A simple test of the long-established concept of environmental capacity is to look at the ways in which householders respond to traffic conditions at the frontages of their homes. It was hypothesised that there would be a relationship between traffic flow and the nature and density of the treatment of the front boundary. In this exploratory study, a simple lO-point scale was devised to categorise the height and continuity of the frontage treatment, and another four-point index was defined to describe its degree of visual solidness. Sections of road frontage were chosen randomly and the average frontage indexes calculated on the basis of field surveys. The results were analysed to see if there was a relationship between either frontage index and daily traffic volume. The results were encouraging, with some serious implications for residential planning and design, and for traffic calming. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E206301.
Abstract