1. Machiavellian Street Design
@johnstreetdales urbanmovement

2. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

3. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

4. What?
How? Why?
Who?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

5. What?
How? Why?
Who?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

6. Power
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

7. Influence
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

8. How do we influence
those who have power?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

9. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

10. Machiavellian
adj. Of, or relating to, the alleged political
principles of Niccolo Machiavelli
adj. Suggestive of or characterised by
expediency, deceit and cunning
adj. Cunning, amoral and opportunist
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

11. Machiavellian
adj. Of, or relating to, the alleged political
principles of Niccolo Machiavelli
adj. Suggestive of or characterised by
expediency, deceit and cunning
adj. Cunning, amoral and opportunist
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

12. “Anyone who neglects
what is actually done for
what should be done
learns the way to
self-destruction.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

13. “If you fail to influence
those with power,
it doesn’t matter if you’re right,
you’ll be beating your head
against a brick wall.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

14. The Art of the Possible
Sometimes,
what we think should be done
should indeed be done
but isn’t being done.
How do we get it done?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

15. The Practice of the
Reasonable
Sometimes,
what we think should be done
should not be done,
at least, not in the way we think.
What do we need to learn?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

16. The Avoidance of
Self-Destruction
Would I rather:
get better done, more often?
or
get more indignant & frustrated?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

17. Who are the those with power
that we need to influence?
• Professionals
• Politicians
• Press
• Punters
• The Law
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

18. Professionals
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

19. Professionals
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

20. Professionals
1961 Born in North Shields
1979-1982 Geography student
1982-1983 Dish-washer & window-cleaner
1983-1984 Transport student
1984-1987 JMP Consultants
1987-1993 London Borough of Newham
1993-1995 Jordan/West Bank
1996-2010 Urban Initiatives
2010-date Urban Movement
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

21. Professionals
“People use the word
Guru
because it’s much shorter
and easier to spell than
Charlatan.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

22. Professionals
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

23. Professionals
Good Bad
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

24. Professionals
Most of the professionals
you consider to be
part of the problem
will have to be
part of the solution.
What would motivate me to change if I were them?
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

25. Professionals
Traffic engineers are people, too.
They may need to realise that
more than you do!
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

26. Professionals
Tout comprendre
c'est tout pardoner
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

27. Professionals
Know
your
enemy
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

28. Professionals
Know
your
partner
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

29. Professionals
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

30. Politicians
A detailed and robust business case,
showing an excellent benefit-to-cost ratio,
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

31. Politicians
A detailed and robust business case,
showing an excellent benefit-to-cost ratio,
is of almost no value at all
in getting a scheme delivered,
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

32. Politicians
A detailed and robust business case,
showing an excellent benefit-to-cost ratio,
is of almost no value at all
in getting a scheme delivered,
if those with power haven’t already decided
this is something they’d like to do
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

33. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

34. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

35. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

36. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

37. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

38. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

39. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

40. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

41. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

42. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

43. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

44. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

45. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

46. Politicians
• Brighton & Hove City Council
• Was Tory-controlled; from May 2011 Green-
controlled
• Previous administration: ‘Not a square centimetre
of tarmac to be lost’
• 2010/11 Council tried to remove a separated
cycle track
• 2012 Council extended the same cycle track with
a better design
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

47. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

48. Politicians
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

49. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

50. …mirror the success
of Exhibition Road…
…Oxford Circus-style
‘multi-directional
crossing’
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

51. Press
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

52. Press
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

53. Press
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

54. Punters
“We are nourishing at immense cost
a monster of great potential destructiveness.
And yet we love him dearly.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

55. Punters
“Regarded in its collective aspect as
‘the traffic problem’ the motor car is clearly
a menace which can spoil our civilisation.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

56. Punters
“But translated into terms of our own vehicle,
we regard it as one of our most treasured
possessions or dearest ambitions, an
immense convenience, an expander of the
dimensions of life, an instrument of
emancipation, a symbol of the modern age.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

57. Punters
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

58. Punters
“Parents drive their kids to school to stop them
getting run over by other parents driving their
kids to school.
So we’ll end up with a generation of flat-footed,
asthmatic kids with no sense of direction.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

