Street Architecture as a Life Space

 

Neha Rawat

Assistant Professor, Axis Institute of Architecture, Kanpur

 

ABSTRACT:

“Streets” a place one met every day in our life, it connects one place with another or one can say it connects human life. Streets are the public space and environment which performs so many formal and informal activities throughout the day for its users like street markets, a place for rest and recreational activities. Streetscape defines the space between the building facades (and building line) including footpath, the curb, and other public spaces, such as plazas, parks adjacent to the streets. Streets with such a great importance are constantly being neglected in our everyday built environment system. This affects the role and quality of streets. There is a need to rethink our perspective for streetscape design considering all the parameters related with the street and their user, different functions of the street, principles of public realm space etc. The paper deals with the understanding of streetscape design and its importance in life.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

In the present urban context, streets and the adjacent spaces are being dominated by way for motor vehicles, their parking and other kind of encroachments. Street serve as public spaces where people walk, shop, meet, and participate in activities that make urban living enjoyable. Conventional guidelines for transportation safety regard trees as roadside fixed-objects that constitute driving hazards but urban foresters, designers, and planners encourage tree planting to enhance the liveability of urban streets. Improving streets is not simply a design issue, enhancing streets addresses wider social issues it is about achieving safer and accessible environment for all types of its users, through a balance between streetscape design and requirement of the users with the time from that space.

 

1.1 What is Street:

For too long the streets has been a neglected part of everyday built environment. Street/Streetscape defines the space between the building facades (and building line) including footpath, the curb, street and other public spaces, such as plazas, parks adjacent to the streets. Streets are the most common feature of towns and cities: they are the veins which allow places of every shape and size to function. They exist not just for movement, but as a space that everyone shares for various formal and informal activities. Streets are where people meet each other and perform so many formal and informal activities. Streets defining neighbourhoods. Streetscapes are the inter-relationship of public spaces and buildings.

 

1.2 Quality of Streetscape:

Streets should be designed to be inviting pedestrians; encouraging participation in public life, Researcher argues “cities must urge urban planners and architects to reinforce pedestrianism as an integrated city policy to develop lively, safe, sustainable and healthy cities”. In designing streets, one should start with the human dimension, considering its interaction with children, elderly and people with disabilities. It is also got mentioned that how something as simple as slowing vehicular traffic speed can have a significant impact on the amount of pedestrian activity. A list of 12 quality criteria concerning the pedestrian landscape of which most can be applied to streetscape design has been identified (Gehl, J., 1987).

 

Figure 1. The twelve quality criteria for street design

Source- Gehl, J. (1987). Life Between Buildings,. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold

 

1.2.1Multifunctional zone (MFZ):

Multi-functional zone on a street is provided to accommodate multiple functions, so that other important function of the street do not affected. The minimum width of the street should be of 1.8M wide. Multi-functional zones on a street may accommodate following function:

·       Tree Planting

·       Planting for Storm Water Management

·       Auto-rickshaw Stands

·       Cycle-rickshaw Stands

·       Hawker Zones

·       Paid Car Parking

·       Street Furniture

·       Bus Stops

·       Traffic Police Booths, network boxes, fire hydrants, junction boxes

·       Street lights/ pedestrian lights.

·       Signage’s/maps

 

Figure 2.  Multifunctional zones on the streets

Street Design Guidelines for equitable distribution of road space. new delhi  (2010).

 

1.2.2 Visual containment and continuity:

Visual containment is defined as a unifying force (foreground) created by the outer edges of a composition within a composition and continuity refers to the connection between compositional parts. Streets designed with good sense of visual containment and continuity binds people’s s with the place. This includes colour scheme, elements asymmetry and haphazard use of materials, tends to erode the visual containment and continuity of the street. Gordon Cullen coined the terms, according to him Serial vision is the series of perspective views of a place, one can experience when walks along a space or street. More the visual containment and connectivity in a place leads to better serial vision.

