page_title: Street furniture
section_title: General descriptions
hierarchical_section_title: Street furniture / General descriptions
caption_attribution_description: A K2 (big) phone box stands next to a smaller K6 kiosk, on St John's Wood Terrace, near to St John's Wood High Street, London, UK.
context_page_description: Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic lights, traffic signs, bus stops, tram stops, taxi stands, public lavatories, fountains, watering troughs, memorials, public sculptures, and waste receptacles. The design and placement of furniture should take into account aesthetics, visual identity, function, pedestrian mobility and road safety.
context_section_description: Street name signs identify streets for the unfamiliar, especially benefiting visitors, postal workers and the emergency services. They may also indicate the district in which a street lies.
  Benches are usually found in central parts of settlements, such as plazas and parks. They are often provided by the local councils or contributors to serve as a place to rest and admire views. Armrests in between are sometimes provided to discourage lying down and/or unwanted closeness.
  Bollards are posts, short poles, or pillars placed to prevent vehicle movement into areas where they are not desired, and to protect buildings and other site features.
  Litter bins are strategically placed to try to entice people into not littering on the streets.
  Post boxes, also known as mail boxes, are found throughout the world, and have a variety of forms.
  Phone boxes or telephone booths are prominent in most cities. While they range drastically in the amount of cover they offer users (e.g. many only cover the phone itself while others provide full booths) they are typically easy to spot. The widespread use of mobile phones has resulted in a decrease in their numbers.
  Streetlamps are designed to illuminate the surrounding area at night, serving not only as a deterrent to criminals but more importantly to allow people to see where they're going. The colour of streetlamp bulbs differ, but are generally white or yellow.
  Traffic lights or traffic signals usually include three colours: green indicates vehicles should proceed through an intersection; amber indicates vehicles should prepare to stop; and red indicates vehicles should not enter the intersection. They are generally mounted on poles or gantries or hung from wires.
  Traffic signs communicate road conditions to inform safe driver behaviours. Postings may specify aspects such as speed limits, intersection protocols, slippery road conditions or reduced visibility. Direction signs tell the reader the way to a location through diagrams or written instructions. Signs may be illuminated to aid nighttime users.
  Public lavatories offer restroom facilities, either for free or for a fee.
  Fire hydrants.
  Poster poles or advertising columns provide space for advertising.
  Waste containers or litter bins are receptacles for public garbage disposal. Collection and separation of recyclable materials is becoming more common in urban centers.
  Emergency telephone boxes allow members of the public to directly contact emergency service operators.
  Street curbstones.
  Paving stones, brick rosettes or granite cobbles, sometimes even wood.
  Anti sit-lie dispositives prevent people (i.e. homeless) from sitting or lying down.
  Street furniture can be positioned to control overspill parking in addition to its primary purpose; for example a bench and a number of bollards may be used to block access to a sidewalk or verges for vehicles.
  Defunct village pump spouts and village lock-ups, both common in the United Kingdom, could also be considered street furniture.
  Furthermore, several outdoor vending machines, such as newspaper vending machines, could also be considered street furniture.
caption: K2 and K6 (left) Red telephone boxes stand next to each other on St John's Wood High Street, London, England.
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