Woonerf

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Historical picture of a Woonerf

The term Woonerf (German: Wohnhof ) or, since July 1988, Erf (German: Hof ) describes a traffic calming concept developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s . Street spaces in predominantly urban residential areas are created as mixed traffic areas and given a special design. Pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic are not clearly separated and must take each other into account. As a result, the motor vehicles lose their priority and have to adapt their speed to the given circumstances.

The Woonerf principle was an internationally recognized model and was taken up by other countries, for example in the 1980s with the introduction of the traffic-calmed area in West Germany. Newer approaches such as shared space or the Bern model ( meeting zone ) also refer to the Woonerf in the broadest sense .

history

In 1963, the British city planner Colin Buchanan published the report "Traffic in Towns", in which he sketched solutions for the Ministry of Transportation for urban traffic problems and increasing car ownership in Great Britain. In doing so, he vehemently supported the principle of separation (segregation), but also showed possibilities for a city-friendly mix of traffic. Because the Ministry strongly sympathized with the idea of ​​segregation, a broad implementation of the alternative proposal in Great Britain seemed unlikely.

Instead, the Dutch city planner Niek de Boer felt inspired by Buchanan's approaches and devised integrated residential streets in which residents can use the public street space again. The development in the Netherlands was preceded by the realization that streets in residential areas are often unsafe, offer no quality of stay and, given the size of the areas used, are used relatively unilaterally. The sidewalks and roadways designed de Boer as a plane and traffic rules it replaced by a spatial design using plants, benches and bollards .

These roads would encourage drivers to reduce their speed and show greater consideration for pedestrians and cyclists. In the 1960s, a pilot test was carried out in Delft, South Holland , which is why it is sometimes referred to as the "Delft model". Based on the positive experience, the Dutch government set design guidelines in 1976. Over the next seven years, 2,700 Woonerven emerged across the country.

Erf sign with Tempo 15 sticker in Rijswijk, South Holland

As part of a reform of the road traffic regulations in 1988, the Woonerf was renamed Erf and given a larger area of ​​application. Since then, the traffic concept can also be used in city centers, shopping centers and train station areas. Due to the success of the meeting zone in Switzerland, France, Belgium and, since April 1, 2013, also in Austria, the network woonERFgoed (German: Woonerf gut ) sent a petition to the Second Chamber of the States General in July 2012 with the request that the information was inaccurate Replace “ walking speed ” with Tempo 15. The reason was a request from the municipality of Rijswijk , where some signs have already been pasted over.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ben Hamilton-Baillie: Shared Space: Reconciling People, Places and Traffic. Built Environment, Volume 34, No. 2. Alexandrine Press.
  2. ^ A b Shawn Turner et al .: Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation. US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration University. P. 353. Publication No. FHWA-HRT-05-133. July 2006.
  3. ↑ Colin Hand: Woonerf: A Dutch Residential Streetscape. University of Massachusetts, Amherst Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning.
  4. ^ Area-wide traffic calming - contribution from the Federal Environment Agency, see web links.