desire line

noun

variants: or desire path

plural desire lines or desire paths

Definition of desire line

: an unplanned route or path (such as one worn into a grassy surface by repeated foot traffic) that is used by pedestrians in preference to or in the absence of a designated alternative (such as a paved pathway) There's a concept in landscape architecture called a desire line. It refers to a path worn into the ground by foot traffic, in defiance of the planned curves of sidewalks and roadways.— Henry Grabar This is the authoritarian approach to erasing a desire line: block it off with some type of obstacle—a fence, a bush, a pile of brush, a sharply (if, in this case, politely) worded sign.— Robert Moor The proposed fence would not enclose the parking lot, only limit its use as a desire path.— Zachary Oren Smith