Relationship between Street Furniture in Pune and User’s Convenience Ar. Pradnya Patki Sinhgad College of Architecture, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design Volume 5, Issue 2, April-June, 2017, pp. 28-35 ISSN Online: 2347-2855, Print: 2347-8284, DOA: 27022017 © IASTER 2017, www.iaster.com ABSTRACT A Street is a public thoroughfare in the built environment. In an urban environment every person as an individual comes in contact either physically or visually with the street at least once in a day. Circulation, or transportation, is a street's most visible and important use. A very careful and detail analysis of design of such corridors is necessary to cater to all the users. At the urban scale the details of elements in the street may be as important as buildings in determining the aesthetic quality of the city. The study is aimed to find out the requirements of the users in Pune city and the kind of street environment they want to live in. Also there is a need to find out areas for improvement in the design of street furniture in Pune and to provide policy guidelines. The method employed is such that findings are obtained by interaction with people in order to know their views regarding street furniture today in Pune and the improvement they would like to see in future with the help of questionnaire tool. The hypothesis set for the research is that there is a relationship between the Street furniture and user’s convenience and satisfaction. Keywords: Circulation, Public Thoroughfare, Street Environment, Street Furniture, User‟s Convenience. I. INTRODUCTION We normally relate the word furniture with indoor spaces rather than exterior elements on street. We pass through the streets without noticing the urban furniture, which are important elements capable of making life much more comfortable. Street furniture can be defined as fixed elements in the public right-of-way that are intended for use by the public and that require clear ground space for approach or use in an outdoor landscape. There are a variety of fixtures that we come across on the street which are relatively small in scale in the urban environment and tend to present in large numbers. It is often the small things that cumulatively, can have an impact on the quality of urban environment. (Davis C) A well distributed arrangement of these elements will contribute in making the streets more accessible, encouraging and a positive relation between the visitors could be formed. Not only can these items become a distinctive feature of a neighbourhood and of a town, but it is their design and the degree to which they address the solution to everyday problems that prove their validity. Today street furniture has not only practical use, but also visual pleasure vital to street scenery. The paper aims to find out whether street furniture in Pune contributes to the convenience of the people and is there is a relationship between the Street furniture and user‟s satisfaction. The objectives are to identify and classify the different elements of street furniture according to its use and to study the elements with respect to scale, style, colour, robustness, sitting etc. The subject street furniture covers wide range of items, but the scope of research paper is limited to city streets of Pune. 28 International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design (O) 2347-2855 ISSN Volume-5, Issue-2, April-June, 2017, www.iaster.com (P) 2347-8284 II. BASIC COMPONENTS OF STUDY The three basic components of study include the following 1.1. Streets Street can be divided into different zones and colour coded as- Development Pedestrian Green Parking and Vehicle zone Fig.1 Typical Street Section Showing Different Zones Fig.2: Typical Street Plan Showing Different Zones 1.2. Street furniture In India at present there is imbalance between needs and provisions of street furniture i.e. our needs are much more than the provisions. Each element of street furniture is meant to serve specific social need and public use. If improper provision of street furniture is provided, people tend to misuse the available spaces and street areas. Provision of appropriate street furniture can set up a cooperative relationship with the authorities. It creates interest in the outdoor living and people tend to spend much time in public spaces. Constant stream of public in several activities creates a „lively environment‟ in the urban areas and reflects healthy and happy living conditions of the society. Following are the points to be considered while designing street furniture: appropriateness, scale, modularity, detailing, aesthetic value, safety and security, maintenance, coordinated family of elements, materials, fabrication, installation, accessibility and universal design flexibility, sustainability and environmental issues, durability and resistance to atmospheric conditions, building and supporting city‟s identity 1.3 Multiple Users 1.3.1 Motorists-To meet motorists‟ expectations for safe and efficient travel, perfect conditions over the street network would include wide roads with minimal travel delays. 