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As part of the London Development Agency's 'Designing London' initiative, mæ investigated the issue of urban clutter and street paraphernalia in London. This was developed into a publication entitled De-signing London which, amongst other things, advocates having cleaner and less cluttered streets. 

In 1933 'The Report of the Departmental Committee of Traffic Signs' commented in relation to public safety and street signs that "an over-lavish use will tend to reduce their effectiveness generally".

More recently the limited channel capacity theory of perception (Broadbent 1987 and Wallace 2003) proposed that not all information can be processed. The brain samples information, based on what is perceived as most relevant. The more information, or clutter, the greater the probability that important information is ignored or missed to the extent of interfering with the primary task e.g driving, navigating or observing speed limits.

Evidence from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea shows that cutting back on barriers, kerbs, traffic lights, bollards and street clutter on certain streets can cut pedestrian accidents by around 60%.

Here we evaluate a typical inner and outer urban condition - a central London street and a suburban street - to see how cluttered our streets are:

 
Inner urban

Upper Street, Islington [10 hectare area] - Zone 1

Road surface area = 1.3 hectares
Pavement surface area = 0.9 hectares
Total = 2.2 hectares
Percentage road/pavement = 23%

Approximate number of signs in this area: 88 signs in streets + 49 signs at junctions = 137 signs in a 10 hectare area.

 
Outer urban

North London [10 hectare area] - Zone 3

Road surface area = 1.3 hectares
Pavement surface area = 1.06 hectares
Total = 2.36 hectares
Percentage road/pavement = 23.6%

Approximate number of signs in this area: 28 signs in streets + 26 signs at junctions = 56 signs in a 10 hectare area.

 
The London-wide scenario

Extrapolating the information obtained from the above examples, the road/pavement surface area for London is approximately 36,700 hectares [23% of 159,600 hectares]. Using an average for the number of street signs from our examples [58], we estimate that in London streets we would find around 925,680 signs.

At an average cost of £200 per sign (our estimate) London's street signs alone have cost £185 million. By exercising greater editorial control of our street signs, clutter and other paraphernalia we consider that London's streets would be safer, cheaper and above all more beautiful.

To find out how mæ can help with streetscape audits and evaluate new public realm proposals contact us.