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2026年度主题
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上期回顾&Quiz答案揭晓
在2026年世界学者杯第24期WSC Weekly栏目中，我们与小学者一起学习了不同文化中成年礼仪式背后对“成长”与“责任”的理解。在上期的趣味Quiz中，你是否找到了正确答案？现在就让我们一起来揭晓吧！
点击查看上期话题
不同文化的成年礼长啥样？
How Different Cultures Celebrate Coming of Age
第24期Quiz答案揭晓：
A garment store owner is least likely to make profit from which of the following ceremonies?
以下哪种仪式最不可能让服装店老板从中获利？
A) Sweet Sixteen “甜蜜十六岁”生日派对
B) quinceañera 拉美15岁女孩成年礼
C) vision quests 寻象典礼
D) Guan Li 冠礼
E) Seijin no Hi 日本成人之礼
正确答案: C
Key: C
2026年第25期
Weekly Intro
你在校园或公园里抄过近道吗？那些被踩秃的草坪、绕开台阶的泥路，在城市规划师眼里有一个非常浪漫的名字——“愿望路径”。本期Weekly带你换个视角看城市，探寻这些由脚印踩出的路线，如何悄悄改变着我们的公共空间。
2026 No.25
世上并没有路，踩草坪的人多了也就成了路？
Desire Paths: The Trails That Reveal How People Really Use a City
草坪上的捷径
你可能经历过这样的场景：走在学校的校园里，下一节课要去的教学楼恰好位于一大片草坪的另一侧。按照校园地图的指引，你应该沿着铺好的小路前进，绕过花坛，再拐个弯走向教学楼入口。但问题是，这样走要多花3分钟。于是，你决定直接穿过草坪抄近路。抵达目的地时，你注意到草地上已经出现了一条被踩平的窄窄的痕迹。显然，你并不是第一个选择这条捷径的人。几周后，那里的青草已荡然无存，留下了一条清晰可见的裸露泥土小径。起初仅仅是个人的某次决定，如今已演变为数百名学生共同践行的一条非官方通道。城市规划师给这类小路起了一个名字：愿望路径（desire paths），也称愿望线（desire lines）。它们是由人们反复踏过而形成的非正式路线，常常穿过草坪、公园，以及其他原本没有规划步道的地方。有时，愿望路径恰好连接两个地点之间的最短路线，另外的时候，它们则表明人们只是更偏好以一种不同于设计者最初设想的方式在空间中穿行。正如作家罗伯特·麦克法伦（Robert Macfarlane）所描述的那样，它们是“由行人的心愿与双足共同塑造的小径”。
You might be familiar with the scenario: You are walking across your school campus and your next class is in a building on the other side of a large lawn. According to the campus map, you should follow the paved path, walk around the flower beds, and take a gentle turn toward the entrance. But there is a problem: that route takes an extra three minutes. So you cut straight across the grass instead. When you arrive, you notice a narrow strip of flattened grass. Clearly, you are not the first person to take this shortcut. A few weeks later, the grass has disappeared completely, leaving a visible trail of bare earth. What began as one person's decision has become an unofficial pathway used by hundreds of students. Urban planners have a name for these trails:desire paths, also known asdesire lines. They are informal routes created by repeated footsteps, often cutting across lawns, parks, and other spaces where no official path exists. Sometimes they follow the shortest route between two destinations. Other times, they reveal that people simply prefer a different way of moving through a space than the one designers originally intended.As writer Robert Macfarlane describes them, they are paths shaped by the wishes and feet of walkers.
