a ‘bottom-up’ approach to the question of who owns a street. It also touches on the changing relationship between traffic design and spatial planning. In Germany the Shared Space pilot project has highlighted the local economic implications for communities dependent upon their main street for trade. Experience from the Netherlands explores the potential for Shared Space principles to influence the relationship between rural roads and the surrounding landscape and cultural context, as well as suggesting new ways to introduce Shared Space into local policy making. Belgian application of shared space principles to regenerate and re-integrate a neighbourhood previously isolated by a major road explores issues of movement, identity and permeability. In the UK the emphasis placed on public engagement and the shift from formal regulated control towards social protocols raises important questions concerning attitudes to risk, safety, and the inclusion of people with physical or perceptual limitations.