An exploration of streets as social spaces as informative for urban planning and design
Abstract
Public urban space is important for people in cities and play a multi-functional role in society that
includes an economic role, ecological role, social role, cultural role and, on occasion, political
role. The importance of public urban space as platform for social interaction is particularly
emphasised in literature by authors such as Jacobs (1961), Appleyard (1980), Lynch, (1984),
Vernez-Moudon (1991), Tibbalds (1992), Zukin (1995) and Gehl (2010). Social interaction in
cities is essential for cities’ liveability, economic development, public participation, place identity,
safety, memory, community and citizenship, as well as the ecological environment and people’s
health and quality of life. Public spaces are the most important element for a city to be liveable
and form the platform for social interaction. While numerous types of public spaces are found in
cities e.g. food production areas, parks and gardens, recreational spaces, plazas, streets,
transport facilities, and incidental space, streets seem to play a prominent social role in
community’s lives. The study of the use, social importance and formation of open space forms a
counterbalance for an emphasis on the built form. Streets are described as social spaces with a
unique character and enhancers of civic life. Urban planning and design may contribute to fulfil
this social role as the spatial layout of streets brings people unintentionally and intentionally
together or can keep them separated. The planning and design of streets are important in
facilitating social interaction in cities and this is a possible reason for the growing demand for
pedestrian-oriented streets. However, limited effort has been made in cities to provide in the
need for social spaces.
With a growing urban population in developing countries and the increasing knowledge of the
importance of public space for the psychological as well as physical well-being of inhabitants,
the support for public (open) spaces is particularly emphasised in urbanised areas such as in
South Africa where small erven and high densities prevail. While the current settlement
formation in South Africa is of a poor quality due to a number of reasons, such as political,
economic and social factors, one of the key problems is the approach to layout planning.
Traditionally the public environment is designed and created by numerous unconnected and
uncoordinated departments, engineers and owners. The activities and entities installed compete
with each other for space and visibility, consequently damaging the quality of the environment
by cluttering the public dwelling space and the social realm of the inhabitants. An in-depth
understanding of streets as social spaces, by planners and urban designers, may perhaps
contribute in developing planning and design policies and guidelines that address the
restructuring of streets as social spheres of interaction. It is imperative to understand urban
space before we transform it. While numerous studies on streets have been conducted
internationally, limited research has been conducted in the South African context to understand the role of streets as social spaces. This study is a step towards an in-depth understanding of
streets as social contexts in order to make recommendations for urban planning and design.
This study consists of an introductory literature study to give an overview of existing theories,
policies and guidelines and an empirical study that consists of observation and interviews to
explore the social dynamic within the research setting. This study is ethnographic in nature as
an overall methodological framework. Ethnography is an important method in socially oriented
research and enabled the researcher to get an ‘insider’s view’ of the research setting to provide
detailed, in-depth descriptions of the research setting. However, it is not pure ethnographic
research, as the researcher did not become a participant in the research setting. The aim was to
study social patterns, order and structure to gain an in-depth understanding of the specific
situation of Helen Joseph Street, rather than a brief overview of a large sample of information
gathered. Data was generated about people in a social setting. The methods used included
observations as well as semi-structured interviews with various users of the street.
Findings emerged from the empirical study that was conducted in terms of how a street is used
and experienced by its users and how the physical (built) environment is utilised for social
interaction. Themes that relate to the role of streets with regard to social interaction were
explored in-depth. From these data findings, a conclusion on what is needed for this research
setting to be a better urban place that will encourage outdoor living and street sociability is
discussed.