Desire Lines: A Guide to Community Participation in Designing Places

Desire lines are the paths that people create through regular usage. They appear where people repeatedly choose to walk and usually signify a route from A to B that’s quicker than the formal path provided. In most cases they indicate the mismatch between what local people want and what designers think people want. By employing some social research basics in the design development process, placemakers can work more meaningfully with local communities to meet their needs and aspirations.

This...