Mapping the Urban Experience: Understanding Residents’ Perceptions of the Streets of Delhi

Streets form a vital component of an urban space, serving social, political, economic, cultural, and overall circulatory functions. Being the arteries of public spaces, streets are also laden with the precondition of being accessible, providing equal functionality and ingress regardless of individual or collective socioeconomic locations. A suppositious paradigm of urban streets would fulfil these and all other requisites attached to the well-being of residents occupying them; whether these aspects have been incorporated or sufficiently observed in a built environment often remains ambiguous. The divergence between the ideal model of a streetscape and the reality observed by urban dwellers can often be discerned through a phenomenological approach. This paper examines the perceptions of Delhi residents regarding the streetscape of the region. This study uses a concept mapping methodology to examine user experience by analysing several criteria, such as the perceptions and semantic associations of inhabitants. A snowball sampling strategy was employed to identify a diverse group of respondents from 4 different districts with variations across gender, age, educational background, and occupation. They were then presented with a qualitative survey to collect empirical data. Through the analysis of residents’ knowledge structures, it becomes evident that residents of different districts have varying levels of accessibility. Although demographics can influence particular contentions, such as a gendered understanding of public space, we nonetheless observed concerns and perceptions which transcend such divisions. Examining these perspectives can foster a greater sensitivity to the requirements of urban planning, street design, and the habitability of Delhi’s built environment.