urban studies

Flexible design principles Street furniture design for transforming

environments, diverse users, changing needs and dynamic interactions

Kin Wai Michael Siu School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon,

Hong Kong and Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and

Kwun Sing Leo Wong School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to propose a set of flexible design principles for enhancing the flexibility of street furniture to deal with the diverse and changing urban environment. Flexibility is an important but less considered element of public design (otherwise called public environment and facility design), especially in regard to the street furniture that is encountered in everyday life. Taking Hong Kong as a case study, this paper gives an overview of the concepts of flexibility and flexible design, and identifies the current limitations and problems of the current street furniture design practices with respect to the diverse and changing urban environment. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the current literature and relevant documentation, interviews with government officers and different groups of users (including those with special needs), and field observations in Hong Kong’s urban areas over a period of four years, the policies relating to street furniture design in Hong Kong and its management and implementation were evaluated. Findings – The results indicate that the current street furniture in Hong Kong is unable to adapt to or resist changes, can easily cause safety and management problems and is not adaptable to new developments. This paper proposes six principles for the flexible design of street furniture, namely, custom in use, multifunctional use, responds effectively to changing circumstances, easily and conveniently managed, universal in use and sustainable in use. Research limitations/implications – It is difficult to understand the diverse needs and preferences of different users in urban environments. The findings in this paper are based on intensive field work and broad industry experience. To deal with the rapid and ongoing urban change, this paper recommends a further long-term and in-depth study of street furniture. Practical implications – Based on the findings, this paper proposes six flexible design principles for designing street furniture that is sufficiently flexible to meet the rapid and ongoing urban change and diverse users’ needs.

The authors acknowledge the research grants provided by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council’s General Research Grants (RGC Ref: 546209) and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. They also thank Prof Julian Beinart and Prof. Tunney Lee for their valuable comments to Prof Siu (author) during the final stage of the preparation of this paper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013-2014). They also thank the Editor and reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions for the revision of the paper.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-2772.htm

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Received 28 February 2014 Revised 28 April 2014 26 May 2014 Accepted 29 May 2014

Facilities Vol. 33 No. 9/10, 2015 pp. 588-621 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-2772 DOI 10.1108/F-02-2014-0021

Social implications – Different societies and urban areas faced different types and levels of changes. Therefore, a flexible approach to street furniture design is important and necessary. Originality/value – The findings of this paper and the proposed six flexible design principles can provide insight and direction for government officials, design and planning professionals, developers, utility and management companies and communities on how to embed public design (i.e. policy, implementation and management) in the future.

Keywords Flexibility, Public design, Public facilities, Transforming environments, Urban changes

Paper type Research paper

Introduction When public facilities (such as open spaces, buildings, streets and a wide variety of street furniture) provide adequate services and utilities to meet the needs of the community, they make a city functional, beautiful and liveable. A number of recent studies have examined the location, construction, operation and management of public facilities (Tsou et al., 2005; Yeh and Chow, 1996; Yi and Komatsu, 2010). However, these studies primarily focus on city planning, architecture and landscape design and tend to neglect the issue of street-level public facilities (e.g. bench seats, rubbish bins, lights, traffic lights, bollards, barriers, emergency facilities and signs). Moreover, although numerous studies claim to take the needs of “users” into consideration, little research has focused specifically on users’ diverse and changing needs.

At the user level, the design, installation and maintenance of urban street furniture are important factors, as people tend to interact with these public facilities in their daily lives. As stated in the classic publication by the Design Council and the Royal Town Planning Institute (1979, p. 5), “Streets are essential parts of people’s living space […] Poorly designed environment, including street furniture, can be a nightmare for residents and visitors”. In contrast, well-planned and designed street furniture can provide important services and essential utilities that help to maintain and develop the street life in residential areas. Furthermore, as Lillebye (2001, p. 18) has argued:

A well-considered layout of street furniture is not only a condition of achieving public arenas of high aesthetic quality, but also of promoting a positive social use of the common space.

In addition, street furniture not only provides physiological satisfaction for city users, but also fulfils their social, cultural, psychological and ideological needs (Lee and Chan, 2008; Siu, 2007). For these reasons, street furniture needs to be included in the field of public design to make communities more liveable for citizens (Siu, 2009).

In adapting to the demands of social change, the streetscape has become increasingly varied and multifunctional (Bain et al., 2012). For example, in addition to meeting transportation needs, streets are frequently used as social spaces for meeting and gathering and for engaging in commercial, cultural and political activities. At the same time, the design of street furniture has become more diverse to cater for the increasing variety of social activities. Even so, the existing furniture has usually been designed for a particular function and for the needs of a particular period. Accordingly, much of today’s street furniture is difficult to modify and is unable to effectively respond to the challenges of spatial and temporal change, and the changing needs of the users.

First, the inability to adapt to spatial change simply means that the street furniture is based on inflexible design concepts and cannot meet the demands of different geographical locations or deal with changes to the physical environmental (Siu, 2013a).

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For example, it is not uncommon for metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong to import street furniture from other countries. Although modifications are sometimes made to meet local needs, the local authorities commonly receive complaints about unsuitably designed street furniture that cannot function effectively in the local environment and does not reflect the local identity and culture (Woo, 2006).

Second, much of today’s street furniture is unable to keep up with the challenges posed by the changing times. As mentioned above, streets are increasingly required to cater to different needs at different times, and thus the function of a street can change frequently. However, much of the existing street furniture, such as ground-fixed bollards and facing, cannot be adapted to meet to the changing functions of the street and is therefore unable to match new or changing social demands and policies. For example, when a new smoking prohibition policy was introduced a few years ago, the Hong Kong Government had to spend large amounts of money in modifying the existing rubbish bins and thousands of bins had to be dumped. Furthermore, the cost of maintaining and upgrading street furniture is prohibitively expensive and can be as high as providing new facilities.

