One of the very important element of Urban Designing. Street edges play an important role in defining a city.

1. URBAN STREET EDGE
HRISHkeshI DESAI

2. STREETS
➤ A street is defined as a “Public
thoroughfare usually paved in a
village, town or a city, including
the side-walks or the side walks.
➤ Streets are the Arteries of a town
or a city. It is the streets that
determine the fluidity and direction
of activities & movement; similar
to the flow of blood through the
arteries of a living organism.

3. STREET EDGE
An Urban Fabric is made up of:
Mass - the built form,
Voids - the open spaces and
Arteries - the streets
The edge of the built form is what makes the
envelope of the street. This is called Street Edge

4. THE ROLE OF AN EDGE IN CITY
➤ In the context of a city, the edge is the
surface of the urban block, which
defines the peripheries of the block as
w e l l a s p l a y s a n a c t i v e a n d
independent role in the formal
organisation of the urban open spaces.
➤ This edge is an interface between the
inner private space and the outdoor
public environment.
➤ It there represents a part of an
individual building and at the same
time is a part of an individual building
and at the same time is a part of the
urban whole.

5. THE STREET
& THE EDGE
The ‘Edge’ is a linear element that is
a boundary between the two domains
or entities - public and private. The
edge may be barriers more or less
penetrable which close one region off
form another, or they may be seams,
lines along which two domains are
related and joined together.The ‘Street’ is a linear, open and a continuous
linking element bound on either side by
either a continuous facade or by a series of
individual buildings with gaps in between.

6. 1. Legal Edge 2. Built Edge 3. Social Edge

7. ➤ Legal Edge: It is that boundary between the public and the private
domains that legally separates these two domains by a plot boundary.
➤ Physical/Built Edge: It is that boundary which physically either
separates the two domains or links them. This boundary is demarcated
by the extent of the building itself.
➤ Social Edge: The boundary up to which the pedestrians can permeate
or have easy access to is the social edge.
Types of Edges

8. BASIC EDGE TYPOLOGIES

9. ISOLATED DOMAIN WITH LOOSELY
DEFINED BOUNDARIES
➤ When the two domains are
defined loosely, leaving an
undefined area in between, the
edge has no strong definition
and appears as Amorphous
Edge.
➤ This phenomenon mainly occurs
in sub-urban areas or urban
areas built on sub- urban
concepts, where the land either
of the street is conceived as
individual plots which can be
built upon according to the bye-
laws recommended.

10. DISTINCTLY DEFINED DOMAINS
➤ When the two domains are
clearly defined and the extent
of both the domains expressed
through the built wall, the
edge is Distinct or a Defined
Edge.
➤ The edge is common in the
older cities where the dwelling
wall sits right onto the street.
At residential level, the edge
opens out or is transparent
making connections between
the inside and the outside.

11. INTERSECTING OR OVERLAPPING
DOMAINS
➤ When the two domains intersect
forming an overlapping zone,
the edge remains not just a wall
but an expanded area. This area
that belongs to both to the
domain is the expanded edge.
➤ This edge occurs at all levels -
residential, commercial as well
as institutional. In the recent
developments modifications in
the Amorphous edge has
resulted in the expanded type of
edge.

12. PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF
EDGES

13. VISUALLY AND PHYSICALLY
IMPERMEABLE (OPAQUE)
➤ This type of an edge has no
punctures and therefore do not
offer any scope of participation
directly. These are commonly
back-walls of structures or part
of a belief system that
exercises extreme privacy.
➤ In effect these edges become
very susceptible to becoming
places for dumping. Also in
case of busy street conditions,
these become effective places
for parking of vehicles.

14. VISUALLY PERMEABLE, PHYSICALLY
IMPERMEABLE (TRANSPARENT)
➤ When the two domains are
defined loosely, leaving an
undefined area in between, the
edge has no strong definition
and appears as Amorphous
Edge.
➤ This phenomenon mainly occurs
in sub-urban areas or urban
areas built on sub- urban
concepts, where the land either
of the street is conceived as
individual plots which can be
built upon according to the bye-
laws recommended.

15. VISUALLY AND PHYSICALLY
PERMEABLE (PERMEABLE)
➤ These edges allow maximum
possibility of participation as
they permit both visual and
physical access. These edges are
found commonly in the old
bazaars where a continuous row
of these edges types forms an
overall layer of its own.
➤ The frontages are very rarely
intruded by hawkers, vendors of
any type. Also only temporary
parking happens here and the
f r o n t a g e s a r e v e r y w e l l
maintained almost at all times.

16. CONCLUSION
➤ Any edge follows one of the two basic edge natures, barrier
like or binder like. The context of the edge is the main criteria
for evaluating the edge quality. If the edge nature responds to
the context, it will automatically produce positive results in
terms of the urban environment on the street.
➤ When the edge plays the role of a barrier, it depletes the
interactive options of the edge, whilst when it plays the role of
a binder the edge enhances the interactive options.
➤ Edges play a vital role in the image formation of a city. They
become points of reference for the city dwellers and these
references combine laterally to form a unified layer which
results in a definite image.

17. ➤ Any edge anywhere, arises form one or a combination of the
following forces: Political force, Legal force, Climatic force,
Technological force or Socio-economic force.
➤ Depending upon the spread of the edge between the public
and the private domain, the edge can be classified into three
major typologies Amorphous edge, Distinct edge and
Overlapping Edge.
➤ While the basic characteristics of an edge are opaque,
transparent and permeable. Thus, these are the characteristic
and factors which determine the crucial role of an urban
street edges in the urban fabric of a city.

18. EXAMPLES
AROUND
THE GLOBE

19. Rome - Street Edge
Located in the historical city; no road widening has taken place in order to maintain the
heritage. Thus there is no defined street pattern; yet the organised activities maintains the
heritage character to some extent.

20. Venice - Street Edge
The pedestrian street adds on to the beauty by allocating the eateries on the building edge by
taking the advantage of the canal on the other end.

21. New York - Street Edge
Despite New York's heavy reliance on its vast public transit system, streets are a defining
feature of the city. Several of the city's streets and avenues are also used as metonyms for
national industries there- theater, finance, advertising, and fashion organisations.

22. San Francisco - Street Edge
32% of San Francisco residents use public transportation in daily commuting to
work. And thus, public transportation and walkways playing a dominant role in
street developments.

23. “THANK YOU!
- Hrishikesh Desai