Streets as Public Spaces and Drivers of Urban Prosperity

It is well known that without sufficient street networks provision of basic services is virtually impossible. Recognizing the importance of the urban form, in 2004 UN-Habitat introduced the Monitoring Urban Inequities Programme (MUIP) that aims to collect and analyze crucial information on the layout and planning of cities. Under the MUIP, a community profile was designed in association with other modules of an Urban Inequity Survey (UIS). The community profile, supported by GIS, provides crucial information on the urban form, including the street network as a key element of public space. It also collects qualitative information through focus groups that reflect people’s opinions on infrastructure, social networks, security, etc.