A fundamental shift is under way in the way that streets are thought about and designed. For the last 60 years, most streets have been designed with the needs of driversand motor traffic put first. According to this way of thinking, a ‘good’ street is one that helps make driving easier and vehicle journey times shorter. The needs of people who want to use streets in other ways – for instance for walking, shopping, cycling, pushing prams, using wheelchairs, playing, or sitting and watching the world go by – have been given relatively little consideration. Now, however, this is changing. In countries all over the world, policymakers recognise that this traffic-centred conception of streets has led to the creation of dysfunctional places. The social and economic value of the pre-20th century role of streets, as places of community interaction, shared by all members of society – as well as conduits for traffic – is being rediscovered. New ways of designing streets are being tried out; new terms such as ‘shared space’ are becoming popular.This change is generating debates about the nature of safety and acceptable risk. How should we design and manage streets to ensure that they are safe for all?