Dominance and the goal
Did you have an experience that you were supposed to be part of under one domination? You will! Sometimes, the word refers to overruling or controlling. But positively, it set the stage. It has the responsibility of leading the way. It should sacrifice itself to protect others. For example, in a procession, the principal one will lead the whole crowd. They have to follow him and do the procedures. If not, their alignment and actions will be ill-matched and spoiled. Therefore, we should have a dominating feature in our paths as well…
Oh, wait! Let me clarify it with our architectural perspective.
About Streets
The word Street used to mean a paved road. ( Latin: Via Strata ). Some people call a Street a road. But the road is meant for transportation. Its goal is to get you moving from one place to the other. The street is for public engagement. It holds the city’s character. It drives movement and activities among users. It bonds with nature and other characteristics around it.
We can classify streets into main and side streets. Can point to a wide range of activities, commerce, and public interaction on the main streets. While, inside streets, mostly quieter, residential use, and for parking.
An Identity for the City
Psychologically, identity refers to Self-Image, the distinguishing character or characteristics determining.
The streets have this ability to describe their locality and its culture. It holds the identity features of the city or its people. Wherever we were or we traveled years back, we will remember the streets we passed by, and its memories.
Once it was a sleepy residential street in New Orleans, which is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter. Now, the city depends on Bourbon street as the main tourist attraction. Which is not only famous for its Bars and clubs, but it provides rich insight into New Orleans’s past.
Roles To Play In The Built Environment
- Circulation: The most vital role for the streets is to provide the best circulation for the users. It only led them to move all around without any difficulties and the fear of being lost in the city. Which should be designed to provide safe, comfortable mobility for people of all ages, as well as with the transit options. It should provide connectivity to the nearby zones with safety by design.
- Utility: Utilities like electric power, telephones, fiber optic lines, gas lines, and other sewage or storm sewers should be properly designed and aligned in the streets.
- Nomenclature: The most needed one for the one who needs to know where he/she is? The streets should be named for the identity or address purpose. It only makes the users or the locality set an ideal for themselves.
- Landscaping: Landscaping and other features of nature are very important for the streets as they provide a pollution-free environment and gain the quality of life of users.
- Regulations and Standards: Streets have numerous rules and regulations to create a better and well-designed environment. The one who needs to contribute as a participant in the street should follow its terms and conditions like, Setbacks, Building line, Building height, Importance to historic buildings, Parking regulations, Vehicular movement and most importantly it should go through the flow with its neighborhood. Sharing environments are the prominent thing to follow.
- Public Realm: The most lagging thing among the locality and the users are interaction, community gathering, and the sharing environment. The street should possess and provide this opportunity among the users to encourage and for the development of the society
People Contribution
Nothing becomes perfect until it gets trained or used wisely. What we sow that we reap, right? The same will be in practice too. We should get used to transformation.
In European Towns and cities, More than half of the public spaces are taken over by private vehicles as per their report. Mierra street is also in the same condition. Nine of about seventeen meters of its width are given to traffic circulation in both directions. There was no possibility for the landscaping or for gathering purposes. Pedestrians, shopkeepers, and cyclists have to share the sidewalks. The street hasn’t been used wisely or properly. Five urbanists who wish to make changes to the urban life of the people and its streets make an initiative. They took a part from the streets, they designed it according to the preference for the cyclists, people, and vehicle, with painted it blue as it should act attractive, for the user’s passersby.
After this initiative process, the people automatically get used to it. It makes the passersby stop and encourage them to interact with the people, and create a healthy and vibrant environment.
There should be one initiative, guidance, and dominance to promote and bring out the best way of approach and usage of cities.
Luxury Or Essential
As the country develops on one side, and increases in population on other sides, the streets also get widened for vehicular movement without concerning the public and other natural features. Accomplish the present task without concerning the future needs.
Boston, one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in all of the USA, but extremely bad navigation due to the layout of the streets. It is very difficult for both visitors, and locals to travel along this street. There are big safety issues for runners, walkers, and cyclists because of the random one way streets and intersections. Although the city looks pretty enough, it’s not easy to find the way around.
Hence, The streets should have to take the path in design consideration.
“We go back to some streets more often than others… Maybe a street unlocks memories, or offers expectations of something pleasant to be seen, or the possibility of meeting someone old, or someone new… Because some streets are more pleasant than others, we go out of our way to be on them.”
– Allan B. Jacobs, “Streets: Old Paradigm, New Investment”
References
- (Street – Wikipedia, 2021)
- En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Bourbon Street – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Street> [Accessed 23 September 2021].