Third, over the past few decades, there has been a growing body of international research on the universal design of public facilities (Architectural Services Department, 2008; Crews and Zavotka, 2006; Iwarsson and Ståhl, 2003; Nasar and Evans-Cowley, 2007). However, this kind of research mainly focuses on building facilities and environments. Little research has examined universal and flexible street furniture design for use by people with varying abilities and disabilities; languages; and physical, social, cultural and psychological needs (Siu, 2013b). For example, only a few specific types of street furniture, such as tactile ground surface indicators, cater to the needs of particular groups (Siu, 2013c), while most other general street furniture does not provide the flexibility needed to suit different users, in particular those with disabilities.

Therefore, as the urban environment is rapidly transforming and thus becoming more and more unpredictable, one of the fundamental requirements of street furniture design is to incorporate sufficient flexibility to adapt to change as required (Leung, 2004). Accordingly, an in-depth study is needed to investigate the concepts and practices of flexibility in street furniture design. This paper reviews the relevant literature to provide an overview of the changes in public street design, the changing requirements of street furniture, the concept of flexibility and the different perspectives of flexible design. Furthermore, to identify the limitations and constraints of the current street furniture design practices with respect to the diverse and changing needs of urban users, certain urban areas in Hong Kong were chosen as the field of investigation. Finally, this paper proposes a series of flexible design principles with detailed guidelines for the flexible design of street furniture to provide direction and inspiration for further studies and the development of this topic.

The social change and flexibility The shift in street design: from transport to liveability Traditionally, sidewalks and streets have simply been seen as a thoroughfare for movement and connection. Moreover, with the rapid urbanisation and increase in automobiles in the early twentieth century, streets increasing became considered solely as traffic arteries for meeting the growing motor-traffic demand. As Southworth and Ben-Joseph (1997, p. 4) state:

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As car ownership and mobility have grown, engineers have assumed that streets must be enlarged accordingly. The result has been regulations and standards that are often in excess of actual traffic requirements.

As a result, streets have been designed primarily to satisfy the needs of motor vehicle drivers, with wide travel lanes and narrow sidewalks, which not only restrict pedestrian accessibility, but also create problems such as air pollution, noise, litter and an increased risk of accidents.

Over the past few decades, urban planners and designers have started to reconsider the concept of the street and have developed improved standards for urban transportation planning and the lived environment. In addition to being the “traffic artery” for pedestrians and cars, the street space also serves various functions in our daily lives (Bain et al., 2012):

It is all too easy to forget that streets are not just there to get people from A to B. In reality, streets have many other functions. They form vital components of residential areas and greatly affect the overall quality of life for local people (Department for Transport, 2007, p. 6).

Accordingly, more and more governments are beginning to re-examine the nature of the street environment and to rewrite their design manuals to incorporate new liveable streets policies. For example, during 1990s, the sidewalks in Melbourne were expanded and improved, and pedestrian zones and new public plazas were established in different areas of the city (Hayter, 2006). According to Lillebye (2001, p. 30), “The enclosed street was redefined not only to make it more attractive, but also to achieve an upgraded status for its social activities and possibilities”. Overall, there is no doubt that there is growing international and local interest in changing the role of streets to create more liveable environments that can satisfy a wide variety of public needs.

Changes in the public demand for street environments and facilities As evidenced by rise of the Livable Streets Movement over the past few decades, people are clearly having higher expectations of the quality of urban public environments, including streets. At the most fundamental level, the public are now requiring that governments establish street design criteria to ensure that streets are appealing, well-maintained, safe and accessible for all users. However, numerous conflicts exist over street use. For example, while most residents want to live in a clean and quiet community, they also favour having an active market nearby that can be accessed on foot. Some residents enjoy a convenient and dynamic use of the streets in their living city, while they also prefer quiet streets near to the flats where they reside.

Regarding street furniture as well as other public facilities and services, the standardisation of the design (e.g. form, design, user-interface) facilitates feelings of greater coherence, but can equally undermine the sense of local identity (Krauel, 2004; Wan, 2008). While pedestrians often request a wider variety of street furniture to cater to their diverse requirements, a substantial amount of street furniture will create street clutter and reduce street accessibility (Leung, 2004).

The increasing number of large public events also presents challenges for local streets and street furniture. As spectacular events such as festivals, celebrations, sports events, parades and protests become increasingly large in scale, more and more people are being drawn to the urban public environment. For example, as a result of the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s increased marketing efforts and new promotion strategies,

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increasing numbers of visitors are travelling to the region. While welcoming the increased numbers of visitors, the government has also begun to actively organise more large-scale events to enhance Hong Kong’s overall attractiveness, such as the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005, the 2009 East Asia Games and the 2023 Asian Games. However, the growing numbers of visitors have resulted in increased traffic and more crowding on the streets of the city. As a result, Hong Kong’s limited public spaces and current facilities and management measures are no longer sufficient to meet the increasing numbers of visitors and large-scale events.

Faced with the rapid increase of large-scale events and road users, the demand for street furniture has far exceeded its capacity for a long period (Leung, 2004; Siu, 2007; Wan, 2008). Unfortunately, there is no long-term policy on how street furniture serves these rapidly and continuously changing circumstances and new urban needs. For example, the government received a number of complaints during the WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2005 regarding the insufficient and improper removal and temporary installation of street furniture. In Wan Chai, the area of the city in which the conference delegates met, while the police occupied much space for setting up security area, all rubbish bins as well as other freestanding facilities were removed and a large number of mills barriers were placed. As criticised by the mass media, such an inflexible plan for flexible change was poor in application, and the piecemeal temporary change not only wasted a large amount of manpower but also created danger, hygienic problems and inconvenience for the general public. In recent years, the same situations have always occurred during special events, festivals and demonstrations (Siu, 2013a). Most of the time, the management practices are piecemeal and biased towards practical areas (security, safety, circulation), while neglecting others (social, cultural, environmental and human issues).

