Role of geometry and physical elements on a footpath in defining spaces, influencing events and engendering movement patterns

Abstract

Physical environment is one of the factors that influences the activities and spaces formed to a varying degree and in many different ways. Footpaths form a significant micro-place of the physical urban environment. Primarily, a path for pedestrian accessibility and acts as an important public place for the city. In the scenario of socio-economic conditions in developing countries, owing to high poverty rate, unemployment and rural-urban migration, it is beneficial for people to adopt the informal way of using this entity of footpath. Moreover, due to the lack of efficient monitoring, footpaths, in this part of the world, have multiple utility factors, mainly social, economic and cultural. The paper explores the role of the physicality of the footpath in the manifestation of spaces – tangible/intangible and the diverse activities. The quest is into identifying the meaningful relationship of geometry and multiple physical elements on a footpath with the quality of the public realm generated. The physical elements are analysed with reference to the context of certain Indian cities. These physical elements have been qualitatively documented by means of surveys and a subjective understanding through observations of the sites taken for study. A comprehensive understanding of these elements in the public realm revealed their influence in regulating certain movement patterns. The justifications for a particular path being more frequented are a matter of function and aesthetics rather than just intuition. This micro-understanding of various physical elements and the behaviour patterns observed on footpath can help in long-term street planning measures, at various scales. The paper highlights vital approaches in providing certain design opportunities with respect to the physical elements and the geometry of the footpath, thus improving the public realm of the street and of the place.