Interrogating the Liveability of Kissy Street, Freetown: A Socio-spatial Approach

Over the last two decades, Freetown1 has experienced an alarming increase in its population through urban growth and rapid urbanisation especially during and after its decade-long civil war. This has caused serious congestion on the city centre streets and raised serious questions about urban citizenship as squatter settlements and street markets proliferate. Kissy Street (now Sani Abacha Street2) is where this spectacle has attracted more attention and public debate. However, lively streets may not always guarantee liveable streets. Therefore, the present study is an empirical investigation into people’s attitudes and perceptions of the physical characteristics, use and management of the street. It deploys an argumentative, emancipatory framework to discuss the political, social and economic contexts that are pertinent to a holistic urban experience; using three main theoretical constructs: the theory of good city form and the liveable street paradigm, place theory and the socio-spatial theory. The study argues for an agenda towards the liveability of Kissy street and highlights the benefits of the study to aid policy making decisions, planning and design in order to create sustainable street spaces that will guarantee optimum social interaction, economic activities and the overall street space quality. Its main focus is to interrogate the liveability and quality of living of residents of a lively, densely populated mixed-use street. The study employs the sequential mixed-method strategy. The set of data includes physical measurements, questionnaire survey, focused (semi-structured) interviews, video recording and photographs, official statistics and newspaper articles. The findings suggest a complex relationship amongst the different user groups in their everyday life and the ways in which they interact with their physical environments.