ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF CITY STREETS: THE RESIDENTS' VIEWPOINT

TO DATE, EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF LIFE ON CITY STREETS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED ONLY IN ENGLAND. IN PARTICULAR, A REPORT BY A STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE U. K. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT IN 1963 HAS HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON BRITISH TRANSPORTATION AND URBAN PLANNING, ESPECIALLY THROUGH ITS PROPOSAL FOR THE CREATION OF "ENVIRONMENTAL AREAS" OF CONTROLLED TRAFFIC CAPACITY OF NEW AND EXISTING CITIES. THE PRESENT REPORT REPRESENTS A PILOT STUDY OF THIS KIND CONDUCTED IN A SAN FRANCISCO NEIGHBORHOOD. IT WAS ONE OF A SERIES OF STUDIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS MADE IN THAT CITY DURING 1969 AND 1970. THE HOME INTERVIEW WAS INTRODUCED AS A SURVEY OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE ON THE STREET, WHAT THE RESIDENT THOUGHT OF HIS STREET, AND WHAT THE RESIDENT WOULD SUGGEST FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT. THE CRITERIA CATEGORIES WERE (1) TRAFFIC HAZARD, (2) STRESS, NOISE, AND POLLUTION, (3) PRIVACY AND HOME TERRITORY (THE LATTER MEANING THE SENSE THAT PART OF THE STREET ITSELF WAS AN EXTENSION OF THEIR "TURF", (4) NEIGHBORING AND VISITING, AND (5) IDENTITY AND INTEREST. RESPONDENTS' REPLIES WERE EVALUATED IN THREE AGE GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS ARE DRAWN, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS ARE TREATED UNDER THE TWO HEADINGS "ENVIRONMENTAL PROPOSALS" AND "ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS."

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    • Sponsored by Committee on Social, Economic, and Environmental Factors of Transportation and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Appleyard, Donald
    • Lintell, Mark
  • Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: pp 69-84
  • Monograph Title: Social, Economic, and Environmental Factors of Transportation
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00240061
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309019692
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Mar 7 1972 12:00AM