Jabulile Mahlangu 548835: Jorrissen Street: A Livable Street?

figure 1: locality

Introduction

The public space that I will be analyzing is a street known as Jorrissen Street. Jorrissen Street is located in Braamfontein which is a central suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa. The street boasts variety and diversity in users and uses where its majorly offices or residential on top and businesses at the bottom (figure
2). There is also high volumes of traffic,both vehicular and pedestrians particularly during peak hours. This is due to the many intersections that the street has with other streets as well as the through traffic that passes through the street. The variety of uses is what brings the high volumes of pedestrians to the street.

figure 2: Mixed land-Use existing on Jorrissen Street

In a few of the academic readings related to planning principles the notion of public spaces tends to be romanticized. For example according to Appleyard (1980) streets should be redefined as sanctuaries, livable places, communities, resident territory, place for play, greenery and local history. Of course ideally this is how one would like a street to be however in some cases that is just not possible. According to Francis (1987) a livable street is the movement that recognizes the street environment as a important element to the social life of cities. I pose this question. Is Jorrissen Street a livable street?

Jorrissen Street has become a symbol of student life in an urban area. One of the problems/threats harming the livability of of the street is the pedestrian and vehicular traffic which brings noise pollution to the street (figure 3). According to Appleyard (1980) traffic takes away direct involvement of residents to the street. This makes the street a unpleasant environment for residents to spend time on.

figure 3: High volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic

One gets the feeling that vehicles take priory on the street. This is because the main function of most streets in Braamfontein before its renewal was office space. Therefore pedestrians use was never a priority or catered for hence you find that the side-walks are not proportional to the pedestrian traffic. It becomes a uncomfortable,if not frighting experience walking along the congested side-walks of Jorrissen street. In addition certain users such as people in wheel-chairs and bike riders are excluded from using the street. However such negative aspects have not hindered the vibrancy of the street because Jorrissen Street performs important functions for those who live on it.

The street is narrow,a one way and robots are located at each intersection. All these elements play a role in slowing down the traffic movement on the street hence making it a less threatening experience for pedestrians using the street.

The variety of shops is the main pull that keeps the street so continually active.The fact that shops that have the same function are located around the same area makes the street legible.These business become places to bump into friends, share news and obtaining whatever necessary good they want to purchase. Street lights are provided to enhance the perception of safety on the street; and because businesses such as bars, McDonalds and KFC -which are located on the street-operate till late hours;there is human activity even at night.According to Jacobs (1961) "eyes on the street" enhances the levels of safety/security for users because generally people feel more safe when they see other people in a public environment. 

figure 4: Variety of businesses bring vibrancy and life to Jorrissen Street.

The street is well maintained which attracts more users. Benches are provided for pedestrians to keep them on the street. Trees have been implemented to improve the ecology of the street. The trees not only provide shade but are also a means of making the street more aesthetically pleasing. There is also public art on the street that give it more character but that can also serve as a landmark enhancing the legibility of the street Lynch (1960).

 figure 5: Aspects that add character to the street.
 

   As one can see there are many layers to Jorrissen street but is it a livable street?In my opinion the high volumes of vehicular traffic will always be a hindering factor to the livability of the street making it difficult for residents to want to live there.However is the street being recognized as an environment where social interaction can take place?By looking at all the elements found on the street- that you would not find in any other streets in Braamfontein- I would say yes it is. So the answer to whether this street is a livable street or not is that depending on a individual it could be a yes or a no.

References: Appleyard, D. (1980) Livable Streets, Protected Neighbourhoods, Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science.
  Francis, M. (1987) The making of Democratic Streets, in Moudon, A. (1987) Public Streets for Public Use, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Lynch, K. (1960) The Image of the Environment and The City Image and Its Elements from The Image of the City in Larice, M and Macdonald, E. (2007) The Urban Design Reader. Routledge, London.
Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage
http://www.goole.com/images/jorrissenstreetbraamfontein