Carfree Details
Districts

The number of possible district designs is, of course, infinite. I certainly hope that every district in every carfree city will be unique. To convey the range of possible variety, we show a number of district designs here. All are to the same scale: 1 pixel on your screen represents 2 meters on the ground. There is no intrinsic reason why districts must be exactly 760 meters in diameter, and some larger and smaller districts are shown below.


A slightly outdated version of the reference district design.
Note the small blocks, thin buildings, numerous squares,
and the many very narrow streets.

 
 


This district is less dense than the reference design.
 
 


The is a smaller, denser district
suitable for downtown areas.

 
 


A rigid geometric pattern is appropriate to
more formal districts.

 
 


This district has a coarser scale.
Streets don't have to be straight.

 
 


This district is similar in character to
the reference district but completely different
in its details

 
 


This district is larger than standard and therefore
fails to meet the 5-minute-walk criterion.

 
 


A small, very dense district with
larger buildings

 
 


Waterways can be brought into a district.
 
 


Cul-de-sac courtyards are an interesting form.
 
 


This circular canal system was inspired by the
arrangement of 17th century Amsterdam.

 
 


This design is based on a plan by Francesco di Giorgio Martini,
who pondered ideal city forms between 1451 and 1464.

 
 

The district plans above were drawn by Arin Verner and J.H. Crawford at Crawford Systems in 1997. Carfree Cities includes many new drawings that are refinements of those given here, including the reference topology, which includes 81 unique mixed-use districts..

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