Streets of affinity : an examination of street as a place of public interaction and cohesion

Abstract

"First and foremost, a great street should help make community; should facilitate people acting and interacting to achieve in concert what they might not achieve alone Accordingly streets that are accessible to all, easy to find and easy to get to, would be better than that are not" The urban street is a forgotten entity as a place of community; a place that can serve the vital function of social interaction. It is a place where the community can be allowed to flourish, though regarded by the individualistic society as a hostile, unsafe and uncontrollable space, which should only be for transportation; transportation inside the safety of an enclosed vehicle. But the history suggests otherwise. The street in the past was a place with glamour. It has served its terms as the vital open space in the city. It was made sure that this valuable space was not wasted; not wasted just for transportation. Instead it was there to be used by people, to be used for buying and selling, to be used for street games, to be used for ceremonies, to be used for chatting or even just being an onlooker. It is indeed a good thing to note that streets of such caliber do still exist in the urban context, of which the characteristics must be analyzed; the essence that gives them life as community spaces must be extracted; through which we would be able to formulate methods that are appropriate to making the streets places for community.