street layouts
Urban circulation design
Street layouts are the arrangements of roads, intersections, and blocks that form a neighborhood or city's basic structure.
Common patterns include grids, which use perpendicular streets for easy navigation; cul-de-sacs, which create quiet residential pockets; and organic layouts that follow terrain or historical paths.
Urban planners study street layouts for their effects on traffic flow, walkability, and community character: The old downtown has a traditional grid layout, but the suburbs are all winding streets and dead ends.
- roundaboutsCircular road junctions
- alleysNarrow passages between buildings
- boulevardsBroad, tree-lined streets
- main dragTown's central commercial street
- greenwaysRecreational linear open spaces
tree-lined avenues · arterial roads · one-way streets · cul-de-sac · dead end · orthogonal · concentric · radial · urban markets · serpentine · organic · grid · city blocks · superblock · hierarchical · public squares · town square · ancient trade routes
street layoutswilderness
Uncultivated, uninhabited natural region
undeveloped land · natural landscapes · river networks · trail systems · virgin land