为什么愿望路径会出现？
愿望路径几乎随处可见。在公园里，人们可能会斜穿草坪；在大学校园里，学生会在教学楼之间踩出一条条捷径；在围栏附近，人们也常常会寻找缺口，绕开那些不方便的路线。冬天，新雪上可能会留下蜿蜒的脚印；在其他季节，它们则表现为一片片被踩秃的草地或裸露的泥土。这类小路有许多不同的称呼，包括“牛道”（cow paths）、“社交小径”（social trails）、“海盗小径”（pirate paths），乃至“大象小径”（elephant trails）。五花八门的名字恰恰说明，这种现象十分普遍。只要人们反复经过某个地方，就有可能自然形成一条这样的路。那么，为什么愿望路径会出现呢？原因往往出奇地简单：人们倾向于选择省时省力的路线。建筑规划图上精心设计的人行道或许十分美观，但如果行人必须为了走这条路而绕远，他们很可能干脆不予理会。想象一下，一座公园的两侧各有一个入口，中间隔着一大片草坪。景观设计师可能会在草坪边缘设计一条弯曲的小路，既能保护草地，又能让整体布局更加美观。然而，对于那些只想从一个入口直接走到另一个入口的游客来说，穿过草坪显然更方便。于是，人们一次又一次地从草坪中央经过，最终踩出了一条比官方步道更便捷的新路线。这条小路不仅仅反映了人们不愿绕远路的心理，更揭示了空间的既有设计与人们的实际使用方式之间的脱节。
Desire paths can be found almost anywhere. They appear in parks where pedestrians cut diagonally across lawns, around university buildings where students create shortcuts between classrooms, and along fences where people find gaps in an otherwise inconvenient route. In winter, they may appear as narrow tracks through fresh snow. In other places, they are visible as patches of worn grass or exposed soil. They go by many different names, including cow paths, social trails, pirate paths, and even elephant trails. The variety of names reflects how common the phenomenon is, and how easily it can emerge wherever people repeatedly travel through an area.But why do these paths form in the first place? The answer is often surprisingly simple: people tend to choose routes that save time and effort.A carefully designed pavement may look attractive on an architectural plan, but if it requires pedestrians to make unnecessary detours, they may simply ignore it. Consider a park with two entrances located on opposite sides of a lawn. A landscape architect might design a curved path around the edge to preserve the grass and create an attractive layout. Yet visitors who want to get directly from one entrance to the other may repeatedly walk across the middle. Eventually, their footsteps create a new route that is more convenient than the official one. The resulting path is more than evidence of impatience.It reveals a mismatch between the way a space was designed and the way people actually use it.
脚步的选择
愿望路径最有趣的地方在于，它们让普通人无需开口，就能向城市规划师表达自己的需求。人们不必提交投诉、不必填写调查问卷，也不必参加公众咨询会。只要不断重复自己的行动，就会在地面上留下清晰的记录，让设计者看到什么行得通，什么不行。城市规划师里卡尔多·马里尼（Riccardo Marini）认为，这些小路能够为研究人类的出行行为提供宝贵线索。他曾经见过一处这样的设计：设计者在一片草坡旁修建了造价不菲的花岗岩台阶，但行人依然选择直接沿着草坡往上走，因为这样更快。从设计者的角度来看，台阶或许既美观又实用；但在行人眼中，它们不过是建错了地方。因此，一些城市规划师更倾向于先观察人们实际如何移动，再决定在哪里修建正式步道。与其强迫行人按照预先规划的路线行走，不如利用已经形成的愿望路径，找出真正需要铺设人行道的地方。
What makes desire paths particularly interesting is that they allow ordinary people to communicate with urban planners without saying anything.Nobody needs to submit a complaint, complete a survey, or attend a public consultation. Their repeated movements leave a visible record of what works and what does not.Urban planner Riccardo Marini argues that these trails provide valuable evidence about human movement. He recalls seeing expensive granite steps installed beside a grassy slope, only to find that pedestrians continued walking directly up the slope because it was quicker. From the designer's perspective, the steps might have been an attractive and practical solution. From the pedestrians' perspective, they were simply in the wrong place. This is why some urban planners prefer to observe how people move before deciding where to build permanent pathways. Rather than forcing pedestrians to follow a predetermined route, they can use existing desire paths to identify where paved walkways would be most useful.
先观察，再设计
美国密歇根州立大学（Michigan State University）的校园就提供了一个有趣的例子。学校在新建教学楼时，并没有急着把连接各栋建筑的道路全部铺设出来，而是先让学生和教职员工按照自己的习惯行走，逐渐形成自然的通行路线。等这些非正式小路清晰可见后，规划人员便可以根据它们的位置，决定正式步道应该修建在哪里。从高处俯瞰，校园最终形成了一张纵横交错的小路网络，仿佛有人在地面上绘制了一幅巨大的图画。20世纪90年代，类似的思路也影响了伊利诺伊理工学院（Illinois Institute of Technology）的校园规划。建筑师雷姆·库哈斯（Rem Koolhaas）在设计过程中，参考了学生在校园内的实际移动路线。医院也采用了这种方法。例如，美国国立卫生研究院（National Institutes of Health）的一些非正式小路经过数十年的使用，最终被正式铺设，成为官方步道。这些案例体现了一种不同于传统的城市设计思路：设计者不再先决定人们应该如何移动，再要求大家遵循规划，而是先观察人们已有的行为习惯，再以此为基础进行设计。
Michigan State University provides an interesting example. When new buildings were constructed on campus, the university initially held back from installing all the connecting pavements. Instead, it allowed students and staff to establish their own routes through repeated use. Once the informal pathways became visible, planners could use them to determine where permanent walkways should go. Viewed from above, the campus eventually developed a network of intersecting trails resembling a giant drawing on the landscape.A similar approach influenced the Illinois Institute of Technology in the 1990s. Architect Rem Koolhaas used the movement patterns of students to inform his campus planning. Hospitals have also adopted this approach. At the US National Institutes of Health, informal footpaths that developed over several decades were eventually paved, turning routes created by pedestrians into official walkways.These examples demonstrate a different approach to urban design. Instead of deciding how people should move and then expecting them to follow the plan, designers can observe existing behavior and build around it.
