The job of designing street layouts is not the responsibility of a normal citizen. You can probably express an opinion or two about what you detest and like about it in town forums but that may be your furthest reach. There are people responsible for this and you just have to hope that they take into consideration what the town needs and requires.

Computer games opened the world to the privilege and fun of manipulating an entire area. It opened the eyes of many people to the financial demands involved in the construction of an entire city. As a developer, you need to provide the people with everything that they need: water, electricity and gas. Residential units should be provided for people to inhabit in; complete with sufficient roads, sewage systems and establishments that will support the people’s lives. This computer game created decorators of the public realm; truly fictional, but equally stressful. As a decorator in the computer-generated world, you will face dilemmas that real contractors go through and you will learn specific terms and find out the importance of every aspect of design involved in street designing.

Street furniture is an important component of every city. In this category, you refer to things like benches, street lamps, post boxes, traffic signs, traffic lights and street bollards. All these things serve a function that will make the city run more efficiently. They are functional tools, primarily, but what many developers forget is that they should also consider the overall aesthetic of the design. It is not enough that you limit your concerns on the fulfilment of the needs of the people you should consider creating an environment that is not just pleasing to the eye, but also relatively cohesive.

Imagine street furniture with a localised theme: benches exhibiting artistic influence and street lamps that match them perfectly. Rather than simply slapping on concrete and steel, why cannot street designs be as imaginative as the cities created in computer games?

The state of the street furniture will reflect the personality of a city or town. When visitors arrive, it is the first thing that they will encounter and where their first impressions will be based on. For residents, it will create a definitely positive aura and state of mind. If their surroundings are well organised and aesthetically pleasing, then it will boost their confidence and feel a new sense of pride. It is not enough to supply the public with a few benches and some street lamps. All these components have to be place strategically, so that it can be available for people who might need them. Pay phones should be available every sufficient mile or so, public toilets should be constructed and thoroughly maintained. Bus stops and sheds should be spacious and sturdy, should commuters need to seek refuge away from the raining skies.

Imagine your computer-generated city and picture it as the city you walk through from day to day. Benches, street lamps, telephone booths, public toilets and all other components, designed with a theme. Colour coordinated. Complimentary designs. It would be nice to wake up to that kind of city, right?

Author Bio: bike stand Steel Bollard

Category: Society
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