Managing Curbspace in the Informal City
"Curbside Management" is quickly becoming the latest craze in the smart cities movement. The premise behind Curbside Management is an argument that curbs are currently under-regulated public spaces which could be used more judiciously and efficiently. The debate ooverf the the future of urban curb has heated up in recent years as an increasing number of players vie for this valuable space. Traditional users, such as parked cars, public buses, and mail carriers are now competing with TNCs, on-demand courier networks, and the infamous Google Buses.
To answer the question of how to allocate curb space, urban planners and economists have started to quantify the social and economic impacts from different uses of curbspace (parking, bus stop, TNC, etc). And emerging tech companies such as Coord are in the process of "coding the curb". While this push to manage curbspace may be primarily a reaction against double parked deliveries, and ubiquitous free parking, I can't help but wonder who will get caught in the crossfire. When planners formalize curb management, what happens to urban informality? When companies code the curb, what if you're not a part of the program?
The City of Los Angeles made headlines recently by legalizing street vending. While the city's first stab at regulation may not be perfect, it does represent a unique and novel effort: to formalize informality. But can government regulations account for the myriad of emergent informal uses which create vibrancy and vitality in our cities, especially in low-income and immigrant communities?
Most Angelenos are familiar with the sight of an elotero or a fruit stand in their neighborhood. But what about the family barbecue that sets up on a side street, or the Honda Accord that turns into a videogame arcade on the streets of San Francisco?
As planners, we love to impose order. Often we have good reasons. Streets with no rules or regulation quickly become opportunities for the well-off to overpower the vulnerable. But let us not forget that cities aren't code, and curbs are a complex ecosystem of uses and imagination. The magic of cities often happens in the gray space of informality. I'd like to see a future where curbs produce more magic than code.
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| The battle for the curb in San Francisco |
The City of Los Angeles made headlines recently by legalizing street vending. While the city's first stab at regulation may not be perfect, it does represent a unique and novel effort: to formalize informality. But can government regulations account for the myriad of emergent informal uses which create vibrancy and vitality in our cities, especially in low-income and immigrant communities?
Most Angelenos are familiar with the sight of an elotero or a fruit stand in their neighborhood. But what about the family barbecue that sets up on a side street, or the Honda Accord that turns into a videogame arcade on the streets of San Francisco?
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| Bringing a different kind of code to the curb |
As planners, we love to impose order. Often we have good reasons. Streets with no rules or regulation quickly become opportunities for the well-off to overpower the vulnerable. But let us not forget that cities aren't code, and curbs are a complex ecosystem of uses and imagination. The magic of cities often happens in the gray space of informality. I'd like to see a future where curbs produce more magic than code.
Great points here, Austin.
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