# Paper street > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paper_street > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paper_street.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_street > Source revision: 1326356781 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Non-existent street on maps or plans}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2015}} thumb|upright=1.35|The reservoir in this plan was built. The streets existed legally but were never built. A '''paper street''' or '''paper road''' (also known as an ''Unformed legal road'') is a [street](/source/street) or [road](/source/road) that appears on maps but has not been built.Sanderson, Paul G.,[https://www.nhmunicipal.org/TownAndCity/Article/56 "Paper Streets: The Gap Between Dedication and Acceptance"], [New Hampshire](/source/New_Hampshire) local government center, United States, 04-2007. Retrieved 10-13-2008. == Overview == Paper streets generally occur when [city planners](/source/Urban_planning) or [subdivision](/source/Subdivision_(land)) developers lay out and dedicate streets that are never built.{{cite web |title=New Hampshire Bar Association, NHBA, NH Bar Association |url=http://www.nhbar.org/publications/archives/display-journal-issue.asp?id=203 |website=NHBA |access-date=3 January 2010 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306150347/https://www.nhbar.org/publications/archives/display-journal-issue.asp?id=203 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.njslom.org/mag1107_article_pg38.html |title=Paper Streets - NJLM |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707162852/http://www.njslom.org/mag1107_article_pg38.html |archive-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead }} Commercial street maps based only on official subdivision and land records may show streets which are legally public [rights of way](/source/rights_of_way) though usually undriveable. [[File:Beyond Pipiwharauroa Way on the Vandy Rd side of the summit the part formed Plateau Rd drops through a rock cutting about 300 metres long, 3 metres wide and up to 3 metres deep..JPG|thumb|This road near [Te Uku Wind Farm](/source/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 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3094016/Wire-cutters-threat-over-paper-road |title=Wire-cutters threat over paper road |date=2009-11-25 |work=[The Dominion Post](/source/The_Dominion_Post_(Wellington))|accessdate=11 February 2010}} They are especially common in [New Zealand](/source/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.{{cite web|url=https://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/lifestyle-file/rural-people-a-issues/the-good-oil/item/324-the-good-oil-paper-roads|title=The Good Oil: Paper Roads|last=Taylor|first=Annette|work='lifestyleblock.co.nz' website|accessdate=11 February 2010}} An estimated {{Convert|56,000|km|abbr=on}} of paper road exists in New Zealand.{{Cite journal|title=New Zealand Walking Access Commission Annual Report 2015-2016|last=New Zealand Walking Access Commission|journal=Annual Report|publisher=New Zealand Walking Access Commission|year=2016|issn=1179-5220|location=New Zealand|pages=16}} [[File:Walking Access map.jpg|thumb|These extracts from a [http://wams.org.nz/wams/index.aspx?extent=1766534,5797524,1783110,58080544 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).]] 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](/source/Setback_(land_use)) from the road, which might limit development opportunities. Paper streets (and, by extension, '''paper towns''') may be deliberately included in published maps as [trap street](/source/trap_street)s, forming a [copyright trap](/source/fictitious_entry). A [play](/source/wordplay) on the phrase is found in [Chuck Palahniuk](/source/Chuck_Palahniuk)'s novel ''[Fight Club](/source/Fight_Club_(novel))'', as well as [the film based on that book](/source/Fight_Club_(film)), where the protagonist lives in a house on "Paper street". Paper towns play a large role in [John Green](/source/John_Green)'s novel ''[Paper Towns](/source/Paper_Towns_(novel))''. == See also == {{Portal|Geography}} * {{annotated link|Easement}} * {{annotated link|Fictitious entry}} * {{annotated link|Ghost town}} * {{annotated link|Honeytoken}} * {{annotated link|Null island}} * {{annotated link|Trap street}} * {{annotated link|Potemkin village}} * {{annotated link|Paper township}} * {{annotated link|Phantom island}} * {{annotated link|Phantom settlement}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://walkingaccess.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/NZWACFactsheet4Unformedlegalroads.pdf NZ Walking Access Commission information sheet on unformed legal roads (paper roads).] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160125121146/http://waidc.govt.nz/Documents-Library/Files/Your-Council/Agendas-2015/WDC-Raglan-Track-Final-Report.aspx 2015 Scoping Study on reopening of a Waikato paper road:estimated at $50,800 for {{convert|3.5|km}}.] Category:Cartography Category:Legal fictions Category:Fictional streets and roads Category:Fictitious entries Category:Human geography Category:Real property law Category:Types of roads Category:Roads in New Zealand Category:Property law of New Zealand --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paper street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_street) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_street?action=history)). 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