藏在街道里的历史痕迹
愿望路径不仅能揭示人们如何使用现代城市，也能保留城市过去发展的痕迹。以美国纽约曼哈顿的百老汇大街（Broadway）为例。一些城市规划专家认为，这条街道沿用了美洲原住民早期的一条道路，即威克夸斯格克小径（Wickquasgeck Path）。据推测，这条古老的路线曾连接不同的聚居点，同时避开沼泽、山丘等难以通行的地形。后来，欧洲殖民者在曼哈顿建立了更加规整的网格状街道系统，早期的道路网络大多逐渐消失，但百老汇大街却保留了其中一部分路线。苏格兰爱丁堡也有类似的例子。据马里尼介绍，当地的考盖特街（Cowgate）最初是一条牧民赶着牲畜从农场前往市场的道路。起初供人畜通行的实用便道，历经沧海桑田，最终成为了城市正式路网的一环。这些例子说明，一条非正式小路可能比催生它的原始需求存在得更久。一条最初为了避开泥泞地面，或是为了更快抵达市场而形成的小路，最终可能演变成一条永久性的城市街道。日常生活中人们留下的行动轨迹，就这样成为城市历史的一部分。
Desire paths do not only reveal how people use modern cities.They can also preserve traces of how cities developed in the past. Consider Broadway in Manhattan, New York. Some urban planning experts believe that the street follows the route of an older Native American trail known as the Wickquasgeck Path. The original route is thought to have connected settlements while avoiding difficult terrain such as swamps and hills. When European settlers later imposed a more regular street grid on Manhattan, much of the earlier network disappeared. Broadway, however, retained part of the older route. Another example can be found in Edinburgh, Scotland. According to Marini, the city's Cowgate originally developed from a route used by shepherds and herders moving livestock from farms to the market. What began as a practical trail for people and animals eventually became part of the city's street network.These examples show that an informal pathway can outlast the circumstances that created it.A trail originally formed because people wanted to avoid a muddy field or reach a market more quickly may eventually become a permanent street. In this way, the patterns of everyday movement can become part of a city's historical record.
人们为什么不走这里？
不过，愿望路径所反映的并不只是人们对便利的追求。它们有时也代表着人们希望按照自己的意愿行动，而不是完全服从已经精心规划好的空间安排。室内设计与建筑学教授安德鲁·弗曼（Andrew Furman）曾专门研究过愿望路径。在他看来，这些路线反映了人们对自由行动的渴望。在一座规划严密的城市里，公共空间往往对人们应该在哪里行走、坐下或聚集作出了各种安排。选择一条未经规划的路线，有时也可以被视为对这些既定安排的一种小小反抗。当然，这并不意味着每个行人都是在有意挑战城市管理者的权威。大多数横穿草坪的人，恐怕只是单纯地想快点到达目的地而已。但无论动机如何，最终形成的小路都传递出一个更广泛的信息：人们未必会按照设计者预想的方式使用一个空间。有些愿望路径甚至能通过人们的“不作为”揭示设计中的问题。一处无人使用的楼梯、一条鲜有人经过的人行道，或是一片长期闲置的公共休息区，都可能意味着设计没有真正满足人们的需求。对于城市规划师来说，这些缺席的使用痕迹，与地面上清晰可见的小路同样值得研究。同样的思路甚至可以应用于一些看似毫不相关的规划决策。例如，马里尼曾研究伦敦摄政街（Regent Street）沿线被丢弃的口香糖和烟头的分布情况，以此判断哪些地方更适合设置长椅。即使是日常生活中不起眼的行为痕迹，也可能为我们理解人们如何与周围环境互动提供线索。
There is another side to desire paths that goes beyond convenience.They can also represent people's desire to make their own choices in spaces that have already been carefully organized.Andrew Furman, a professor of interior design and architecture, has studied desire lines and sees them as evidence of people's desire for freedom of movement. In a heavily planned city, public spaces often come with rules about where people should walk, sit, or gather. Taking an unofficial route can be a small act of resistance against those expectations. This does not mean that every pedestrian is deliberately challenging authority. Most people who walk across a lawn are probably just trying to get somewhere faster. Nevertheless, the resulting path can carry a broader message: people do not always use a space in the way its designers expect.Some desire paths even reveal where people choose not to go.An empty staircase, an unused pavement, or a neglected public seating area may suggest that a design has failed to meet people's needs. Urban planners can learn from these absences just as much as from visible trails. The same principle can influence seemingly unrelated decisions. Marini, for example, has studied the distribution of discarded chewing gum and cigarette butts along London's Regent Street to help determine where benches might be placed.Even small traces of everyday behavior can offer clues about how people interact with their surroundings.
