PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Streets are an important part of open public spaces that reflect the character and the sense of place of cities. Streets have many functions that give them their sense of place in the cities, as well as reflect the character of cities by their physical characteristics. Due to the unfit development of street characteristics, changing some of them, and remove others, the sense of place is interrupted, thus, affecting the people's feelings and perception of the streets. This paper attempts to review the roles of the physical characteristics of commercial streets in giving the sense of place in city centers. The aim of the study is to determine theoretical framework of the roles of the physical characteristics of commercial streets in giving the sense of place in city centers. The paper reveals that location, physical appearance, landscape features, and quality of views represent as the physical characteristics in streets, which play different roles in accessibility, recognition, legibility, safety, comfort, and visibility.