Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Hans Monderman

Hans Monderman: In Memoriam

5:44 PM EST on January 11, 2008

hans_sketch.jpg

The following obituary was contributed by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, an urban designer based in Bristol, England. 

Hans Monderman, the pioneering Dutch traffic engineer, died on Monday 7th January near his home close to Drachten in Friesland, aged 63. As one of the most innovative and challenging of thinkers and practitioners in his field, he will be widely mourned by the many professionals, politicians, academics and ordinary people from across the world who admired his radical and challenging approach to bringing simplicity and humanity to the design of streets and public spaces.

Hans Monderman trained as a civil engineer, and as a driving instructor before studying traffic engineering and accident investigation. Combining an understanding of how roads were built as well as how they were understood by drivers prompted his interest in psychology and social behaviour. In the 1980s he was appointed as head of road safety for the Province of Friesland, a role that allowed him to question many long-standing assumptions. Always doubtful about the conventional traffic engineering vocabulary of signs, markings, barriers, bumps and chicanes, he began to explore the potential for improving safety and the quality of public life through encouraging simple human interaction and negotiation amongst road users. During his career with municipalities across northern Holland he initiated over a hundred schemes that established a new direction for reconciling the relationship between people, places and traffic.

Convinced that humans possessed skills in negotiating and interaction that were being suppressed by conventional rules and regulations, Monderman’s more recent work began to explore the potential for simplicity and integration between engineering and urban design. More complex schemes, such as the Laweiplein in Drachten and the remodelling of the High Street in Haren near Groningen  drew his work to the attention of a worldwide audience. He is most associated with the removal of signs, signals and road clutter, but it is the recognition of human intelligence and complexity, and the importance of place for which he will be best remembered.

In 2007 his work was recognized through the World Technology award and an honorary PhD in traffic planning. But it is as an inspirational speaker, a teacher, and a highly practical innovator that Hans Monderman will be best remembered by those keen to promote simple human values and civility in the public realm.

Johannes (Hans) Iebe Monderman, born November 19th in Leeuwarden, died in Drachten on January 7th. He is survived by his wife Tineke and two sons, Leonard and Johan.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Why Chicago Advocates Are Providing Bikes to Migrants

Unless funds are freed up from a larger entity, bike distribution to asylum seekers is going to stay in crisis mode indefinitely.

October 2, 2023

Monday’s Headlines Are Open for Business

Monday will be just another Monday for federal employees, as Congress avoided a government shutdown. Plus, declining gas tax revenue provides an opportunity to rethink transportation funding.

October 2, 2023

Why Connecticut is Investing in New Regional Rail

Gov. Ned Lamont will spend $315 million investment on new rail cars — but they're not going anywhere near Grand Central. Here's why.

October 2, 2023

NYers Share Their ‘End of Days’ Flooding Pics

It's bad out there. How bad? Here is a citywide roundup from our staff ... and our friends on social media.

September 29, 2023

To Help Save the Planet, Take the ‘Week Without Driving’ Challenge

Former Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz is urging Americans to give up driving for seven days — and support policies to make it optional for everyone.

September 29, 2023
See all posts