1.3.2 Pedestrians- Pedestrians expect and need more than just “walking space” to feel safe and comfortable. Safe short walking distances buffered from moving traffic. While designing the street furniture all user groups such as disabled, pregnant women, children, old people etc need to be taken into consideration. 1.3.3 Bicyclists-Dedicated space for bicyclists is one way to create a good bicycle network on higher speeds, high volume streets. 1.3.4 Adjacent Land Users- These stakeholders will all want to feel safe and secure, to have access to their property, and to enjoy an aesthetically pleasing environment. 29 International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design (O) 2347-2855 ISSN Volume-5, Issue-2, April-June, 2017, www.iaster.com (P) 2347-8284 1.4 Method 1.4.1 Sampling Criteria for selecting the street- The areas chosen are such that there is more public interaction and which are subjected to heavy pedestrian flow. Selection of the street was done on the basis of different areas depicting varied cultural background. They have similar characteristics but at the same time they have their own identity and activities taking place which differ from each other; thus making the study interesting. Commercial-Tilak road & Educational-Fergusson College road 1.4.2 Unit of analysis- Streets are the study areas, the unit of analysis is street furniture and the respondents are the people. 1.4.3 The study will comprise of two variables-Independent variable-street furniture & Dependant variable- convenience of the people 1.4.4 Observation protocol -The method used was time sampling i.e. Observations were noted at different times of the day-morning and evening. The human behaviour and actions was recorded by having direct interaction with people. Each element of street furniture is studied in detail with the help of following modes of data collection. Observation, mapping, photographic data, interviews of users, preparation of Interview schedule- 1.4.5 Face to face interview A multiple response analysis survey was conducted by providing the users with a questionnaire which was intended to find out the users satisfaction regarding the different elements of street furniture. Attitude or perception related questions were asked. The survey was based on Qualitative analysis- phenomenology (something which is happening/ experience based). It depends on words, viewpoints, description given by people. III. PUNE: CASE STUDIES AND ANALYSIS Pune is now a fast growing metropolitan city of India. The population of the city is growing rapidly. The demand of living and transport has increased to a considerable level. The Pune Municipal Corporation has been working towards the betterment of the street furniture. Recently new furniture was installed during the Common Wealth Youth Games on most of the roads in Pune. But the old sign boards are not removed thus increasing clutter on the street. We need way to understand and to act on the street‟s strengths and weaknesses, to accentuate the positive and deal with the negative. It is also upto the users to maintain and not misuse the facilities provided to them. The user group is classified into following categories Residents, Students, Shop keepers, Commuters and Office-holders. For the purposse of formulating results it has been divided in 2 categories and colour coded as follows- Frequent users Non Frequent users Activities that take place on streets of Pune- walking with destination, hawkers, encroachment by shops, strolling, park vehicles, waiting, standing, interacting, sitting, reading, street barbers, cobblers, cycling, eating, street plays and rallies, ganpati and diwali celebration, shopping, maintenance and cleaning. 3.1 Case study 1-Tilak Road Tilak road named after Bal Gangadhar Tilak is one of the oldest planned roads of the city. It was built by Britishers to have a connection between the eastern and western part of the city. Issues- Insufficient parking, less space for pedestrian movement, traffic problem, congestion at the chowks. 30 International Journal of Research in Civil Engineering, Architecture & Design (O) 2347-2855 ISSN Volume-5, Issue-2, April-June, 2017, www.iaster.com (P) 2347-8284 Fig 3: Section of Tilak Road Fig 4: Bar chart Showing Situation of Footpath Following are the findings derived with the help of onsite observation done and interaction with users. (converted in bar charts) 3.1.1 Activity Specific Street Components 1. Footpath-The walkway width varies from 0.9m to 1.5m. At certain places pedestrians are forced to move on the road with heavy traffic movement. The footpath widens at the commercial area. Height of footpath is irregular. Average height is 0.2m. Continuity is lacking near the college building entrances.