Flexibility: an ability to adapt to change Although the concept of flexibility has been widely examined and studied across multiple disciplines and perspectives, it is still not well-understood (August-Brady, 2000; Chen and Tseng, 2007). As Sethi and Sethi (1990, p. 289) state, “flexibility is a complex, multidimensional, hard-to-capture concept”. For instance, Upton (1994, p. 73) defines flexibility as, “the ability to change or react with little penalty in time, effort, cost or performance”. Jacome et al. (2011, p. 71) refer to flexibility as “a response capability to foreseen or unforeseen changes in the organization or environment”. From the design perspective in particular, Gerwin (1993) delineates two types of flexibility:

(1) changeover flexibility (ability to quickly substitute new products for those currently offered); and

(2) modification flexibility (ability of a process to implement minor design changes in a product), which are able to respond faster to the uncertain, complex and ever-changing customer needs, as well as to achieve a longer product life cycles.

In their study on product design, Rajan et al. (2005) state that flexibility is not only necessary for meeting users’ individual needs, but also for allowing quicker adaptation to future technological, social and market trends. According to Golden and Powell (2000), highly flexible design is capable of maintaining efficiency while accommodating or adapting to change, and can quickly adapt to foreseeable future changes and

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unforeseen circumstances. To achieve these, Rajan et al. (2005) further emphasise the notion of reconfiguration. As the design becomes more modularised, it leads to more product flexibility to meet market demand.

While the views on “flexibility” are with variation, all disciplines would certainly agree that flexibility plays an important role in coping with unanticipated or unplanned events. As Eckert et al. (2010, p. 36) state, “In fields where the required functionality of the product is flexible, especially the software industry, many management strategies are intended to minimize the risk of change”. Flexibility provides opportunities for modification and innovation, and for preventing irreversible consequences (Saleh et al., 2009; Siu, 2013a).

Exploiting flexibility in street furniture design “Flexible design” has been suggested and implemented by urban designers in many street furniture and facility design programmes as a means of adapting to the changing urban environment. A number of studies have addressed the term “flexible design”, and some brief definitions and implications of “flexible” can also be found in the literature. For instance, flexible street furniture has been defined as furniture that is designed with a series of modular parts, which “allow for opportunities for customization and the ability to accommodate new technologies” (City of Toronto, 2006). For some urban planners and designers, flexibility is equal to movability (King Street Task Force, 2009; Riga, 2009). Highly movable street furniture can be easily removed and installed according to public needs. As stated in the City of Sydney’s (2009, p. 32) Chinatown Public Domain Study, “Flexible street furniture could accommodate a range of uses, not limited to the operating hours of the market”. In line with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2011) definition of flexibility as the ability to “bend easily without breaking”, flexible design can also be viewed as bendable design. Indeed, in recent years, street furniture with flexible framing, such as bendable bollards, lampposts and road signs, has been increasingly deployed alongside roads and pedestrian walkways in many cities.

In summary, the above cases indicate that the definitions of “flexibility” and “flexible design” mentioned by various policymakers, professionals and researchers are not always consistent or systematic. As a result, the term “flexibility” is difficult to analyse and apply in regard to furniture design. Hence, this paper focuses on exploring the design of flexible street furniture to cater to today’s ever-changing social needs.

Research methodology This paper makes use of a literature and document review, and the results of observations and interviews to examine the current issues and challenges related to street furniture around the world, with a particular focus on Hong Kong as a case study. The literature and document review covered existing development plans and programmes for streets and street furniture. Also reviewed were local and overseas street and street furniture studies, with the aim of gathering information on the current issues relating to street furniture, the problems users encounter when using street furniture and how these issues and problems apply to “flexibility” in street and street furniture design.

As several problems and issues were identified through the literature and document review, intensive field observation, direct interview and semi-structured interviews

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were carried out during 2009 to 2013, which help to illustrate the policies, implementation and management of the existing street furniture in Hong Kong. The crucial idea is that the researchers go “into the field” to observe the phenomenon in its natural state or in-situ (Trochim, 1999). Field observation provides some indication of how such street furniture was used in practice in urban areas. “Field observation differs from some other models of observation in that it is not only a data-collecting activity. Frequently, perhaps typically, it is a theory-generating activity as well” (Babbie, 1992). Compared to quantitative data generated in laboratory, qualitative data collected from the urban areas give a more realistic understanding of interaction between city users and street furniture, as well as a deeper insight into the view of government offers and people with special needs on street furniture.

The complete observation approach was used, allowing the study of people in their “natural setting” without being influenced by the presence of the researchers. The observations focused on examining what people do naturally without attracting their awareness (Emerson et al., 2001). Intensive field observations were conducted of the existing street furniture design practices, and to identify the current issues and problems, and different usage patterns and behaviours of pedestrians at various locations and times. To establish reliability, the researcher compiled field notes and took several photos as references. Most of the time, direct interviews with selected users were carried out on sites to verify the observation data (Patton et al., 2013).

As the Hong Kong Government provides most of the street furniture in the city, interviews were also conducted with officers in the relevant government departments to collect their views on the general practices, issues and problems relating to the flexible design of street furniture in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with officers in the Planning Department (PD), Transport Department (TD), Highways Department (HD) and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD). Officers from the TD were interviewed face-to-face and others were interviewed by telephone. A representative of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), which provides a certain amount of the existing street furniture in Hong Kong, was also interviewed. The following questions (as a kind of questions for further elaboration and explanation) were asked to the interviewees:

Q1. What is the role of your department, especially in terms of responsibilities regarding street furniture issues in Hong Kong?

Q2. Some research has suggested that many street furniture which emphasise on their functionality and practicality and as a result, paying less attention to users’ psychological needs and cultural needs. Do you agree? What are your views?

