(Ed. Note: Today’s article is written by new contributing writer Matt Hollingsworth. Matt, a Knoxville native and Farragut resident, has written local interest articles for Farragut Life, Monroe Life, and McMinn Life, as well as science fiction stories for various magazines. Despite living so close, Matt is experiencing much of downtown Knoxville for the first time.)
One of my favorite things about the internet is finding videos on a wide range of topics I’d never considered before and that the creator somehow makes interesting. Their passion for their subject wins me over. One such creator is TikToker Jon Jon Wesolowski, also known as The Happy Urbanist, who makes videos on cities and urban design. Clearly his work resonates with people because he has nearly 300,000 followers and several videos with millions of views.
A slight curve in the road, a bollard blocking cars from driving a particular path, a road with overly-wide lanes — you may not notice these design decisions while driving past at 40 miles-per-hour, but Jon Jon certainly does, and his videos dive deep into the logic, effects, and outcomes of such decisions. If you’ve ever wondered why some roads feel safe to walk down while others don’t, what makes a good gathering space, how the invention of cars affected city design, or how to make your city a better place, Jon Jon is your man. From his smile to the way he holds his headphone cord like a miniature microphone, he simply exudes passion for his subject.
While Jon Jon lives in Chattanooga, his work and ideas are applicable to all kinds of urban areas, including Knoxville, so we asked him some questions about city life.
One of Jon Jon’s main ideas is that “the abundance of signs points to a lack of design.” Instead of covering the road with signs telling people what to do, it’s often better and safer to design infrastructure that directly encourages certain behavior.
Jon Jon gave an example: “We know that when roads are wider, people drive faster. They have larger sightlines to anticipate things running out in front of them. They feel like wider lanes are more forgiving in case they merge one way or the other. So, one way you can slow people down is by simply narrowing lanes and narrowing the field of vision for people. We could also just put up a speed sign that says ‘please drive this speed limit.’ The problem is that if you’re instinctually driving highways and your body tells you this is what it feels comfortable driving at and then you design a neighborhood road like a highway, you will naturally drive that highway speed regardless of the signs.”
People ignore signs. Instead, if cities want to be good for pedestrians, they need to actively design roads that encourage certain behavior. According to Jon Jon, a perfect example of this principle is the intersection of Camden Passage (a pedestrian street) and Charlton Street (a road for cars) in London. Instead of just putting up a sign warning of pedestrians, the designers instead made the road narrow and added a slight curve that forces cars to slow down. The very layout of the road encourages slow, safe driving.
Jon Jon also talked about “Third Spaces,” communal areas where people can spend time outside of their home and work. Good examples of this in Knoxville would be Krutch Park and Market Square. He believes that cities have too few of these common spaces that allow for socialization, meeting new people, and strengthening community ties. As he explains, “Third Spaces allow for organic, spontaneous, casual interactions which is the basis of friendships.”
When asked what the biggest problems cities in America, and especially Tennessee, face, Jon Jon explained how our development patterns encourage sprawl. He said, “We build more roads than our tax base can afford, and the more roads we build like this, the less able we are to afford the maintenance on those roads in the future . . . The reason we have this sprawl pattern is not because of some free market decision, but because of zoning laws and policies which force us to build exponentially single-family houses rather than everything else. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we should outlaw single-family housing, but rather I’m saying that in places where infrastructure already exists, we should encourage urban infill and denser forms of development.
Another problem he discussed is “trying to think of roads and streets as the same thing. Streets are mechanisms for a community to build wealth . . . Streets prioritize pedestrians, lingering, things like that. Even if cars are welcome on streets, they’re brought to a safe speed so that it’s not undesirable to spend time outside. . . in a café.”
On the other hand, “a road is for a connection between two places. A street in itself is a place where you want to spend time. A road is a thoroughfare if you connect two places.” He explained how, in America, cities try to mix streets and roads and end up with the worst of each—terrible traffic and a lack of pedestrians that generate wealth. He continued, “So if you’re in a city and there’s a five-lane road with a turning lane and huge intersections, but large parking lots and buildings nearby that make it not desirable to walk on—these are hurting our communities. They don’t economically bring in money the same way streets do, and they don’t efficiently transport people the same way roads do.”
This is a key theme in his work—that cities should have more safe, walkable streets for pedestrians. As he said, “The goal isn’t for a downtown to be an efficient place to pass through but a delightful place in which to spend time.”
What do you think? How does urban design impact downtown Knoxville in good ways? Is there poor design here you’d like to see remedied? Let us know in the comments, and check out The Happy Urbanist on TikTok.