Towards great streets: an empirical approach to study a streetscape

Abstract

This paper presents an attempt to device an empirical method for streetscape analysis. The need for such method is felt in a context that designing streets has been an area of wider concern but without adequately developed guides. Improving streets and their qualities necessitates an appropriate understanding of their presently available characteristics and therefore, demand robust methods for that purpose. The method presented in this paper is evolved upon Alan Jacob specified ‘requirements’ for a ‘great street’. It demonstrates a process for the evaluation of a streetscape in relation to a set of physical attributes, derived from Jacob’s requirements. The attributes are derived though diagnostics analysis of the requirements with the support of the other literature available in this area. Their strength is tested in a selected street segment of the Galle Road in Sri Lanka.