Desire Paths

Desire paths “Also known as ‘cow paths, pirate paths, social trails, kemonomichi (beast trails), chemins de l’âne (donkey paths), and Olifantenpad (elephant trails),’ they are living histories of travelers wandering off pavement, forming shortcuts, carving their own trails and recreating their communities.”  In this way, desire paths are emergent and influential patterns of human behavior and preferences, representing the evolving relationship between people (and animals!) and place. Desire paths are an attractive topic of study because of their ubiquity – we nd them in urban and rural areas, on campuses, in parks, even in one’s own backyard. They offer an accessible window into how humans and their surrounding environments mediate and influence each other.

Improvisation is defined as “that, which has not been agreed upon or planned, and presents itself as unforeseen and unexpected.” 2 Desire paths embody this notion of novelty and contingency; they emerge and are established despite the careful planning of urban designers and landscape architects. Desire paths also illustrate the iterative and recursive process of improvisation; as an old desire path becomes too ingrained, filling with water or mud or causing precarious walking conditions, pedestrians create a new desire path or return to the paved path.

Desire paths: the unofficial footpaths that frustrate, captivate campus planners news.wisc.edu. Available at: https://news.wisc.edu/desire-paths-the-unofficial-footpaths-that-frustrate-captivate-campus-planners/.

Kurt Kohlstedt, Least Resistance: How Desire Paths Can Lead to Better Design