Streets as Natural Public Spaces: A Study of Abbas Tayabji Road, Vadodara

Abstract

A Street is a fundamental unit of urban space through which people experience a city. Streets shape the form and comfort of urban communities. Hence, it is very important to study the phenomenon of the natural public spaces. The streets are the best examples of the natural public spaces and play multiple roles to everyday human life. The study attempts to obtain the various factors and elements of built environment help to transform the streets into a desirable public space. After understanding the role of the urban streets along with factors and activities that affect the street through literature review and case studies, the Abbas Tyabji Road of Vadodara city has been identified as the study area. A detailed study of the identified street has been done through sketches and activity mapping in different periods. After understanding the street functions and factors affect its users the study concludes how the street becomes a shared natural public space with some architectural solutions.