SPACE FOR PEOPLE IN A CONTEMPORARY CITY - WHAT ARCHITECTURAL AND TOWN PLANNING SOLUTIONS HELP IN SHAPING A FUNCTIONAL AND CONVENIENT STREET

One of the basic ingredients of the city tissue are streets. Closely related to the buildings, they defined the pattern of the tissue, or constituted its derivative. The street has always been an important element shaping the character of a city. It played not only the role of transport, but also served as a place for meetings and trade exchange. According to the contemporary urban planning trends, while designing building complexes one should employ an interdisciplinary approach. Apart from classical engineering one should also use the achievements of sociology and psychology. Besides the proportions of a horizontal surface, the architectural solutions of buildings in a street have the most significant influence on the way that a street is perceived by its users. The examples of guidelines on shaping the right space of a street are as follows: the right height of buildings, their location relative to the street or the right arrangement of window and door openings. The purpose of the article is to introduce and compile the sources describing the urban planning and architectural guidelines that influence the creation of a people-friendly street. The analyzed texts concern both architectural solutions and issues from the field of psychology of space.

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