TIL. This should be taught to all transport designers, landscape and other architects.
Not that these desire-paths are always optimal or appropriate, but it feels like an awful lot of times in open public spaces, they could be respected or at least understood.
IIRC, these are taught. But it's a bit like a CS ethics course; you can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink. And even if you believe in it, that goes out the window if your clients want that context-ignoring modern architecture. Developers and local power brokers are often more interested in showing off their ability to afford Zaha Hadid or Calatrava than they are in providing useful assets to the community.
Not that these desire-paths are always optimal or appropriate, but it feels like an awful lot of times in open public spaces, they could be respected or at least understood.