Editing Sidewalk (section)

==History==
[[File:E India House.jpg|thumb|right|[[East India House]], [[Leadenhall Street]], London, 1766. The pavement is separated from the main street by six [[bollard]]s in front of the building.]]
[[File:Lower Ocean Avenue, Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, N.Y. (beach cottages, people walking on raised sidewalk) (NYPL b15279351-105077) (cropped).tiff|thumb|Raised wooden sidewalk by a dirt road, Staten Island, N.Y., early 20th century]]

Sidewalks have operated for at least 4,000 years.
<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTqARXDtXrgC|title= Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation Over Public Space|author= Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Renia Ehrenfeucht|year= 2009|publisher= MIT Press|page= 15 |isbn= 9780262123075| access-date = 18 November 2018 | quote = The first sidewalks appeared around 2000 to 1990 B.C. [...] in central Anatolia (modern Turkey) [...].}}</ref> 
The Greek city of [[Corinth]] had sidewalks by the 4th-century BC, and the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] built sidewalks – they called them ''[[wiktionary:semita#Latin|sēmitae]]''.
<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTqARXDtXrgC|title= Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation Over Public Space|author= Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Renia Ehrenfeucht|year= 2009|publisher= MIT Press|page=15|isbn= 9780262123075}}</ref>

However, by the [[Middle Ages]], narrow roads had reverted to being simultaneously used by [[pedestrian]]s and [[wagon]]s without any formal separation between the two categories. Early attempts at ensuring the adequate maintenance of foot-ways or sidewalks were often made,{{why|date=November 2018}} as in the [[Colchester Improvement Act 1623]] ([[21 Jas. 1]]. c. ''34'') for [[Colchester]], but they were generally not very effective.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21983|title= Georgian Colchester|work= British History|quote= Bad paving and obstructions were frequently reported to the justices under a paving Act of 1623, but the borough chamberlain, workhouse corporation, and parish officers failed to discharge their responsibilities and the small fines for neglect were ineffective. Enforcement of the Act by the borough justices ceased when the charter lapsed in 1741 and by 1750 the streets were so ruinous that a new Act was obtained, which perpetuated the responsibility of justices to enforce the regulations.|access-date = 2010-04-05|url-status= live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228212636/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=21983|archive-date= 2011-12-28}}</ref>

Following the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, attempts were slowly made to bring some order to the sprawling city. In 1671, "Certain Orders, Rules and Directions Touching the Paving and Cleansing The Streets, Lanes and Common Passages within the City of London" were formulated, calling for all streets to be adequately paved for pedestrians with [[cobblestone]]s. [[Purbeck stone]] was widely used as a durable paving material. [[Bollard]]s were also installed to protect pedestrians from the traffic in the middle of the road.

The British [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] passed a series of Paving Acts from the 18th century. The 1766 Paving & Lighting Act authorized the [[City of London Corporation]] to establish foot-ways throughout all the streets of London, to pave them with Purbeck stone (the thoroughfare in the middle was generally cobblestone) and to raise them above the street level with kerbs forming the separation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhfWCBjPO74C|title= Building Capitalism (Routledge Revivals): Historical Change and the Labour Process in the Production of Built Environment|author= Linda Clarke|year= 2002|publisher= Routledge|page= 115|isbn= 9781136599538}}</ref> The corporation was also made responsible for the regular upkeep of the roads, including their cleaning and repair, for which they charged a tax from 1766.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/environment-and-planning/environmental-enhancement/publications/Documents/Street-Scene-manual2.pdf|title= city street scene manual|access-date= 2012-12-17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215103229/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/environment-and-planning/environmental-enhancement/publications/Documents/Street-Scene-manual2.pdf|archive-date= 2013-12-15}}</ref> Another turning point was the construction of Paris's [[Pont Neuf]] (1578–1606) which set several trends including wide, raised sidewalks separating pedestrians from the road traffic, plus the first Parisian bridge without houses built on it, and its generous width plus elegant, durable design that immediately became popular for promenading at the beginning of the century that saw Paris take its form renowned to this day. It was also a cultural phenomenon because all classes mixed on the new walkways. By the 19th-century large and spacious sidewalks were routinely constructed in European capitals, and were associated with urban sophistication.