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PIARC (World Road Association), founded in 1909 and comprising 125 member governments from all over the world, is the global forum for exchange of knowledge and experience on roads, road transport policies and practices. With consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Association is contributing to a stable and sustainable global development of the road and transport sector.

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The Urban Road Network Design

Urban development is determined among others by roads and streets. A good design will act as a catalyst, but a bad design will eventually paralyze life in the town or city. To enhance the unity between urban and road design, the urban road network must be reorganized.

Urban roads must serve a variety of functions in addition to their transportation function, such as attractiveness and orientation, as well as social, ecological and economic functions.

The report proposes six road categories for the future urban road network, whereas the road categories I to III will serve the motorized traffic and three further categories will serve the public transport, the cyclists and the pedestrians.

These urban road network modules are intended to open up the discussion on a reorganization of the urban road network, set foundations for designing an integrated traffic route concept tuned to the townscape, taking into consideration all transport systems and allowing an optimization of their combination.

Information sheet

  • Date: 1991
  • Author(s): Comité technique 10 Ville / Technical Committee 10 Urban Areas
  • Domain(s): Urban Mobility
  • Type: Bilingual English - French
    Published in "Routes/Roads", special issue, 1991
  • PIARC Ref.: 10.04.BEN
  • Number of pages: 40