@Natasha_Jay at the Uni campus of Heidelberg University they actually paved the desired paths which were brown soil through the green. Let the feet decide, not planners.
@Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem That's the classic example, if I recall correctly?
@hlangeveld @Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem I've been seeing/finding/crafting a spectrum of interaction running from dialogic on one end to stigmergic on the other, and sparked by this realize interactions around desire paths are a great example of something toward the stigmergic end.
@Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem Or then, Aalto University. Crowdsourced (also by me) and then formalized paths in the foreground, the ones crossing the lawn with no trees along them.
@ELS @Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem interesting to see that the desired path is not always the shortest. Sometimes it's under the shade of trees, for example.
@ELS this looks beautiful, reminds me of something organic in a petri dish
Pretty sure we had a few of those at my college in the North East of the US, where they just paved the well worn foot paths
Always seemed eminently reasonable solution to me, optimizing for where people actually went.
@Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem Illinois Tech built their whole campus center around desire paths. Makes it hard to give directions inside the building though 
https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/iit-mccormick-tribune-campus-center-oma
@Natasha_Jay @Dingsextrem Is that how the streets in parts of Washington DC got laid out? The map looks like this.
@whophd @Natasha_Jay Fun fact: The broadway is a remnant of a desire path tracing back to native americans living there. That's the reason why it breaks with the Manhattan square pattern.
@Dingsextrem @Natasha_Jay There is also a path at the @TU that got formalized. Still unpaved though, as is the path it is leading to. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/30123154#map=17/49.877104/8.654523
Edit: I'm seeing now the tagging needs to be updated.
@Natasha_Jay not really in the spirit of the whole thing, but unpaved packed earth paths can be used by some bees and insects to nest in, so yay desire paths.
@BonehouseWasps@mastodon.social@Natasha_Jay When I first heard of this concept, they were called 'meander-ways' and I prefer it. 
Great comic. Love the Alt-text, too.
@ninafelwitch@Natasha_Jay unrealistic. There's no anti-homeless barrier on that bench.
@ninafelwitch @Natasha_Jay yeah, I expected a brick wall, a trench, barbing wire, and eventually gun turrets and surveillance cameras.
@Ciell hebben we het daar wel eens over gehad? Olifantenpaadjes!
@hayify ja! Stond dat niet al eens in je nieuwsbrief? Ik moest iig aan je denken, haha.
@Ciell Ongetwijfeld!
@Natasha_Jay I love desire paths!
@Natasha_Jay
Hah! Where I live, Beckton Park had a desire path every year
Last year they decided to re-do the park into “Beckton Meadows, plant a whole load of meadow plants for wildlife and for dogs to run around and shit in, made some small hills, put tables and chairs in, put wooden sculptures in, demarcated the meadow with fencing to confuse dogs, and made the desire path into an actual wide path with a few seats – not straight lines but a sort of ziggy-zaggy route, which is nice – could do with lighting at night though
[picture is Apple Maps currently imagining Beckton Park as it was over a year ago, the link is the project that turned the desire path into what it is now, and we all like it)
marlboroughhighways.co.uk/casestudy/queen-elizabeth-memorial-pathway/ This is the project and it’s good
@u0421793 @Natasha_Jay
If they're serious about the wildlife, the lack of lights might deliberate. They can confuse nocturnal wildlife and lead to changing habits etc.
@Natasha_Jay I studied landscape architecture and was taught that if a desire path is necessary, the architectural design was bad to begin with.
@JohannaMakesGames @Natasha_Jay That assumes that the architects had perfect knowledge of where everyone was coming from and going to before they started their design. Even if such a thing were possible, it doesn't account for future changes in where people are coming from and going to. A better model is to admit that your knowledge is imperfect and plan to iteratively accommodate new desire paths as they appear.
@gpilz @JohannaMakesGames @Natasha_Jay
Or you could do like Umeå and just ignore them even after they become two-lane desirepaths. They even remade the park and grass. The desirepath ofcourse reformed immediately.
Love the comic, always thought this was how it worked :)
@JohannaMakesGames @Natasha_Jay That sounds like you’re expected to be superhuman? I prefer the approach of waiting for them to develop and then formalizing them.
@Foodecology @JohannaMakesGames @Natasha_Jay The best of both … but a clear and open mind to start the design with is needed.
@Foodecology @Natasha_Jay We were expected to go and analyze the place in person and with a map of the surroundings. I have never worked as a landscape architect though, so I can't share more information on how well that turns out.
@Natasha_Jay This rendition of the concept is fantastic. Love it!
@codeofamor@codeofamor.net@Natasha_Jay This is about my level of problem with authority too 
ѦਹѤʞ @codeofamor@codeofamor.net@econads @Natasha_Jay BWAHAHAHAHAHA OMG. I love this. 
@Natasha_Jay
massive props for finding a way to do an actual image description im ashamed to say i might have given up in your place
@Natasha_Jay the last frame made me chuckle.
@bit101 @Natasha_Jay yeah, should have put the path to the crossing, not "finally admit defeat" but still not quite do what's desired. It's a typical council bumhead power-trip move to still try to force people to deviate just a little. But hey, in the real world, some councils would replace the hedge with a spike-topped fence and a metre of ankle-breaker paving behind it.
@Natasha_Jay I love seeing these IRL.
Makes me take pause when making decision as to what the actual desire requirement is not what I think looks neatest.
@Natasha_Jay don't forget to map them in osm 
An article about desire paths: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/least-resistance-desire-paths-can-lead-better-design/
A podcast episode about desire paths (and other things): https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/you-should-do-a-story/
@Kevin@doyle.boston@Natasha_Jay the last frame sent me
@maddad@mastodon.worldYup, thats pretty much how it goes.
Feel like there are parallels with CyberSecurity.
@Natasha_Jay
So my takeaway is this: If I want a park bench and shrubbery, I need to form a desire path! 
@helmplus @Natasha_Jay
Now cannabis is legal at a federal level here in Germany, but there are a few restrictions. Your cannabis growing club cannot be within x metres of a kindergarten for example. In Munich, one of the boomer-ist states, the city actually founded a kindergarten in order to be able to deny permission for a club. One way to get more services. Same energy here :D