59. Punters
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

60. Punters
The activities we want in our streets include:
• pedestrians: striding, strolling, playing & resting
• people with wheelchairs, buggies, bags, crutches…
• cars: moving, manoeuvring, parking
• vans/lorries: moving, manoeuvring, parking
• buses: moving & stopping
• cyclists: moving, manoeuvring, parking
• taxis: moving, waiting & manoeuvring
• trams: moving & stopping
• waiting for buses/taxis/trams
• meeting, talking, eating, drinking
• congregating, partying, marching
• exhibitions, busking, performances
• victory parades & funeral processions…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

61. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

62. Punters
The facilities we want in our streets include:
• footways & pedestrian crossings
• vehicle carriageways
• parking & loading bays
• cycle lanes/tracks & parking
• bus priority & stops
• road safety measures
• personal security measures
• public conveniences
• seats, cycle racks, bins
• trees, shrubs, flowers
• public art, hard landscaping, water features
• information & signage
• buildings…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

63. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

64. Punters
Those whose aspirations need to be considered include:
• people walking, cycling, driving…
• people with disabilities
• people in a hurry & those who aren’t
• people who want to stay awhile
• shoppers
• residents
• those who work there
• visitors/tourists
• shop-, business- and land-owners
• bus/tram passengers & operators
• town centre managers
• ‘civic guardians’
• maintenance engineers & contractors…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

65. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

66. Punters
The qualities we are aiming to achieve include:
• accessible
• efficient
• clean & healthy
• safe & secure
• attractive
• convivial
• convenient
• legible
• diverse
• vibrant & successful
• inclusive
• valuable
• adaptable…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

67. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

68. Punters
What I want from Northfield Avenue depends on:
• if I’m shopping
• if I’m there for lunch, dinner or just a coffee
• if I’m on foot, on my bike or on a bus
• if I’m going to/from the street or through
• if I’m in the car en route elsewhere
• if I’m on my own or with other adult(s)
• if I’m with the kids (at what age/ages?)
• if I played football the night before
• if I’m in a hurry or not
• the time of day, day of week & week of year
• what the weather’s like
• how much other traffic there is
• what side of the bed I got out of…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

69. Punters
I can’t design
a street for me,
let alone
the rest of you
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

70. Punters
Paris councillors have decided to allow cyclists to ride through
red lights. Cyclists are required to give way to pedestrians,
and will be held responsible in the event of a collision.
Conflict between pedestrians and cyclists on crossings is
already a problem and Living Streets has major concerns
about the potential impact any similar measures in the UK.
We know from our supporters that many people find pavement
cycling and running red lights on pedestrian crossings – both
illegal in the UK – to be intimidating.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

71. Punters
N EN
O! Y
BL
LY ERT
V O
PH AR
RO BA
D
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

72. In closing…
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

73. “Through words and concepts
we are now continually tempted
to think of things as being
simpler than they are.”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

74. “Streets!
Bloody Hell!”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

75. You can’t (and probably shouldn’t)
always get what you want.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

76. If you’re going to fight the power,
pick your battles wisely.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

77. Don’t sacrifice credibility for simplicity
SURFACE
Surface
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

78. Use data wisely and well.
‘They’ have their own numbers, too.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

79. In so far as you criticise,
be constructive.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

80. It’s almost always impossible
to have your cake & eat it?
Hey! Let’s
smooth the
traffic
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

81. There’s a balance to be struck.
There’s also one to be tipped.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

82. Try to avoid even appearing
overtly to take the moral high-ground.
Let the evidence speak for itself.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

83. You have many cards to play.
Learn how strong each is
in the particular game you’re playing.
• Safety
• Air Quality
• Social/Economic Justice
• Value for Money
• Personal security
• Health
• Efficiency
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

84. There are many ways to get your message
across. Think about which are best for the
issue and/or people you’re dealing with.
• Campaign
• Lobby
• Advise
• Help
• Drink
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

85. “Yes, but...”
“Sorry, but...”
“You’re worse…”
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

86. Your user group/cause isn’t perfect.
That’s OK. Indeed it’s
not credible to imply otherwise.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

87. Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement

88. Never give up. Never surrender.
Machiavellian Street Design @johnstreetdales urbanmovement