下一次，不妨低头看看脚下
当然，并不是每一条愿望路径都应该被直接改造成正式人行道。有些小路穿过生态环境敏感的区域，可能破坏经过精心维护的景观，甚至带来安全隐患。在这种情况下，规划人员可能需要引导行人改走其他路线，或者设置围栏保护相关区域。但反过来说，一味封堵所有未经规划的小路，同样未必有效。如果人们不断移开障碍物、绕过围栏，或者一次又一次地穿过同一片草地，那么规划人员或许应该先问问自己：最初的设计是不是就不够合理？更有效的做法，是弄清楚一条愿望路径究竟为什么会形成。官方路线是不是绕得太远？楼梯的位置是不是让通行变得不方便？入口是不是设置得不够合理？只有找到问题的根源，规划人员才能决定是将这条愿望路径纳入正式设计，还是通过其他方式满足人们相同的需求。所以下次当你穿过学校草坪、抄近路走过公园，或是在一条看似设计完善的人行道旁发现一条狭窄的泥土小路时，不妨停下来仔细观察。那条不起眼的捷径或许正在告诉你一些关于这个地方的信息：人们真正想去哪里，哪些设计给日常出行带来了不便，甚至是周围的街区曾经如何发展。
Not every desire path should automatically become a permanent pavement. Some informal trails cross environmentally sensitive areas, damage carefully maintained landscapes, or create safety problems. In such cases, planners may need to redirect pedestrian movement or protect the area with barriers. But simply blocking every unofficial route can be equally ineffective. If people repeatedly remove barriers, walk around fences, or continue crossing the same patch of grass, it may be worth asking whether the original design was appropriate in the first place. The more useful approach is to understand why a particular trail has formed. Is the official route unnecessarily long? Does a staircase make the journey inconvenient? Is an entrance poorly positioned?Once planners understand the reason, they can decide whether to incorporate the desire path into the design or find a better way to meet the same need.The next time you walk across a university lawn, cut through a park, or notice a narrow dirt trail beside a perfectly good pavement, take a closer look. That little shortcut may be telling you something about the place. It could reveal where people want to go, which parts of a design are inconvenient, or even how the surrounding neighborhood developed. And if you find yourself following a trail that thousands of people have already walked, remember that you are not simply taking a shortcut. You are helping write the next line in the landscape.
Weekly 关键词 Key Word
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desire paths 愿望路径
所属话题
Where We’re Going, We’ll Still Need Them
相关阅读
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/oct/05/desire-paths-the-illicit-trails-that-defy-the-urban-planners
Weekly FUN Quiz
现在，快来参与本期Weekly FUN Quiz，告诉老师你的答案吧！
Quiz
Which of the following is not an example of a desire path?
以下哪一项不属于“愿望路径”的例子？
A) Students repeatedly cut across a lawn between two campus buildings, gradually creating a visible dirt trail. 学生们反复穿过两栋校园建筑之间的草坪，逐渐形成了一条明显的土路。
B) Park visitors regularly leave a curved paved path and take a shorter route across the grass, eventually wearing down the vegetation. 公园游客经常离开弯曲的铺砌小径，改走穿过草坪的捷径，最终导致植被被踩踏。
C) Commuters repeatedly walk through the same gap between two parking areas, creating an unofficial route that was never planned by the property owner. 通勤者反复穿过两个停车场之间的同一条空隙，形成了一条业主从未规划过的非正式路线。
D) Residents repeatedly cross an undeveloped piece of land on their way to a bus stop, eventually forming a narrow track that others begin to follow. 居民们在前往公交站的途中反复穿过一块未开发土地，最终形成了一条狭窄的小径，其他人也开始沿着这条小径行走。
E) A city planner studies pedestrian movement before a new plaza opens and builds a diagonal walkway where people are expected to take the shortest route. 一位城市规划师在新广场开放前研究了行人的流动情况，并在预计人们会选择最短路线的地方修建了一条对角人行道。
To WSC Scholars:
本期Weekly Quiz正确答案将在专栏下期推文中揭晓！欢迎小学者们关注服务号，进入“WSC Weekly”专栏，此栏目将会持续陪伴小学者们，分享更多WSC趣味学术知识！
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