Street furniture

Street furniture is a collective term (used in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada) 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 takes into account aesthetics, visual identity, function, pedestrian mobility and road safety. 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.