Alley - Other Countries

Other Countries

• In Australia and Canada the terms lane, laneway, right-of-way and serviceway are also used.
• In some parts of the United States and Canada, alleys are sometimes known as rear lanes or back lanes because they are at the back of buildings. "Mews" is also used for some alleys or small streets in Manhattan.
• In the Netherlands the equivalent term is steeg. Cities such as Amsterdam have many stegen running between the major streets, roughly parallel to each other but not at right angles to the streets. See .
• In Belgium the equivalent term is gang (Dutch) or impasse (French). Brussels had over 100 gangen/impasses, built to provide pedestrian access to cheap housing in the middle of blocks of buildings. Since 1858, many have now been demolished as part of slum-clearance progammes, but about 70 still exist.
• In India the equivalent term is Gali which were prevalent during Moghul Period (1526 C.E. to 1700 C.E.)
• In Singapore, there are many alleys in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. Those are often brick roads, have many humps and very few traffic signs and road markings.