Glossary Terms

Trafford follows the social model of disability which holds that people with impairments are ‘disabled’ by the barriers operating in society, including physical barriers linked to the physical and built environment.

The collective name used for all furniture, fittings and objects in the external areas of buildings, landscapes and streets for the benefit of the public. This can include benches, post boxes, cycle stands, traffic lights, street lamps, traffic signs, outdoor sculptures, and waste bins that are seen on the street.

Categorises street and roads according to their functions and capacities. 

Typical urban patterns and characteristics which are evident in a street scene. This may include the massing and proportion of buildings and building elements, the quality and type of street frontages, and the quality and types of public spaces.

All spaces and features which form the street environment, including buildings, street furniture, fittings and finishes and green infrastructure and open spaces.

Streetscape is a term used to describe the natural and built fabric of the street, and defined as the design quality of the street and its visual effect, particularly how the paved area is laid out and treated. It includes buildings, the street surface, and also the fixtures and fittings that facilitate its use – …

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SuDS are a natural approach to managing drainage in and around properties and other developments. Sustainable drainage measures are ones which avoid adding to flood risks both at a development site and elsewhere in the catchment by replicating natural drainage processes.  SuDS work by slowing and holding back the water that runs off from a …

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A tall building is defined as one that is six storeys or more.

This is the space between and within buildings that is publicly accessible, including streets, squares, forecourts, parks and open spaces.

The pattern of the arrangement of street blocks, plots and their buildings in a settlement. The degree to which an area’s pattern of blocks and plot subdivisions is respectively small and frequent (fine grain), or large and infrequent (coarse grain). Urban grain is a key component of defining the character of a place.