https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q5Nur642BU

Cars travel at walking pace, and cars, streetcars, horses, etc all coexist -- pedestrians seem to cross the street at will, not following any signals or staying in crosswalks.

I think the reason this chaotic system works (aside from the lower speeds) is because street users expect the chaos, no one relies on a traffic signal to tell them when it's safe to cross, they know that they have to pay attention or they'll be run over (or will run over someone else).