Q3. What are your opinions about “flexibility” and “flexible street furniture”?

Q4. Does the government have any plan to improve the flexibility of street furniture?

In addition, to gain the opinions of people with disabilities, semi-structured interviews with visually impaired persons and wheelchair users were conducted. The interviewees were from the Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong (RAHK) and were knowledgeable of barrier-free access and facilities. The interview guide consisted of the following questions:

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Q5. What do you think about the current street furniture in the city?

Q6. What problems you are facing in using the street furniture and how you currently solve them?

Q7. What general recommendations do you have regarding the street furniture design?

Q8. A brief overview of the study and pre-formulated interview questions were sent via email to the relevant government departments and organisations before the interviews to provide a clear picture for the interviewees.

Findings: street furniture in changing society According to the observation and interview findings, there are six key issues relating to the “flexibility” of street furniture design in the light of the diverse and changing urban needs of Hong Kong (Figure 1). These issues are not independent that they directly and indirectly link with others. For example, the degree and nature of standardisation significantly affect the degree of suitability to all users. The practice of management also considerably relates to the result of safety policy, while the changing function of a street also gives influence to the management arrangement. The detailed description and discussion of the six issues are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Overly standardised street furniture The majority of street furniture is mass-produced and widely installed in different streets and public spaces. In line with this, most governments consider standardised design as the best option for controlling the quality and cost of street furniture. As Theodosiou and Katsikeas (2001, p. 3) state, “The most significant advantage of standardisation is its contribution to the achievement of economies of scale and cost savings in production, research and development, and marketing”. However, overly standardised street furniture can also cause the following problems.

Figure 1. Six key issues

relating to street furniture design

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First, standardised street furniture has a limited capacity to suit a wide variety of street conditions. For example, to claim to have better management and lower the production cost, the Hong Kong Government has preferred to standardise the public rubbish bins such that there is only one general type of bins available in the city. The existing different bins seen in the city are those old designs that will be phased out shortly. As stated, this standard design has some advantage, but it also causes a lot of problems such that the bins most of the time cannot meet the varied configurations of different public places. On the other hand, to overcome the similar issue, the City of Melbourne has preferred to take another approach. The Street Furniture Plan developed by the City of Melbourne (2005) describes 22 types of bollards that differ in terms of size and scale to suit the city’s varied needs.

Second, the street is the most crucial element in the construction of the city landscape. Accordingly, street furniture, whether historical or contemporary, is widely recognised as making an important contribution to the local identity and character of the urban landscape and the existing sense of place (Yu, 2003; Siu and Wan, 2004; Yang, 2005). Unfortunately, the overly standardised street furniture tends to create a sense of sprawl with no identity and produces visual monotony. Although some departments and organisations (e.g. the Urban Renewal Authority and Home Affairs Department in Hong Kong) have also put effort to use street furniture specifically designed for designated streets, it is not practical or economical for governments to design and produce tailor-made street furniture with special design elements for every characteristic street and district.

Failure to adapt to the changing function of streets The observations and interview findings indicate that most of the existing street furniture in Hong Kong fails to cope with the diverse and changing demands of the urban environment when the function of a street changes.

There has been growing demand for wider pedestrian pathways and high-quality walking environments in Hong Kong since the public began voicing their concerns about public open spaces in 1999. As a result, more and more pedestrian schemes have been implemented by the TD in crowed areas in Hong Kong. Under these schemes, some roads are closed to traffic during certain hours and people are free to walk, perform or use the area in other ways. In other words, by changing the main road users from vehicles to pedestrians, the implementation of the Pedestrianisation Scheme has transformed the function of the street from a traffic artery to a public open space. In addition, during holidays, festive seasons and large events, large crowds are expected to gather on the street. The organisers, together with the authorities, are normally required to implement various measures to provide large multifunctional open spaces for the activities on the street.

Along with the increasing number of public events and the implementation of the Pedestrianisation Scheme in Hong Kong, more public open spaces and other recreational services are expected to be provided for pedestrians in response to the changing street environment. However, most of the existing street furniture in Hong Kong is not flexible enough to deal with such changes. For example, a well-known pedestrian street in Hong Kong, Sai Yeung Choi Street South, has various types of shops and is heavily used by private cars and goods vehicles. According to the field observations, during the pedestrian period, the traffic lights, signage and railings rapidly become redundant. At

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the same time, even though Sai Yeung Choi Street South has been changed to serve as a public open space, no recreational street furniture such as benches, tables, toilets or drinking fountains are provided for the public. Moreover, the current street furniture, such as the rubbish bins and cigarette ash containers, is also unable to cope with sudden increases of rubbish due to having a fixed volume. It was found that most of the rubbish bins in Sai Yeung Choi Street South frequently overflowed, especially on Saturday and general holidays.

Unmovable street furniture also hinders the use of public open spaces. Although guard rails and pedestrian barriers play an important road safety role by separating pedestrians and vehicle traffic, they can obstruct or inconvenience thousands of people during mass assembly and large public events. Because the railings are fixed, they restrict the extension of the open space for large crowds on special days or for unforeseen incidents. For instance, hundreds of people were packed on the 1.5-m-wide pedestrian paths along Kau Yuk Road in Yuen Long during the Tin Hau festival parade in 2009 because of the fixed railings between sidewalk and roadway. As also complained by the District Councillors, such kind of inflexible arrangement might be dangerous to the people watching the parade.

Even if the government is willing to remove the obstructive railings, the fixed street furniture presents another daunting challenge. The field observations of 1 July rallies in 2009 and 2010 indicated that government workers spent considerable time on removing the railings and bollards that are installed outside Victoria Park to free more space for the procession. During the removal work, a section of the traffic lane was closed to allow the workers to tear down the railings and dismantle them piece-by-piece. Because the railings and bollards are fixed vertically into the ground by concrete block, the workers had to use sledgehammers to remove them. It was observed that the removal work not only duplicated effort, resources and time (over 5 minutes to remove one set of railings and bollards), but also created unnecessary inconvenience and potential danger to workers and pedestrians. After the public procession, the railings and bollards were reinstalled in concrete by the workers. Thus, it is expected that the same process will need to be completed for the next public procession.

