concrete.case

The Price for Concrete

What streets cost when people aren't the point.

Project: I built a systems deck on what streets cost when people are not the point.
Problem: Car-first design, then blame the pedestrian.
What I did: I used an iceberg and a goal flip so the leverage points read without a policy lecture.

Systems Design
Visual Narrative
Research

My role

Systems research · visual narrative

Timeline

Unit 4 · Solo · May 2026

Client

IXD · Systems Thinking (Academic)

Industry

Urban Systems · Mobility · Policy Design

Change the goal, not the paint

A family, a street, a conviction

Liberation became necessity

The event is just the tip

I used an iceberg. Above water: I see a lot of cars today. Below it: a decade of more vehicles, zoning that forces long trips, and a mental model that the car is the only normal way to move.

Policy funds highways that fund isolation

I mapped the loop: policy funds highways, highways become barriers, barriers force longer trips, longer trips demand more car-centric funding. Seniors, low-income people, and young adults miss healthcare, jobs, and school.

Wider roads are a fix that fails

Congestion gets a wider road. Crossings become impossible. Liability and emergency costs rise. The symptom eases for a minute. The structure gets worse.

Inclusion is the actual problem

The systemic prioritization of automobiles inhibits social inclusion, cuts mobility, and makes financial independence impossible for anyone who depends on transit.