What Makes a Street "Just"? Four Principles for Fair Transformation
What Makes a Street "Just"?
Is it:
How space is shared?
Whose voices are heard?
Whose needs are recognised?
How past harms are repaired?
The truth is, it's all of these.
When we talk about just streets, some may picture cleaner air or fewer traffic jams. But justice in the street goes deeper — it's about whose lives improve, who feels welcome, and who gets to take part in shaping the city.
Four Principles That Guide Street Transformation
Four key dimensions of justice shape how streets are redesigned and reimagined:
Distributive justice – how benefits and burdens are shared
Procedural justice – who participates in decisions
Recognition justice – whose needs and identities are acknowledged
Restorative justice – how past harms are addressed and repaired.
Together, these principles help make street transformation not only sustainable, but fair.
Knowledge Pill #1 – Justice Principles for Streets
This 15-page visual guide introduces the core justice principles shaping street transformation and connects them to practical action, presenting key concepts, examples, and considerations for planners, municipalities, and communities working to embed justice into urban change.
The guide builds on research conducted by our project partners: University of Westminster, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universidade do Porto, Fondazione LINKS, and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
For practical tools and structured pathways to implementation, explore the full Justice Toolkit for Streets.