Safety problems Hong Kong is situated on a common tropical cyclone path and is usually affected by two to three typhoons between May and November every year. However, as the rubbish bins in Hong Kong are too light in weight, that this weather matters has not been seriously considered. The bins also do not include a design feature to let the management to handle this matter flexibly, thus, in turn, many bins are prone to being blown down by strong winds and can easily hit pedestrians or structures on the street. To prevent such situations, a management strategy has been drawn up where one to two days before a typhoon comes close or passes through Hong Kong, the department responsible will send staff to temporarily tie the rubbish bins securely with rope and ensure that all containers in public areas are secured to a fixed structure, such as bollards or railings. However, as there are more than 20,000 rubbish bins in Hong Kong (Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, 2014), this operation is far from efficient in terms of manpower and resources. Moreover, cleaning staff have to untie and retie the knots before and after clearing the bins, which makes the clearing process more complicated and time-consuming.

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Another safety problem is caused by street furniture that is fixed to the ground and made from hard material such as metallic posts or concrete bollards. Indeed, solid street furniture has long been a subject of public concern worldwide. According to the European Transport Safety Council (1998), “Collisions between vehicles leaving the road and unforgiving roadside objects such as trees, poles, road signs and other street furniture are a major road safety problem internationally”. While most street furniture is mainly made from steel and securely pinned to the ground to provide protection, this also always poses additional danger to road users if they crash into the fixtures accidentally. According to the data presented by the European Transport Safety Council (1998), 18 to 42 per cent of fatal accidents in several European countries are caused by collisions with street furniture.

As in other world cities, because most of the traffic posts and bollards in Hong Kong are made from iron or steel, they often put pedestrians at risk, especially wheelchair users, visually impaired people and cyclists. In the case study, face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to gather information on the opinions of persons with a disability towards street furniture in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that incidents of wheelchair users and visually impaired people bumping into street furniture are not rare. Moreover, the fixtures often cause injury due to their placement, hard materials and shape. In particular, during long periods of maintenance, extruding parts of permanently fixed street furniture can easily cause accidents.

The fixed bollards installed on cycle tracks also pose a great risk to cyclists. Different from many other cities which are starting to replace bollards with new and safe designs, in Hong Kong, traditional steel bollards are still widely used on cycle tracks to remind cyclists to slow down. However, the interviewed cyclists complained that the bollards are very easy to bump into because the space between the bollards is too narrow for bicycles to pass. While the TD and the HD claim that steel bollards are necessary to caution cyclists to slow down, they continue to pose a potential hazard to cyclists.

Management problem The current street furniture design often results in inefficient urban management, which is a big problem in Hong Kong and other cities. With the exponential growth in the amount of rubbish, the current design of the rubbish bins in Hong Kong is increasingly unable to accommodate the daily routine cleaning work. Cleaning staff have to pick up the case of the rubbish bin and turn it upside down to dispose the butts, then replace the plastic garbage bag regardless of its remaining capacity, and finally cover the case of the bin, which is a complex and time-consuming process that is equally annoying to the public. Another inefficient form of daily routine work is the manual placement of temporary fences, which are used for closing specific streets. This kind of procedure to face a change is very inconvenient, leads to a waste of manpower and poses a danger to street users.

Repairing or removing broken or damaged street furniture is also a challenge for the Hong Kong Government because most street furniture is designed in one piece and permanently mounted on the ground. When it is necessary to repair street furniture that is broken or no longer used, the government will often replace the entire structure, which is a potential waste of resources and can cause serious inconvenience to drivers and pedestrians.

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Not adaptable to new developments It is especially important for street furniture to have the potential for further development because of the ongoing technological, social and policy changes. However, it was found that most street furniture is designed solely in terms of the needs of the public user at that time, and lacks the ability to accommodate new technologies. In Hong Kong, it is noticeable that nearly all the poles and fixtures along the streets serve only one fixed function and are unable to be upgraded. In 2007, the Hong Kong Government offered street furniture, such as public lampposts, to a private telemarketing company to provide free Wi-Fi services to the public. However, according to an interviewed government official, the electrical installation of the lampposts was designed to only provide a power supply to the lamps. As a result, there was no electricity available for other equipment when the road lights were switched off. The Wi-Fi programme eventually failed owing to the fixed function of the electrical installation of the lampposts (Sin, 2008).

In addition to the challenge of new technology, the existing street furniture in Hong Kong is unable to cope with legislative change. For example, a large number of rubbish bins needed to be replaced after the amended Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance came into effect on 1 January 2007. To eliminate smoking in designated no-smoking areas, the government had to spend a lot of resources and effort in designing, producing and replacing new ashtray-less rubbish bins. This was not only costly and time-consuming, but also posed the significant problem of storing or disposing of the original containers.

Plate 1. The setting of bicycle

parking facilities is adjustable for

individual needs

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Not suitable to all users The interviewed members of the RAHK believed that the current design of street furniture gives little consideration to universal accessibility. There is a lack of barrier-free facilities on the streets for people with different abilities. For example, most of the current general map-boards (or street map signage) only provide visual text and do not aid the visually impaired in understanding the information. Furthermore, nearly all of the public tables in playgrounds and parks are surrounded by fixed chairs, which make them inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Discussion Current problems with street furniture A key result of the previous section is that street furniture in Hong Kong (as well as in many similar metropolitan cities) is unable to adapt to or resist changing users, spatial changes or the changes with time.

