Assessing visual impacts of roadscape installations on urban safety and comfort in Galle Road, Colombo

Abstract

Today, the world is moving towards Urbanization which adapts sustainable development. Currently in Sri Lanka, the challenging development position in terms of its urban development with the introduction of number of mega projects ranging from urban core intensification to introducing and improving infrastructure and alternative multimode transportation systems. With technology and other high intelligence base development are now making space for poor safe and secured cities resulting all types of pollutions such as air, water, soil, sound and visual which risking the inhabitants and exposing into the general public. Though various urban development programs are being implemented in high dense urban areas of the country, how far such initiatives were able to create a positive impact to minimize visual issues in the city has not been clearly identified and clarified. Accordingly, views on redefining the urban environment in terms of visual atmosphere in order to prevent and control visual impacts of roadscape installations is a critical task facing today with rapidly increasing needs of commercialization. As the magnitude of its influences on urban users have not been identified, measured and analysed analytically, the results is increasing roadscape psychological and physical damages which runs as a long term process. The proposed study is intended as an assortment of properly designed specific research constituents. In order to begin the study, it is expected to conduct first-hand observations and identify the key problematic situations in urban commercial roadways and roadsides in Colombo in terms of urban comfort and safety due to roadscape installations. A comprehensive literature survey will be carried out for in-depth studies of precise constituents of the research. Prior to the detail analysis, it is planned to conduct a pilot surveys to identify key factors to be measured with regards to the specific stockholders and area analysis through questionnaires, direct/indirect interviews etc. with random local and foreign city users. After that it is decided to conduct details field surveys, laboratory experiments on existing conditions using focus variables to understand the stockholder acceptance. Compiling the research findings giving high regards to user satisfaction and document accordingly. In order to improve visual comfort and ensure user safety through visual impacts in roadways and roadsides due to roadscape installations, it is aimed to identify roadscape installations and its impact rating, to review build, designed and situational factors of identified installations, determine the correlation between roadway and roadside installations and safety, comfort and to investigate the effects of identified installations on pedestrian and driver attention and performance. As a result, this study will worth to design a method to assess visual impact due to roadscape installations in commercial activities based roads and to identify the visual influences and its magnitude on roadway and roadside users which opens a gateway to establish an assessment model in order to assess urban comfort, safety and security of public realm for sustainable urbanisation in Sri Lanka.