STRESSFUL STREETS: URBAN STREET DESIGN SYMPOSIUM

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Take some irate homeowners, a few municipal planners, some commercial developers and community activists and put them together with engineers and politicians and the resulting street design can be found in cities across the United States. University of Arkansas researcher Jim Gattis is co-chairing a symposium that will bring together representatives of these diverse groups to share their perspectives on urban street design.

The Second Urban Street Symposium will be held in Anaheim, California, on July 28-30. The conference theme, "Uptown, Downtown, or Small Town: Designing Urban Streets That Work," reflects the diverse nature of urban streets. It will provide a forum for comparing alternative practices, sharing experiences and innovations and reviewing current research. As a co-chairman, Gattis is one of a small group responsible for putting the Symposium together.

"There is less agreement now about how to design city streets than there as 50 years ago," said Gattis, professor of civil engineering. "Back then, knowledgeable street designers were guided by the principles of efficiency and safety."

In the last half-century, these design considerations have been compounded by concerns about fuel consumption, the natural environment, urban sprawl, human interaction, historic preservation and myriad other issues, according to Gattis. By bringing together individuals and representatives of agencies with experience or interest in urban street design, the symposium will allow participants to exchange information and explore these issues.

"These considerations have produced many, sometimes conflicting, perspectives on how urban streets should be designed," he explained. "Conflicts arise because in practice, one objective is sometimes met at the expense of another objective."

The Symposium is expected to draw participants from the United States, Canada and Australia. The First Urban Street Symposium, held in Dallas in 1999, attracted more than 180 participants from the Untied States and other countries. The 12 conference sessions will address topics such as new and sometimes controversial approaches to preserving mobility on streets, meeting the needs of pedestrians and transit services, alternative intersection design and adapting street design to the environment.

"The finale will be a spirited debate between an advocate - Mr. Todd Litman - and an opponent - Mr. Wendell Cox - of smart growth," said Gattis. "Smart growth is a design movement that seeks to combat what it calls 'urban sprawl’ by implementing transportation networks, parking solutions and street systems to meet social, economic and environmental objectives."

Smart Growth emphasizes a range of housing choices, walkable neighborhoods, and community and stakeholder collaboration, compact building design and mixed land use. It aims to preserve open space and critical environmental areas, directing development toward existing communities and providing a variety of transportation choices. The issues identified as critical by the Smart Growth movement are community quality of life, economics, environment, health, housing and transportation.

Todd Litman, who supports the Smart Growth approach, is the executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in Canada. He will discuss market distortions that lead to inefficient transportation and land use and present examples of "win-win" reforms that achieve social, economic and environmental objectives.

Speaking against Smart Growth, Wendell Cox advocates a pro-choice approach to urban development, arguing that people should have the freedom to live where and how they choose. He believes that Smart Growth produces more dense urban areas that increase traffic congestion, transit times, cost of living and negative environmental impacts like air and water pollution.

The Second Urban Street Symposium is sponsored by the Transportation Research Board, the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Study Center and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Additional sponsors include the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration and the US Access Board.