With regard to “changing users”, the interviews and observations indicate that today’s street furniture is not accessible, or user-friendly, for all users, and the fixed setting of the street furniture restricts its use by people with sensory and/or physical limitations.

With regard to “spatial changes”, the size, scale and outlook of the existing overly standardised street furniture cannot be adjusted to the changing urban street condition, which has required the government to spend considerable resources in acquiring specifically designed street furniture. Moreover, intensive observations over three years

Plate 2. The number of bike rack could vary, either upwards or downwards, according to the actual environmental setting and demand of the places

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indicated that the existing street furniture in Hong Kong does not have adequate capacity to cope with sudden surges in pedestrian flows and usage.

With regard to “changes with time”, as global climate change is likely to lead to the temperature and sea level rising, more frequent and fiercer tropical cyclones can be expected (Hong Kong Observatory, 2010). At the same time, many abnormal weather conditions (such as torrential rain or unusual gusts) have been observed in Hong Kong. However, much of Hong Kong’s street furniture is unable to cope with such weather changes, which could lead to increased accidents. In addition, as result of the rapid social change and development, the life spans of products are notably shorter than in the past (Chapman, 2009). Nevertheless, “replacing the whole item” is the only option the government uses to upgrade the out-dated street furniture. However, continually replacing old street furniture is inefficient, time-consuming and, ultimately, unsustainable.

Plate 3. Street lights allow

adding different modules and

accessories to reflect the local

characteristics or beautify the

landscape

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Plate 4. Multifunction poles can be used to mount a series of accessories such as traffic lights, CCTV arms and street signs to cater for the diverse needs of road users

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Proposed flexible design principles and guidelines The design of the current street furniture is clearly not flexible enough to cope with the dynamics of the social environment and ever-changing public needs. In this section, based on the case study findings and previous project experience, six flexible design principles and a number of guidelines are proposed for designing street furniture that can easily meet the diverse and changing needs of society:

(1) Custom in use: The design is easy to modify to the variety of urban conditions and to suit users’ specific needs: • allow the user to adjust the setting or usage of the street furniture; • accommodate a variety of site conditions; and • provide the capacity for changing the colour or appearance.

(2) Multifunctional use: The design broadens the range of the functions of street furniture to conveniently meet various demands: • combine closely related functions into one; • use few operations to carry out different functions; and • use separate modules to carry out different functions.

(3) Respond effectively to changing circumstances: The design can easily accommodate changing circumstances or accidents, whether frequent or occasional:

Plate 5. Passengers can sit by simply adjusting the queue railing. One of

the benefits of this design is the overall agility in providing different services to

meet individual needs

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• provide simple installation and removal features; • accommodate different weather conditions; and • provide precautionary design measures for handling unforeseen incidents.

(4) Easy and conveniently managed: The design is efficacious and useful to staff when undertaking their management and maintenance activities: • easy to repair or replace; • accommodate transportation; • facilitate storage; and • assist staff in doing their daily routines.

(5) Universal in use: The design is able to fulfil the actual needs and preferences of diverse users with a high degree of user fitness:

Plate 6. The demountable or replaceable ashtray module at the both sides of the rubbish bin can provide different services on demand

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• provide users with a choice of operating methods; • facilitate the widest possible spectrum of users; and • provide multimodal information presentation.

(6) Sustainability in use: The design increases the life cycle of the furniture, ensures that it remains functional for a long time and that it can meet the changing needs of the public, and reduces manufacturing costs and eliminates unnecessary waste: • allow continuous upgrading and updating; • efficient use of energy; and • provide recycling features.

Each principle is supported by a list of related guidelines. Examples presented with the guidelines are captured by the research team not only in Hong Kong but also other

Plate 7. The bollard

(FlexiBOL®) with easy-mount features

can facilitate quick assembly and

dismantling to meet a variety of social

and environmental needs

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places around the world, e.g. Australia, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the USA.

Principle 1: custom in use. “Custom in use” means a design must be easily modifiable to meet a variety of urban conditions and suit specific purposes. This can be achieved by the guidelines mentioned in the following text:

Guideline 1A: allow users to adjust the setting or use of the street furniture. The setting of an item of street furniture, such as its height, direction or position, should be adjustable by users so that changes can be made to fulfil different purposes and needs, according to the user’s personal preferences and needs. For example, bicycle parking facilities in Geneva are adjustable, ensuring bicycles are correctly locked into position regardless of types and sizes (Plate 1).

Guideline 1B: accommodate a variety of site conditions. The size and scale of the street furniture should be adaptable to different site conditions (e.g. narrow sidewalks or large spaces) without having to be completely redesigned. If the requirements change from site to site, individual elements can be added, removed or changed to accommodate user needs, instead of redesigning the entire street furniture. One example of this is the modular bicycle rack system. This modular bicycle rack can be reconfigured in a wide variety of combinations to meet specific needs (Plate 2).

Guideline 1C: provide the capacity to change the appearance. Street furniture that is able to change in appearance (e.g. form, colour, graphics, images) is able to present different messages at specific dates and times, reinforce the local character and culture, enhance the surrounding streetscape and provide a festival atmosphere. For example,

Plate 8. The wheels of rubbish bin are equipped with brakes to lock the bin in place when needed, such as during windy conditions

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the design of street lights included a provision of space for installation of additional objects for customisation purposes (Plate 3).

Principle 2: multifunctional use. “Multifunctional use” means the design should broaden the range of functions of street furniture which is meeting various demands with convenience. This can be achieved by the guidelines mentioned in the following text.

Guideline 2A: combine closely related functions into one. Street furniture with closely related functions should be grouped into a single product, thus providing furniture that can serve several multiple uses at the same time. This also helps to remove redundant components, thereby reducing street clutter and creating pedestrian-friendly environments. A good example of this is the multifunctional light pole, which serves a variety of purposes for different road users (Plate 4).

