Abstract:
Physical environment is one of the factors that influences the activities and
spaces formed to a varying degree and in many different ways. Footpaths form a
significant micro-place of the physical urban environment. Primarily, a path for
pedestrian accessibility and acts as an important public place for the city. In the
scenario of socio-economic conditions in developing countries, owing to high
poverty rate, unemployment and rural-urban migration, it is beneficial for people
to adopt the informal way of using this entity of footpath. Moreover, due to the
lack of efficient monitoring, footpaths, in this part of the world, have multiple
utility factors, mainly social, economic and cultural.
The paper explores the role of the physicality of the footpath in the
manifestation of spaces – tangible/intangible and the diverse activities. The
quest is into identifying the meaningful relationship of geometry and multiple
physical elements on a footpath with the quality of the public realm generated.
The physical elements are analysed with reference to the context of certain
Indian cities.
These physical elements have been qualitatively documented by means of
surveys and a subjective understanding through observations of the sites taken
for study.
A comprehensive understanding of these elements in the public realm revealed
their influence in regulating certain movement patterns. The justifications for a
particular path being more frequented are a matter of function and aesthetics
rather than just intuition. This micro-understanding of various physical elements
and the behaviour patterns observed on footpath can help in long-term street
planning measures, at various scales. The paper highlights vital approaches in
providing certain design opportunities with respect to the physical elements and
the geometry of the footpath, thus improving the public realm of the street and
of the place.
