Street Life

How can we improve street life?

Covid-19 has made us all more aware of the value of our open space and facilities within easy reach of our homes. Starting with a street near you, or one associated with your studio project, what small changes could be introduced to make it more convivial, more accessible, more enjoyable as a place to walk, to live, or a place to sit and wait? This is the challenge for this year’s module to imagine a more livable urban place post-pandemic based on close observation.

We are living in an urban age, yet many despair at our lack of control over the quality of the urban environment. To restore joy and a sense of agency to make a small difference, you can begin by gathering evidence on how people use the streets and open spaces where you live, work and play. This year’s module will therefore focus on how to improve street life. It will invest time in understanding the livability of streets by a combination of lectures, readings, comparative analysis, and observation techniques and connect to a tradition of walking to appreciate the quality of street environments. This will help you recognize what works -and what does not work- as you design: it is a chance to link socio-spatial aspects and learn different methods to evaluate public spaces.

Dr. Miriam Fitzpatrick