Guideline 2B: use simple operations to carry out different functions. In some circumstances, street furniture can be designed to promptly and effortlessly cater for various needs. For instance, the combination of queue railing and folded seats in Plate 5 provides a space for people to sit or stand when needed.

Guideline 2C: use separate modules to carry out different functions. Street furniture should be able to respond promptly and appropriately to different needs without needing to be completely redesigned. To achieve this, the functional elements should be designed to be easily interchangeable and/or extended. For example, the two sides of the rubbish bin in Plate 6 can be altered to add or remove an ashtray.

Plate 9. This type of bollard is designed to bend

when hit by a bicycle to reduce damage

while the bollard and foundation remain

intact, which can remove the need for

damage replacement

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Principle 3: respond effectively to changing circumstances. Street furniture should be designed so that it can easily accommodate changing circumstances or accidents, whether frequent or occasional. This can be achieved by the guidelines mentioned in the following text.

Guideline 3A: provide simple installation and removal features. Street furniture should be able to be removed, folded or retracted using a simple mechanism to allow for frequent de-installation and relocation. Street furniture with a high degree of movability makes it easy to change the function of a space, such as transforming a route/street to a public open space. For example, in Plate 7, the bollards are designed to take less than 3 minutes to dismount or set up. Moreover, no incongruous hole is left behind after the bollards are removed, and workers do not need cement or a lot of time to re-install the bollards.

Guideline 3B: accommodate different weather conditions. It is important that items of street furniture have the capacity to adapt to changes in climate because they are

Plate 10. The modular design system guarantees ease of repair by simply replacing the damaged part

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installed in open space. Thus, street furniture should be sufficiently durable to function in harsh weather and withstand years of use. High-quality materials and suitable design details are important to ensure the street furniture operates properly and to prevent damage under different weather conditions. For example, foldable canopies help to protect pedestrians from sun and rain, and can be folded up to avoid danger and damage caused by strong wind. Moreover, a manual braking system on the wheels of rubbish bins is useful to stabilise the bins and to make them function well under strong wind conditions (Plate 8).

Guideline 3C: provide precautionary design measures for handling unforeseen incidents. Special design considerations should be incorporated for both personal and community safety reasons. The bendable bollards in Plate 9 are designed as traffic deterrents that can withstand minor collisions.

Principle 4: easy and convenient to manage. “Easy and convenient to manage” means the street furniture should be efficacious and useful to staff when undertaking their management and maintenance activities. This can be achieved by the guidelines mentioned in the following text.

Guideline 4A: easy to repair or replace. Elements of street furniture should be designed in separate modules and be easily replaceable, so that staff can repair damaged sections quickly, without the cumbersome process of removing and re-installing the entire item. Plate 10 shows a fence with modular design, that the core unit is designed to not easily break to prevent vehicles from going off the road. However, they can be easily knocked down by heavy rescue vehicles, such as fire engines, to speed up the rescue

Plate 11. The weight of the

plastic water-filled barrier can be

changed rapidly when needed so that

it is easy to install and remove

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operation. Therefore, only the core unit will need to be replaced after a collision, and the repairs can be done quickly, easily and inexpensively.

Guideline 4B: accommodate transportation. Street furniture should be able to be easily transported from one location to another. This can facilitate better management

Plate 12. The retractable bollard is designed to slide down into the ground when not needed

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and deployment of street furniture and thus minimise the time and effort needed for loading and unloading. For example, the strength, rigidity and weight of water-filled barriers can be controlled by the volume of water or sand added, and the barriers can be easily moved, carried and set-up when they are empty (Plate 11).

Guideline 4C: facilitate storage. The storage of street furniture must be highly efficient and save space. Thus, the form, shape and size of street furniture should be easily and rapidly changeable or the items capable of being dismantled into modules for appropriate storage. Underground storage is another alternative that is generally considered to be effective. The retractable bollard in Plate 12 can be easily stored underground using a simple operation.

Guideline 4D: assist staff in doing their daily routines. Street furniture should be designed to provide convenient and efficient method of daily routine works, so that the works can be done fast, easy and with a minimum of inconvenience to other road users Plate 13 shows a design that allows the ashtray bin can to be tipped forward gently for easy removal of the unit within, so that the cleaners can use little operating forces to do their daily routines.

Principle 5: universal in use. “Universal in use” means that the design must be sufficiently inclusive to fulfil the actual needs and preferences of diverse users with a high degree of “user fitness” (i.e. userfitness). This can be achieved by the guidelines mentioned in the following text.

Guideline 5A: provide users with a choice of operating methods. To facilitate different people using street furniture easily regardless of their physical restrictions, the design should take different operation methods into account. For example, the waste bin with a foot pedal in Plate 14 allows users to easily open the lid by hand or the step-on pedal.

Guideline 5B: facilitate the widest possible spectrum of users. Street furniture should be usable and accessible for people with diverse abilities, so that all people are able to use the same street furniture without segregation or stigma. The drinking fountain with knee space and handrails shown in Plate 15 can accommodate people of varying heights and abilities.

Plate 13. The cover of ashtray bin is designed to tip forward for easy and convenient operation

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Guideline 5C: provide multimodal information presentation. For informative street furniture, the information should be presented in multimodal formats, such as multilingual text, pictorial, verbal and tactile information, and/or vibration devices. The multi-sensory street map in Plate 16 provides visual, tactile and

Plate 14. Different modes for opening the rubbish bin lid (pick up by hand or use the pedal) are provided

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voice messages to provide directions for all people, regardless of their sense limitations.

Principle 6: sustainability in use. Sustainable design increases the life cycle of street furniture and ensures that it remains functional for a long time and can meet the changing needs of the public. It also reduces manufacturing costs and eliminates unnecessary waste. Moreover, this principle may not relate to the original function of the street furniture, as it implies a more flexible continuity of the purposes of street furniture to enhance its sustainability. This can be achieved by continuous upgrading and updating.

