Pedestrianisation of specific precincts in the city is a very good and accepted idea. Making it happen needs careful orchestration of various parameters.
Mobility in cities is
a complex issue. Speed, comfort, convenience, economy, time and safety are key
concerns. At the same time, parking and air pollution concerns are becoming
even more important. The world faced and addressed these problems decades back.
It is only now that we in India are waking up to looking at pedestrianisation
seriously.
A global overview
World over car-free
pedestrianisation of areas is popular and has been in existence for long.
Germany takes the lead with the creation of a pedestrianised street in Essen
city way back in the year 1929. By the year 1955, over 20 German cities
pedestrianised parts of their urban areas.
Many other European
cities followed this idea with success. During almost the same time, many
cities in the US also adopted the same strategy. Most of the downtown shopping
areas have been made car-free zones. Many streets in New York city, Boston, San
Francisco, New Orleans and other cities have been made pedestrian-only streets.
In Africa, and in Australia and South America too, there are several examples
of successfully operating ‘all pedestrian’ streets.
Sai Yeong Choi Street
in Hong Kong, Nanjing Road in Shanghai and Insadong Steet in Seoul are some
popular examples in Asia. ‘Hokosha Tengoku’ or ‘pedestrian heaven’ in Japan is
very popular.
The various types
Pedestrianisation can
be achieved in several ways. At one extreme is making an entire street or area
completely pedestrianised and at the other is making it a ‘no car’ zone on certain
days of the week or at certain times of the day. This way, depending on the
nature and intensity of the problem as well as other local conditions, one can
evolve the strategy. However, sometimes, while it could be made a ‘no motor’
zone, one may permit battery operated cabs, bicycles and so on for the movement
of the elderly. In fact, the concept of shopping in district centres (such as
Nehru Place in Delhi) and community centres is also a type of pedestrianisation
where the cars are all left at one central place and one walks around an area
to do shopping. These have now graduated into airconditioned shopping malls, a
more sophisticated form of pedestrianisation!
Indian initiatives
In India, the MG Road
in Gangtok and the Mall Road in Shimla have been very successful pedestrian
streets. In Panjim, Goa, one of the main streets has been made a ‘NoMoZo’ or
‘no motor zone’ for one day in the week.
Further, on certain
days of the week, we have ‘weekly baazars’ on different days in different parts
of Delhi. On these days, the streets become completely pedestrianised. For
instance, the weekly bazaar in Bhogal or Sheikh Sarai is a very popular event
for the citizens to visit and pick up traditional items at reasonably prices.
The Central Market at
Lajpat Nagar and the Sarojini Market, both in Delhi, are other examples of
pedestrianisation, although it may not be entirely a pleasant experience.
Initiatives by the community such as ‘raahgiri’ have attempted to give back the
street space back to the pedestrian.
Advantages of pedestrianisation
The need for
pedestrianisation arises from several quarters. Firstly, too many cars on
streets makes it very difficult for parking. Secondly, with a large number of
cars close to shops, there is little space for the ‘shopping experience’.
Thirdly, this also leaves little space for pedestrians to walk. Fourthly, a
fully pedestrian space actually becomes a civic place to experience, to hang
around, to socialise. Plazas also become spaces for leisure walking and ‘taking
the city in’. They also become meeting grounds for the young and old alike to
entertain themselves.
Finally, they provide
a space for inclusion, for all kinds of people to mix, and also for the
informal sector and traditional crafts to get exposure to the markets. The
advantages of pedestrianisation are also in terms of safety, low levels of
noise, decreased air pollution due to vehicles, more exposure to merchandise,
leisurely movement of humans and an overall aesthetic experience of leisure and
life as a whole.
Imperatives for pedestrianisation
Today, while there are
few who would argue against pedestrianisation, the way to go about it is very
important. There are many important imperatives that need to be taken into
account:
(i) Getting to the
place is very important. One may come from a far off place and want to visit
the market. Therefore, metro train connectivity becomes essential. Further, for
the car movers, vehicular parking facilities in adequate measure need to be
provided at close quarters. Also, walking from the vehicular parking area to
the pedestrianised area also needs to be addressed by way of some means which
makes the entire mobility experience a seamless operation.
(ii) Within the
pedestrianised area, the floor of the walk area needs to be designed with
appropriate material, texture and color so that it makes for a safe and
enjoyable experience. Special needs of the visually impaired, differently
abled, elderly, women and children have to be catered to. Resting benches,
lighting, toilets, garbage and general cleanliness are equally important.
(iii) Walk may not
always be the only way to move around a pedestrianised area. There could be
people who would need support, may be battery operated vehicles for the
elderly.
(iv) From the safety
point of view, access for fire vehicles becomes very important, particularly
when there are a large number of people. This, coupled with other fire safety
arrangements are a must. Arrangement for movement of other types of emergency
vehicles viz. ambulance is also important.
(v) Often,
pedestrianisation leads to a spurt in the street hawkers, with so much street
space available. This needs a lot of management or else, the space released by
vehicles could just be taken up by street vendors and the basic purpose of
creating a pedestrianised space would be defeated.
(vi) Stakeholder
consultations are an essential imperative in the entire process. Without the
cooperation of the shop owners, the best of plans may not succeed. In fact, the
planning has to begin with stakeholder consultations. One of the major fears of
the shop keepers is the loss of business due to pedestrianisation, which
actually does not have much evidence. It could at best only be a short term
effect and in the long run, the total ‘look and feel’, ambience and experience
of the place is what attracts customers.
CP and Khan Market
Connaught Place and
Khan Market are unique experiences in the city of Delhi, the national capital.
While Khan Market may be easier to handle, Connaught Place may be much more
complex. Khan Market actually has a specially earmarked piece of land for a
multi-storied car parking lot. By shifting all the cars into a multi-storied
parking lot, one can make the area around the shops more spacious for people to
walk around and experience the ambience.
While shop owners do a
lot of ‘window dressing’, few have the space to stand back and take in the
experience. In the case of Connaught Place, despite the fact that there is a
metro station right in the centre and others close by on the outer edge,
despite the fact that there is a two level car parking at Palika and a
multi-level mechanised car parking at Baba Karak Singh Marg, there are a few
thousand cars parked in the inner and outer circles every day. This movement of
the cars makes it very difficult for the shoppers. The taking out of these cars
calls for more car parking lots in close proximity. Further, after parking,
reaching the inner circle in a safe, convenient and comfortable manner is also
very important. While all the imperatives mentioned above are applicable in CP,
the ‘Dil’ of Delhi, it needs very carefully thought out interventions to make
it happen.
Conclusion
Pedestrianisation of
specific precincts in the city is a very good and accepted idea. Making it
happen needs careful orchestration of various parameters. A dedicated team of
urban planning, design, engineering and other experts need to work on the micro
details. It is more than a traffic problem. It is more than a planning issue.
It is not just aesthetics. It is a combination of several interventions which
will make the idea work. Pivotal to the entire scheme of things is the
governance structures that will fund, implement and manage the entire effort.
Starting the initiative is relatively easy. Sustaining the same is more important.
(The author is a senior professor, SPA, New
Delhi and chairman, DUAC)
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