Street clutter: what can be done?

The character of a place is defined by its streets. However, all too often these streets let us down because of poor preservation and management. Street clutter erodes the special character, value and distinctiveness of an area. This urban clutter is largely a result of the inadequate and often conflicting information offered to urban designers via the current government guidelines. Such single-issue guides fail to take a holistic overview of the urban streetscape assuming, erroneously, that there will be an experienced municipal engineer to oversee the general picture and balance the overall requirements. This paper looks in detail at the problems caused by such lack of coordination and at what is required to forge a way ahead through joined-up thinking and joined-up action.