Guideline 6A: allow continuous upgrading and updating. Street furniture should be able to be modified or upgraded by changing optional items or updating the operating system, rather than replacing whole items of street furniture every time the needs change. The modular designed traffic light in Plate 17 can be easily upgraded from a bulb to a light-emitting diode (LED) without re-mounting the entire traffic pole.

Guideline 6B: efficient use of energy. Energy should be used efficiently, and street furniture design should save energy by using different methods. For example, the power supply systems or units of electrical street furniture should provide both renewable energy and traditional energy for public service use, and both energies should be able to be interchanged according to the actual environmental needs. The Sustainable City Light in Plate 18 is composed of modules that allow solar energy to be collected on sunny days.

Plate 15. The drinking

fountains provided at different heights

greatly enhance the user-friendliness and

accessibility

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Guideline 6C: provide recyclable features. Broken, outdated and other redundant street furniture elements should be able to be recycled and used to make new products, so that non-functional street furniture is not wasted and taken to a landfill. For example, the use of recycled rubber allows plastic ramps to be re-used, even if they have been damaged (Plate 19).

Plate 16. Multi-sensory map comprising Braille and larger tactile elements with colours, foreign characters and voice message, which can be used by people with different needs

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Conclusion As in many metropolitan cities around the world, no holistic and integrated polices and strategies have been implemented in Hong Kong with regard to street furniture issues. As a result, the city lacks direction for the long-term development needed to meet the

Plate 17. The modular design

enables staff to easily replace old parts of a

traffic light without the need to remove

the whole traffic pole

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ever-changing needs of the public. Furthermore, compared with other cities, Hong Kong is regrettably less serious about improving the quality of its street furniture (i.e. at the levels of policy, implementation and management). This is evidenced by the Planning Department’s (2006) Urban Design Guidelines, which only make the abstract and vague

Plate 18. This street light can collect solar light that leads to a better and more flexible use of natural resources

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suggestion that street furniture should be of “high quality architectural design” and provide no clear design guidelines for improving the streetscape and urban quality of life. While the government continues to claim that the underlying principle of urban street design is “pedestrians first”, the current policy on managing and improving the quality of street furniture has been criticised for being too passive and rigid (Siu, 2007).

This paper identifies six issues relating to current street furniture design practices: the overly standardised design, the failure to adapt to the changing function of the street, the lack of adaptability to new developments, the lack of access for all users and the problems of safety and management. In sum, most of the existing street furniture (as in many other cities) is too functionally rigid in terms of the user, environment and time.

In light of today’s rapid social change, street furniture design has shifted from the traditional rigour and functionalism to a pedestrian-oriented (or user-centred) approach (Krauel, 2004; Leung, 2004; Wan, 2008). The design of flexible street furniture has emerged as one of the most important considerations for meeting the diverse needs of the community as a whole and satisfying the needs of different groups and individuals. As discussed above, although there are many definitions of the term “flexible design”, few studies have elaborated the details of these multiple perspectives.

In this paper, a comprehensive set of flexible design principles is proposed for designing street furniture that is suitably flexible to meet the needs of a rapidly and ever-changing society. The principles with the guidelines were developed based on a review of the current literature and overseas street furniture plans and empirical observations of street furniture in Hong Kong. They can help governments,

Plate 19. The use of recycled

materials enables the plastic ramp to be

recycled and reused, or converted into a

new product

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policymakers, urban planners, designers, project executives, management and communities conceptualise “flexible design”, particularly in regard to street furniture and public facilities. In other words, flexibility is no longer simply equal to “multi-function” or “bend”, but is a key to meet diverse and continuously changing urban needs: the need to improve the visual appearance of environment and represent the image of city; the need to change the function of street in fast and low-cost way; the need to facilitate the management process; and the need to ensure the safe, universal and sustainable use of street furniture.

While the proposed set of design principles covers a wide range of changes in relation to users, site conditions, street functions, the weather and technology, it is not exhaustive. As previously mentioned, there are many types of flexibility, which makes it difficult to integrate all of them into one set of principles. Moreover, the concept of flexibility is difficult to operationalise and measure (Wadhwa et al., 2005). Therefore, this paper does not discuss in detail how to improve flexibility by using different design measures. Indeed, this is an important topic that should be further investigated by using the findings and discussion presented in this paper as a point of departure.

To conclude, as streets change from serving fixed and limited needs to fulfilling more diverse and dynamic functions, and with the rising public expectations of a better living environment and streetscape, it is essential to design street furniture that is sufficiently flexible to serve various, diverse and changing needs. In recent years, similar to many metropolitan cities around the world, some government departments of Hong Kong have become slightly more proactive in improving the streetscape and the walking environment. Nonetheless, a further step is needed to develop a comprehensive long-term policy for improving street furniture, especially the design of flexible street furniture that is capable of dealing with the rapid and continuously changing needs of the city.

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About the authors Kin Wai Michael Siu is Professor of Public Design and Lab Leader of the Public Design Lab, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was Fulbright Scholar of MIT and Visiting Scholar of UC Berkeley and the University of Cambridge. He is now the Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University and Chair Professor of Wuhan Institute of Technology. He has been invited by UC Berkeley again as Visiting Scholar in the fall of 2014 to conduct research on public facilities. His research areas include public design, urban space and user reception. One of his recent projects is a study on flexibility of public facilities. The project is the first street furniture research funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. He has published over 200 papers in leading journals and solely owned over 50 US and international patents. He recently has received the award of Champion of Inclusive Design conferred by the Royal College of Arts at Include Asia 2013. Kin Wai Michael Siu is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]

Kwun Sing Leo Wong is a Research Associate of the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He graduated from the City University of Hong Kong in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in applied sociology. In 2013, he earned a master’s degree in development studies from the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on social perspectives such as sustainable development and social capital, community life in urban area and urban planning and development.

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