Cross-site assessment of road design packages

This report develop a concept for evaluating alternative design solutions for urban streets: the Street Performance Assessment Scheme. It should be generally valid and applicable to any redesign task, to compare the performance of a road/street section: (1) with the goals formulated for each case study, (2) in situations before and after the implementation of a redesign solution, and (3) between different case studies in cross-site assessments. In this report, the Street Performance Assessment Scheme is applied to streets in five European cities. These streets have major movement and 'place' functions and have limited space availabilities, and are thus typical examples for the most challenging design tasks that urban street designers face

Built Environment Determinants of Pedestrian Activities and Their Consideration in Urban Street Design

Pedestrian facilities have been regarded in urban street design as “leftover spaces” for years, but, currently, there is a growing interest in walking and improving the quality of street environments. Designing pedestrian facilities presents the challenge of simultaneously accommodating (1) pedestrians who want to move safely and comfortably from point A to B (movement function); as well as (2) users who wish to rest, communicate, shop, eat, and enjoy life in a pleasant environment (place function). The aims of this study are to provide an overview of how the task of designing pedestrian facilities is addressed in international guidance material for urban street design, to compare this with scientific evidence on determinants of pedestrian activities, and to finally develop recommendations for advancing provisions for pedestrians. The results show that urban street design guidance is well advanced in measuring space requirements for known volumes of moving pedestrians, but less in planning pleasant street environments that encourage pedestrian movement and place activities. A stronger linkage to scientific evidence could improve guidance materials and better support urban street designers in their ambition to provide safe, comfortable and attractive street spaces that invite people to walk and to stay

Ancient Anomalies: Twinned and supernumerary incisors in a medieval Nubian

During the analysis of a skeletal assemblage from a medieval cemetery in Nubia (c. AD 500-1550), a young adult female with abnormally developed maxillary incisors was discovered. The possible causes of the two dental anomalies found in this individual and their archaeological context are discussed. The remains are from a medieval assemblage from the Fourth Cataract region of Nubia, which forms part of the Nubian collection curated at the British Museum. The left central incisor has a twinned crown with two root canals and a supernumerary tooth is present on the right side between the central incisor and lateral incisors. Although two different dental anomalies are present, the bilateral expression suggests the same biological mechanism could be responsible