Livable Streets: Assessing the Impact of Vehicle Traffic on the Residential Quality of Life Case Study: El-Atterin, Alexandria, Egypt

Quality of life (QoL) in cities and towns is of increasing concern to the public; this term nowadays is linked to the rapid urbanization process in cities. A major threat to quality of life is the high volume of vehicle traffic which is associated with different physical, health, social and environmental consequences. This paper studies the impact and relationship between traffic volume of vehicles and livability in the residential areas in terms of traffic hazard, social interaction, sense of privacy and responsibility. It assesses the validity of Appleyard’s "Livable streets" hypotheses in an Arab developing country. To conduct this study, three residential streets in Alexandria, Egypt that are identical in appearance (in terms of street width, sidewalks, land use diversity and residential densities), yet different in their volumes of traffic were selected. In order to measure livability and people’s perception towards their streets several methods were adopted including questionnaires, door-to-door interviews, and simple sketches for residents in the three streets, finally statistical analyses are then carried out. The results of the study confirmed the inverse correlation between traffic volume and livability, they also illustrate the deterioration in the distinct features and social cohesion of the Egyptian community.