DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR HUMAN STREETS

Abstract

"Streets are streets and are meant not only to travel from one place to another but are also to be lived as an experience and a means to recreation". Streets, always in use but perennially neglected. Streets are essential components in the urban fabric, they are places in themselves, they are the most immediate part of the public realm and we encounter them everyday. Given their importance, why are so many of our streets alienating and unappealing non-places? We all have wandered along the streets of town, informally, casually, wanting an experience of the environment around. The desire to encounter blue sky, green trees, and the yellow sunshine is all obscured by the blowing of horns, pollution, huge billboards, fear of accidents and several unpleasant experiences. The expectation of a harmonic public environment is not fulfilled and what one receives is not really satisfying..... What one gets is adjoining building facades with architectural styles which are miles or ages apart from each other, colors which can be used to teach the contrast to an art student..... Overhanging electricity/telephone cables, which may snap at any moment.....Lack of toilets and drinking water facilities.....Large Billboards craving for attention..... Poor lighting conditions and what not. Indian bazaars/streets are loosing their age-old charm, which used to be the main attraction to pull out people from their homes to take a stroll on the streets. Charm of overlooking 'chajjas' and `jharokhas' has faded but the nostalgic memory still remains in the user's mind. These memories very frequently get refreshed by listening to older people, reading literature and coming across work of art.