 

1.2.3 Edge characteristics and arrangement:

Edge is defined when there is continuity between the literal space of street and buildings along them. An edge represents a zone of shared space that allows for transition. An edge is a part of pedestrian linkage should have:

·       Visual complexity

·       Variety of uses/activities

·       Ambiguity of public private domain

·       Quality of transparency

 

Figure 3. The edge characteristics of public and private spaces

Source-urban design strategy Bremerton’s

Street edge and its arrangement depends upon the activity and types of streets, as on commercial streets, good street context includes high facade transparency, facade modulation offering pedestrian pleasant places to rest or sit, and a frequency of entrances oppositely in residential environments good street edge definition is achieved through clear and recognizable transitions between- public, semi private street edge and private spaces.

 

1.2.4 Hierarchy within street:

With different functions and variety of users of the streets we need an ordered hierarchy system of spaces as well as their connection on several different levels.  The system ensures an order of hierarchy from small scale to large scale i.e. – footpaths or sidewalks for pedestrian to roads for high movement. The small scale ensures a liveability of a place or city while large scale facilitates the movement only.

 

Figure 4. Hierarchy of spaces within a street for a successful street

Source-https://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/images

 

The segregation between different spaces of a street can be done on the basis of nature of speed we need for a particular space and safety from others. We need a separate space for pedestrians (speed 5km/hr.) on a street which also have high speed vehicles (40 km/hr.).

 

1.2.5 Accessibility for all:

Accessibility is one of major parameter for a successful urban space. The street and the places are designed in such a way that with least physical effort one can access to the street or a place. Accessibility and comfort of physically challenged and old peoples on street is a prime concern in a successful streetscape design.

 

1.2.6 Safety and security:

Safety and security are one of the prime concerns today. Safety of pedestrians cab be divided in two parts-

·       Safety from the other people, criminals.

·       Safety from being run down by an automobile- (concept of segregation)

 

According to Jane Jacobs for a safe and live street “a street has to be safe, there must be a clear demarcation of private and public spaces (Jacobs, J., 1961). A constant watch must be kept from the natural properties of street and must be scanning it all the time. The buildings should be oriented towards street with its windows, opening, balconies facing the street. So that a constant watch must be kept. Street and side walk must be in constant use. The street will be link for one destination to another, and there should be enough attraction along the street for people to linger there”. Any street without these basic conditions may be perceived as insecure, hostile and dangerous.

 

1.2.7 Flexibility:

Streets are considered as multiple-activity place which require different spaces or we can design the space so flexible so that it can perform multiple activities with the desired need from that place.

 

1.2.8 Mix of activities (diversity, density and variety):

The life of a street is determined by its user, and users are there because of their need and the needs are only fulfilled by the mix of activities. Mixed uses makes places lively and safe whether in whole streets or individual building level. The public realm is safe and enjoyable because it attracts different people at different times for different purposes.

 

Density is directly related to activities on the streets. The higher the density at a place makes it more active. For example – street with lot of activities (variety) like eating, commercial end have more active life than a normal road or street.

 

1.2.9 Lighting:

Lighting is one of the important parts of urban space; improves the legibility of critical nodes, landmarks, and circulation and activity zones on the street in the night time. Lighting facilitates the safe movement for the pedestrian and the vehicles on the street, promoting more safe and secure environment for the users.

 

1.2.10 Landscape:

Landscape is among one of the cheapest design solution on the streets for human comfort, serves many functions like air quality improvement, microclimate modification, shaded space for public realm, recreational opportunities, helps in creating a sense of enclosure and place making on streets by creating relaxation spaces.

 

1.2.11 Landscaped Median and refuge islands:

“Median is the portion of the roadway separating opposing directions of the travelled way, or local lanes from through travel lanes”. At a pedestrian crossing, the median acts as a ‘pedestrian refuge island’. The minimum width of the landscaped median is a 1.5M wide and height 150MM. “Clear width of a median ‘Refuge Island’ should be 1.2 M” ( Bhattacharjee, A., 2010).

 

1.2.12 Way finding system (signage’s system):

“Way finding can be described as spatial problem solving by a pedestrian traveller or motorist in determining one’s destination, distance and path” (Watson, 2003).

