Desire paths

The next time you’re in a park or a stretch of grass that’s visited by a lot of people, keep an eye out for two things. First, look for the footpaths that a planner or architect has laid down through the park. These paths probably show how a designer, from an aerial view, thought people should move through the space—often in straight lines or a tidy, geometric pattern. Then look for the tracks that people have made as they wander across the grass. These well-worn “desire paths” are often quite different from the paved routes.

Looking down on his plans, the architect thought he’d designed the perfect layout. But when you walk through the park, you can see exactly why people have created the desire paths—taking a shortcut to a gate, avoiding a poorly lit corner, linking up two parallel routes. Walking the desire paths always feels simpler than sticking to the “proper” footpaths.