Exploring the uses of urban streets as a stage for social disobedience: A study on the spatial dimensions in Australian and Asian contexts

Urban streets are public spaces primarily designed for both vehicular and pedestrian movement. They also accommodate informal activities such as street vending, urban trucks, political expression, and artistic intervention. Beyond these everyday activities, urban streets are often used for civil disobedience, where the public refuses to obey government rules and regulations. Though urban streets are not consciously designed for protest, they become powerful arenas for collective action. The main objective of this paper is to find out why and how the streets are used for protest by the public. This study employs a qualitative research approach, which includes a literature review, case study analysis, and visual representation through sketches. It illustrates how ordinary circulation spaces are temporarily utilised as a stage for social change. During the analysis, it highlights the differences and similarities between the planned wide streets of Australia and the narrow, dense streets of Asian cities, represented visually through sketches. The study suggests that urban designers, planners, and policymakers should consider street flexibility as an explicit design objective. While supporting the everyday ‘link’ function of streets, planners should design them as ‘places’ for collective assembly, rather than treating protest as an unplanned disruption to be accommodated later.