"Street Fights" Justification for Realignment of Streets

In Janette Sadik-Khan's novel "Street Fight," she suggests radical changes in our roads infrastructure that could alter the way our society views transportation. She suggests making roads narrower and providing more leisure space for walkers and cyclists as a few examples of ways to revamp our urban areas to be user friendly to a variety of transportation options. Sadik-Khan lays out her novel by going through her career as a transportation commissioner, including all the ups and downs she faced. However, she concludes the majority of her chapters with how the success of her transportation plans and goals are met because of New Yorkers, even though many seemed to resist her plans.

Sadik-Khan justifies all of her street realignment projects with a simple fact: city dwellers want to reclaim their roads.

Having roads that enable citizens to engage in "street life, economy, and culture" is a major part of city life. Having a public space that is inviting and open is something citizens are seeking for, but instead are only finding car packed street roads. Creating the infrastructure changes that Sadik-Khan is suggesting not only provide a social change in how city dwellers operate, but it also enhances the economy for businesses that are local.

The economy is another factor Sadik-Khan is confident in the plans to realign the streets. Using her methods of painting certain streets to incorporate different bike lanes or create space space for pedestrians, adding signs, and signals is significantly cheaper than what is spent on streetcars, stop lights, and replacing roads entirely. There was no loss in repainting certain parts of the road - although individuals thought they were losing parking and street space, in reality, they were being encouraged to use alternative transportation and having safer road conditions to drive in.

Sadik-Khan's true justification is in the people of New York, that a street designed to serve the people who live there. People-focused streets allow for community, city culture, and business opportunity. This is not to mention the environmental benefits that are resulting from people-centered cities instead of car-centered ones. Sadik-Khan's work proves that social factors are a large influence in creating change. New Yorker's desire to take back their city by foot was an extreme motivator in accomplishing these minor yet influential infrastructure changes.

Sadik-Khan's novel has also taught us something important about the justification of realigning roads: If it can happen in New York City, it can happen everywhere.

To see examples of Sadik-Khan's infaustructure changes, including before and after shots, view her website here: