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Paper street

Paper street is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paper street rather than just read about it. In short: A paper street or paper road (also known as an Unformed legal road) is a street or road that appears on maps but has not been built. Overview Paper streets generally occur when city planners or subdivision developers lay out and dedicate streets that are never built.

Paper street — main illustration
Paper street — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Paper street belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Paper street to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Paper street from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A paper street or paper road (also known as an Unformed legal road) is a street or road that appears on maps but has not been built.

Overview Paper streets generally occur when city planners or subdivision developers lay out and dedicate streets that are never built. Commercial street maps based only on official subdivision and land records may show streets which are legally public rights of way though usually undriveable.

Paper roads may exist only on paper, never having been developed, but they have a legal existence and have the same legal status as a formed road. They are especially common in New Zealand, where they were created primarily for future access in rural areas (though in some cases, their layout was determined without checking whether the topography was acceptable for a road). Some districts are reputed to have as many paper roads as actual, formed roads. An estimated 56,000 km (35,000 mi) of paper road exists in New Zealand.

Controversies sometimes arise about the ownership or use of paper roads. Property owners may feel that an abutting undeveloped paper road is part of their property, but other property owners may have rights to access via that road, access which could be developed in the future if the need arises. The presence of a paper road can affect property valuation since there may be required building setbacks from the road, which might limit development opportunities. Paper streets (and, by extension, paper towns) may be deliberately included in published maps as trap streets, forming a copyright trap. A play on the phrase is found in Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club, as well as the film based on that book, where the protagonist lives in a house on "Paper street". Paper towns play a large role in John Green's novel Paper Towns.

See also

Easement – Right to use or enter real property Fictitious entry – Deliberately incorrect entry in a reference work Ghost town – Abandoned settlement with intact features Honeytoken – Entries in a database to track stolen data Null island – Cartographical (only) marker at 0°N, 0°EPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Trap street – Fictitious street on a map Potemkin village – Façade making something seem better than in reality Paper township – Type of civil township in Ohio Phantom island – Island recorded on maps but proven nonexistent Phantom settlement – Settlement on a map that does not exist

References

External links NZ Walking Access Commission information sheet on unformed legal roads (paper roads). 2015 Scoping Study on reopening of a Waikato paper road:estimated at $50,800 for 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi).

Illustrations

Paper street: The reservoir in this plan was built. The streets existed legally but were never built.
The reservoir in this plan was built. The streets existed legally but were never built.
Paper street: This road near Te Uku Wind Farm was started about 1896 and was part formed when construction stopped about 1914. It drops through a rock cutting about 300 metres long, 3 metres wide and up to 3 metres deep.
This road near Te Uku Wind Farm was started about 1896 and was part formed when construction stopped about 1914. It drops through a rock cutting about 300 metres long, 3 metres wide and up to 3 metres deep.
Paper street: These extracts from a Walking Access Commission map of the area in the photo above, illustrate the extent of paper and actual roads (purple), compared to actual roads only (map on right).
These extracts from a Walking Access Commission map of the area in the photo above, illustrate the extent of paper and actual roads (purple), compared to actual roads only (map on right).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paper street

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paper street claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paper street before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paper street ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paper street

In research
Paper street appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Paper street in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Paper street is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cartography, Fictional streets and roads, Fictitious entries, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Paper street outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paper street in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Paper street means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Paper street out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paper street in simple terms?

A paper street or paper road (also known as an Unformed legal road) is a street or road that appears on maps but has not been built. Overview Paper streets generally occur when city planners or subdivision developers lay out and dedicate streets that are never built.

Why does Paper street matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paper street?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paper street.

Tags

  • Cartography
  • Fictional streets and roads
  • Fictitious entries
  • Human geography
  • Legal fictions
  • Property law of New Zealand
  • Real property law
  • Roads in New Zealand
  • Types of roads

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