The Cul-de-sac Effect: Relationship between Street Design and Residential Social Cohesion
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 141, Issue 1
Abstract
Recent debates in urban planning have centered on whether the cul-de-sac street form should be eliminated from the United States’ topography. Critics argue that these closed-off streets force residents into their automobiles, reduce communal interaction, are difficult for emergency vehicles to traverse, and are not environmentally friendly. Developers, realtors, and homebuyers, on the other hand, clamor for these streets, which are private, quiet, and safe for raising children. Lacking from debates over the future of the cul-de-sac are systematic analyses assessing the social consequences of living on these streets. This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to assess differences in residential social cohesion for residents of “bulb” cul-de-sacs, “dead-end” cul-de-sacs, and through streets. My data reveal that bulb residents experience the highest levels of attitudinal and behavioral cohesion, followed by dead-ends, then through streets. With planning debates about the future of the cul-de-sac currently taking place across the country, this study provides timely insight into the relationship between street design and neighborly bonds.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Atash, F. (1994). “Redesigning suburbia for walking and transit: Emerging concepts.” J. Urban Plann. Dev., 48–57.
Beavon, D. J., Brantingham, P. L., and Brantingham, P. J. (1994). “The influence of street networks on the patterning of property offenses.” Crime prevention studies, Vol. 2, R. V. Clarke, ed., Criminal Justice Press, Monsey, NY.
Brown, B. B., and Werner, C. W. (1985). “Social cohesiveness, territoriality, and holiday decorations: The influence of cul-de-sacs.” Environ. Behav., 17(5), 539–565.
Buckner, J. C. (1988). “The development of an instrument to measure neighborhood cohesion.” Am. J. Community Psychol., 16(6), 771–791.
Congress of the New Urbanism. (2000). Charter of the New Urbanism, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Hochschild, T. R., Jr. (2011). “Neighbors by design: determinants and effects of residential social cohesion.” Doctoral dissertation, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs.
Hochschild, T. R., Jr. (2013). “Cul-de-sac Kids.” Childhood, 20(2), 229–243.
Johnson, S. D., and Bowers, K. J. (2010). “Permeability and burglary risk: Are Cul-de-sacs safer?” J. Quant. Criminol., 26(1), 89–111.
Keane, C. (1991). “Socioenvironmental determinants of community formation.” Environ. Behav., 23(1), 27–46.
Lucy, W. H., and Phillips, D. L. (2006). Tomorrow’s cities, tomorrow’s suburbs, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
Mayo, J. M., Jr. (1979). “Effects of street forms on suburban neighboring behavior.” Environ. Behav., 11(3), 375–397.
Nielsen, J. (2006). “Cul-de-sacs: Suburban dream or dead end?” National Public Radio, June 7, 〈www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455743〉 (Dec. 2013).
Randall, T. A., and Baetz, B. W. (2001). “Evaluating pedestrian connectivity for suburban sustainability.” J. Urban Plann. Dev., 1–15.
Southworth, M., and Ben-Joseph, E. (2004). “Reconsidering the cul-de-sac.” Access, 24, 28–33.
Willmott, P. (1963). The evolution of a community: A study of Dagenham after forty years, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 141 • Issue 1 • March 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 25, 2012
Accepted: Oct 9, 2013
Published online: Oct 11, 2013
Discussion open until: Jul 13, 2014
Published in print: Mar 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.