There’s a terrible argument in design about desire paths. Generally it becomes apparent when someone posts a picture of a park with paved paths and a muddy line of a path cutting across the lawns. This is the desire path. The route ‘the people’ choose.
It’s all tiresome BS.
Desire paths are bad. They contain several elements that are damaging to places and people.
Bad for places
Desire paths damage places because they are not designed to contain the pressure of so many people.
In the video above, what used to be a thin steep path has expanded and damaged a wider and widening area of land.
Designed paths, paved and graded, contain damage. There is energy expended in their construction but that work prevents greater loss later.
This example of desire path damage is tiny. There is an art project nearby on the National Trust’s Rodborough Common which covers that topic. The common land has, since the 1950’s, had a growth in paths, many of them parallel to the original paths. This has led to loss of grass and habitat for plants and animals. The walking hardens the ground. The paths near each other hardens the space between them. The desire paths destroy more and more.
Bad for people
Desire paths exclude people. They are not about accessibility but about impatient privilege.
The paths in the video above look visually similar but one is definitely more accessible than the other. The designed path is graded for angle and surface. The desire path is not.
Desire paths get praise for showing how they meet the intents of people. However, it’s not true. It’s a subset of people. It’s about people who can walk on steep or uneven paths. It’s about people who feel they can just walk across a pristine lawn without consequences. It’s about privilege.
It’s not either/or in design/desire path making. However, it is worth understanding and supporting the proper design of public infrastructure. Desire paths are bad because they damage and exclude. If it’s possible to unify the route then fine but don’t praise the desire path without regretting the damage it causes.