Desire path
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A desire path (or desire line) is a path developed by erosion caused by animal or human footfall. The path usually represents the shortest or most easily navigated route between an origin and destination. The width and amount of erosion of the line represents the amount of demand. The term was coined by Gaston Bachelard in his book The Poetics of Space.[1] Desire paths can usually be found as shortcuts where constructed pathways take a circuitous route.
They are manifested on the surface of the earth in certain cases, e.g., as dirt pathways created by people walking through a field, when the original movement by individuals helps clear a path, thereby encouraging more travel. Explorers may tread a path through foliage or grass, leaving a trail "of least resistance" for followers.
The lines may be seen along an unpaved road shoulder or some other unpaved natural surface. The paths take on an organically grown appearance by being unbiased toward existing constructed routes. These are almost always the most direct and the shortest routes between two points, and may later be surfaced.
In Finland, planners are known to visit their parks immediately after the first snowfall, when the existing paths are not visible.[citation needed] People naturally choose desire lines, which are then clearly indicated by their footprints and can be used to guide the routing of paths.
Many streets in older cities began as desire lines, which evolved over the decades or centuries into the modern streets of today.
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Bachelard, Gaston (1969). The Poetics of Space (originally La poétique de l'espace). trans. Maria Jolas. Beacon Press, Boston. ISBN 0807064734.
[edit] References
- Throgmorton, James and Eckstein, Barbara Desire Lines: The Chicago Area Transportation Study and the Paradox of Self in Post-War America
- New York Times: And Now, a Scooter That Can Be Driven on the Sidewalk
- WGBH: A Cape Cod Notebook - Desire Lines by Robert Finch
- Carl Myhill, "Commercial Success by Looking for Desire Lines", in Masoodian, M, Jones, S, Rogers B, (Eds.) 6th Asia Pacific Computer-Human Interaction Conference (APCHI 2004), (Rotorua, New Zealand, June/July 2004). Springer-Verlag