Signage for way finding refers to the design or use of signs and symbols to communicate a message to the pedestrians and motorist on the street Signage provides help to pedestrians to navigate the city with ease and safety, the main function of the signage system is as follows:

·        Orientation – Way finding (Street Signs)

·       Availability of Public Transit nearby (Transit Signs)

·       Guiding Street Flow (Traffic Signs)

·       Announcing about City’s specific features or attractions (Information Signs)

·       Conveniences (Toilet, dustbin, hawker signs)

 

1.2.13 Measures for pedestrian crossing:

• Crossings should be at least as wide as the sidewalk and wider in locations with high pedestrian demand.

• Crossings should be no less than 3 M in width. A more desirable width is 5 M.

• Crossings must be outfitted with kerb ramps and tactile warning strips.

• All light signals are to have ‘auditory’ mechanism (Bhattacharjee, A. 2010).

 

1.2.14 Measures for reducing the speed:

“Narrowing the street is another measure of reducing the speed limit of the vehicles. Driver’s slowdowns speed due to psychology that in narrow streets people may come from any front and we do not get time to judge. There are so many option of reducing the narrowing the street some of them are as follows” (Bhattacharjee, A., 2010).

·       On street parking

·       Adding bicycle lanes

·       Narrowing at intersections (bulb out)

·       Mid-block bulb outs

·       Medians

 

1.2.15 Minimizing barrier and Accessible Infrastructure:

Concept of minimizing the barrier is about designing different zones of the street with least level difference. Accessible infrastructure includes the accessibility issues of disabled people which include- ramps, tactile flooring, auditory signals, handrails etc.

 

1.2.16 Parking:

We need parking space for ease of accessibility and connectivity to different area. Currently due to no dedicated parking areas, a lot off congestion creates on the street due to haphazard parking .to resolve such issues we need on street parking with bulb out space so that it separates the parking space from the main street. Most preferable parking is angled parking on the street.

 

2. CONCLUSION:

Streetscape can be defined as the physical and visual treatment of the space between the buildings. Streetscape is the places for public realm and fulfils multiple needs of the peoples from functional to social. Streetscapes is the three dimensional settings of the space and each and every aspect like activities, character, legibility, visual simplicity scale and proportion land use, coherence, and hierarchy of spaces affects the streetscape. Connecting all aspects related to streetscape we can conclude following parameters/principles for a successful streetscape.

 

3. REFERENCES:

1.     Day:, C. (2003). Spirit and Place Healing our environment, Burlington: Architectural Press An imprint of Elsevier.

2.     Edaw, A. B. (2002). Paving the way How we achieve clean, safe and attractive streets. (Thomas Telford) 2002: Cabe-Commisssion For Architecture And The Built Environment, 2002.

3.     Gehl, J., 1987. Life between Buildings. Translated by Koch, J.

4.     Hill, M. (2012). Robinson St. Placemaking and Streetscape Improvement Plan Virginia: L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

5.     Jacobs, J., 1961. The uses of sidewalks: safety. The City Reader, pp.114-118.

6.     Lynch, K., 1960. The image of the city (Vol. 11). MIT press.

7.     Salingaros, N.A., 1998. Theory of the urban web. Journal of Urban Design, 3(1), pp.53-71.

8.     Moughtin, C. and Shirley, P., 2005. Urban design: green dimensions. Routledge.

9.     Bhattacharjee, A. (2010). Street Design Guidelines for equitable distribution of road space. New delhi: UTTIPEC, Delhi Development Authority, New Delhi.

10.  Streetscape Plan and Urban Design Guidelines. (2013). Cambridge: City of Cambridge-Hespeler Village.

11.  Wall, E. and Waterman, T., 2010. Basics landscape architecture 01: Urban design (Vol. 1). AVA Publishing. ISBN 10: 2940411123

12.  Watson, D., Plattus, A.J. and Shibley, R.G., 2003. Time-saver standards for urban design. New York: McGraw-Hill.

13.  Yeang, L. D. 2000. Urban Design Compendium. United Kingdom, English Partnerships

 

 

 

Received on 23.12.2016                                  Accepted on 10.02.2017        

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