Space for People, Not Cars: A Visual Choice Experiment on Urban Street Redesigns

How and by whom streets are used has become a politically contested issue as cities face growing pressures from climate change, land scarcity, and social inequalities. Despite the central role of public opinion in implementation success, we lack systematic empirical evidence on how specific street design features shape attitudes. We study public opinion as a prospective evaluation of street redesign and measure acceptance, willingness to live nearby and to cycle as outcome variables of a large-scale stated choice experiment (N=5,991) conducted with a nationally representative Swiss panel. We varied redesign scenarios across infrastructure, greenery, social space, cost, financing, and cycling time, using static and 360° visualizations. Greenery consistently drives positive opinion across outcomes. Preferences vary by road type, visualization format, and respondent characteristics. Our findings underscore the importance of environmental and social qualities in gaining support for street reallocation and highlight the role of immersive visualization tools in planning communication.