About streets
A street is the basic unit of urban space through which people experience cities and towns. Streets are multi-dimensional and serve multiple functions. They are dynamic public spaces that evolve over time to adapt to our changing needs and values, and in response to both local and broader challenges.
Streets are different to roads – see Road functions.
Bourke Street is designed to serve the neighbourhoods of Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Redfern, and Waterloo by being an attractive place for people to enjoy staying activities as well as supporting multi-modal movement.
What do streets do?
Streets have seven primary functions:
- Streets give access to property so people can access public and private buildings and places.
- Streets are public spaces for people to use, stay and spend time.
- Streets support social and economic activity, facilitating interaction between people, including between businesses and their customers.
- Streets are for movement, enabling people going about their daily lives whether by walking, cycling, taking public transport, moving freight or providing servicing, or using private vehicles
- Streets support freight and servicing to and from various buildings and places.
- Streets are infrastructure, carrying vital services and utilities both above and below ground that support both public and private uses.
- Streets are ecosystems that support green and blue infrastructure for healthier people and healthier, more-resilient towns and cities.
Designing for these primary functions is guided by the vision and principles for roads and streets.
Streets change over time
Street environments are dynamic and adaptable. Streets have changed to meet different needs and values in the past and will continue to evolve in the future. Globally, road and street designers are using innovative approaches to facilitate change, including testing and staging interventions.
Trial interventions in streets can be relatively quick and cheap to implement. They also enable people to immediately start using street spaces in different ways, as these people are spending time on The Strand in Dee Why. Photo: Northern Beaches Council.
Different streets do different things
The NSW Movement and Place Framework identifies four street environments. This streets chapter applies to civic spaces, main streets and local streets. While each type of street environment has a set of typical characteristics, this does not equate to a universal set of rules, assumptions or planning outcomes for each type.
Across the breadth and diversity of our communities, different streets do different things. However, all streets perform common core functions that are universal regardless of their location across NSW.
Shared streets enable a range of activities to occur in the space. Archibald Avenue Zetland is a residential way in an urban context, and it provides seating, tree plantings, car parking, and features a seamless connection to Waluba Park and playground.
Within each street environment there are many different street types, each with variations in layout and design. Every street is different and should be considered individually within its own context.
Streets spaces can change in layout to do different things. The Parkway at Moorebank is a residential way in a suburban context, and it features a continuous footpath with a meandering layout of tree plantings and car parking spaces to reinforce that the street is a slow space for spending time.
To support these various functions, we equip streets with a broad suite of design elements. These are the ‘building blocks’ of street design. To use them successfully we put road and street users at the centre of design and decision-making.
Aligning these functions is further discussed in the Network Planning in Precincts Guide.