How Worn ‘Desire Paths’ Reveal the Routes People Actually Walk

Urban explorer Paul Stout explained the concept of “desire paths”, the shortest path that can be taken on foot, often evidenced by worn patches in the ground.

Those paths you see made by people walking have a name, they are called desire paths. But they ask a question of what counts as design. …They tell us a lot about human psychology and the wayplaces get designed. 

Stout further examined how Ohio State University designed its campus around desire paths, how Broadway in New York City followed a pre-colonial Lenape footpath, and how a sunken lane in France was formed by people walking on it. Design by utility.

People creating a pathway by walking it is design. Places often get designed from this top- down view, and sometimes you can miss the ways people actually use a space. Desire paths remind us that people have their own ideas about the best path to walk.