[sustran] Walking is crucial to achieving urbanity

[Sujit Patwardhan]

23 June 2008


I think this letter by Ashok Sreenivas would be of interest to you.
--
Sujit


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Dear Times of India,

Thank you for the excellent interview with Mr. Philip Rode published in
today's Times of India (
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/QA_Walking_is_crucial_to_achieving_urbanity/articleshow/3154660.cms).
I do not know if the Times of India agrees with Mr. Rode, but the fact that
he heads an international initiative for improved urban living and that you
have interviewed him presumably means you at least acknowledge that he is an
expert in the field. Therefore, I hope you take cognizance of the following
points made by Mr. Rode:

1. Walking and cycling are an integral transport mode and need to be given
much more attention than they are.
2. More roads are not the answer and cities that have been built around the
car have been "destroyed".
3. Metro rail systems are good but enormously expensive. BRT is far more
effective in delivering high-capacity public transport in a city.

If you agree with these views of an expert, hopefully you will in future
question the mindless road-widening and flyover building projects that our
cities seem to undertake, rather than reporting them as further evidence of
"India shining". You will recognize that these projects only contribute to
further motorization of the city and destruction of walking and cycling as
modes of transport. Further, you will also hopefully temper your criticisms
of the BRT projects around the country (particularly Delhi) by
differentiating between the idea or concept and specific lacunae in its
execution by a city.

Best regards
Ashok


The article he is referring to is given below:


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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/QA_Walking_is_crucial_to_achieving_urbanity/articleshow/3154660.cms
The Times of India


*Q&A: 'Walking is crucial to achieving urbanity'*
23 Jun 2008, 0145 hrs IST


   Urban Age, a joint initiative of the London School of Economics and
Political Science and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society, has
undertaken a research programme in four Indian cities (Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata and Bangalore) to assess how they are responding to the challenges
of growth. Its executive director Philip Rode spoke to Neelam Raaj:

 Q What are the challenges that confront Indian cities?

 The enormous growth rates often overtake the planning effort. Further,
cities operate with outdated plans and laws. There is weak enforcement and a
general implementation deficit. There is a shortage of professional planners
and the need for planning skills that match today's dynamic growth of
cities. Finally, the synchronisation of land use and transport continues to
be an enormous difficulty.

 Q Urban Age has compared Indian cities to New York, London and Berlin.
Which is the best model to follow?

 Berlin and London offered a set of promising approaches for greater
integration. Having a city-wide government with a political mandate is a
crucial prerequisite for any strategic planning exercise. Unified urban
development departments (which combine transport, land use, urban
development, housing and city planning) at the city, state and national
level (as in Berlin) further improve the level of interdisciplinary work.
Another example is a multimodal transport agency (like in London) that is
responsible for all transport modes ranging from walking and cycling to
public transport and road traffic.

 Q The report mentions that 55 per cent of people walk to work in Mumbai
while 32 per cent do so in Delhi. But are pedestrians a focus at all for
city planners?

 Unfortunately not enough attention is given to pedestrians. It is only now
that many cities around the world include walking and cycling as an integral
part of the transport modes. Walking is of enormous importance not only
because it is the one transport mode that is an inherent part of all other
modes but also because it is by far the most important means for achieving
urbanity in public spaces.

 Q Are more roads and commuter systems like the metro the answer to traffic
congestion?

 More roads are certainly not the answer. While there are cities that have
tried to adjust to car use as the dominant mode of travel, they had to
literally destroy the city. What is left in these cases is an unrecognisable
agglomeration of urban sprawl with parking lots, shopping malls and
highways. There is a maximum level of motorisation which cannot be exceeded.
Metro systems are an important component of urban transport for large
cities. However, the cost for implementing particularly underground rail is
enormous. BRT is far more effective in delivering high-capacity public
transport with a wider reach within the metro region.

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Sujit Patwardhan
sujitjp at gmail.com

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