50 Times Urban Planners Failed To Understand People’s Needs, And It Resulted In ‘Desire Paths’ (New Pics)

Take a look around. The roads, houses, paths and apartments that we see and utilize every single day were all made and designed by people with a lot of education. Being an architect is not easy, after all. But sometimes no amount of research or education can prepare someone for what humans will actually choose to do.
The “Desire Path” online group is dedicated to those hilarious and wholesome examples of humans and animals actually making their own shortcuts. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and share your thoughts and personal examples in the comments section below.

#1 Now This Is Awesome, Railway Desire Path

Abandoned railway through a forest that’s been walked for years.

#2 Wrocław, Poland – The Desire To Be Further Away From The Road

#3 Does This Count? It’s The Path This Cat & The Local Raccoons Take Across My Backyard

A desire path, for those who are wondering, is an “organic,” human or animal-made trail. In short, when we, for example, take a walk in the woods, we tend to try to take the shortest route between location A and location B.

Naturally, there will always be obstacles, trees, branches, roots and rocks. So we will weave around them. Over time, frequenters of any path will discover, almost instinctively, the most efficient route from A to B. They will begin to frequent this path until the grass and other vegetation is worn out and it’s visible to the naked eye.

#4 The Desire Path Got Paved Out And Shifted Half A Meter To The Left

I remember the original desire path, the city decited to add a sort of pavement but the distance of the stones from each other makes it extremely uncomfortable to walk on, nevermind if you have a stroller or something. It got sorted rather quickly, people just dont use the pavement.

#5 They Gave In And Paved The Way People Have Been Using For 40 Years

#6 Strongest Desire Path I’ve Ever Seen

You can see similar examples of this at home. If you have a set of drawers, there will no doubt be at least one that you use more often. Depending on its age and materials, the handle might be more worn down. The important part of a desire path over a “regular” path is that it’s not planned. It is simply the culmination of months or even years of humans just walking.

#7 The Bricks Are A Pain In The Feet

#8 Cat Path In Action

#9 Tiny Path To Avoid The Bumps

Indeed, it’s actually quite easy for us to accidentally make a desire path. This is why some national parks insist on folk’s staying on the designated trails, even if there is no risk from wildlife or other dangers. The Leave No Trace program is an example of this. Groups of humans walking repeatedly over something will wear it down, there are no two ways about it.

#10 Path From A Tram Station To A McDonald’s Restaurant. They Even Built Stairs

#11 The Field Next To Where I Live In Edinburgh Is Filled Little Desire Paths

#12 Joplin, Mo

The examples here are perhaps more extreme, as once, say, concrete is laid down, it’s unlikely that a city or property owner will tear it up just to accommodate some folks who are walking. However, recently, some cities have decided to, instead, incorporate desire paths into walking networks, as they organically reveal where humans actually want to go.

#13 Desire Path Around A Roundabout In My City

#14 They Can’t Live With Their Own Failure

#15 Infinite Puddle Desire Path

This comes out of a more modern approach to urban design and architecture, where intuitive processes are part of anything that is being built. One 2006 study even suggested that businesses should do their utmost to incorporate desire lines into their properties, for example, the layout of a store or even the paths around a parking lot.

#16 Found This Cheeky One Walking The Doggo

#17 A Very Belgian Solution In Antwerp

#18 Bizarre Path In Geelong Australia

After all, these are very clear indications of how humans, en masse, actually behave and businesses would be wise to pay attention. Some call this the wisdom of the crowd, where a variety of people, independently, make similar decisions. Naturally, humans are not actually dumb, we all tend to make rational choices with the options in front of us.

#19 Small But Worthy (Illinois)

#20 My Dog’s Everyday Path

#21 As It Turns Out, Cows Have Desire Paths, Too! The Black Dots On The Left Of The Picture Are The Cows. Taken From A Low Flying Aircraft

Finland, for example, takes this very seriously. After the first snowfall, planners will visit parks and pay attention to where the first footprints are left in the snow itself. After all, snow covers the “official” path, which may or may not correlate to where people actually want to go. These findings are then used to update or even redesign the parks.

#22 You Cannot Stop The Path

#23 High Volume Interchange

#24 No One Wants To Use The Stairs At The End Of The Bridge

Importantly, animals do this as well! After all, why would a deer care about the wonderfully symmetrical (yet inefficient) lines city planners have made on a map. Animals are creatures of habit just like humans, so it’s not at all impossible to find paths that your local wildlife has pressed into the dirt.

#25 LOL