LINES of DESIRE. Steve Bates Lines of desire. They’re everywhere. You’ve probably used one today. They’ve always been there, although sometimes they come and go with the seasons. They don’t really have a name. And nobody knows who made them... The truth is that WE made them. And we should be proud of that. You’re probably wondering what the hell I’m going on about, aren’t you? That shortcut to the shops. The cut through across the playing fields. Missing off the corner of the grass verge by the bus stop. Squeezing through the hedgerow instead of going the long way round. This is where our built environment lets us down. Where human needs and nature are ignored. Where the planners get it wrong, where they ignore their human nature. We all naturally look for the easiest route, the simplest way. So why do planners introduce blockages to our everyday lives and routines? Sitting
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in their ivory towers, maybe hundreds of miles away...a fence here, a hedge there, a patch of grass designed to interrupt our natural progress. But there are planners who are a bit more in tune with human nature... I was once told about a Swedish architect who had designed a brand new university campus for a city in Sweden with many different buildings housing the faculties, student accommodation, admin functions etc. On the day of the grand opening, the mayor of the city was surprised to find no paths between any of the buildings. Instead the whole area had been grassed over. He questioned the architect why there were no paths marked out and was told that the students were going to