[sustran] Kids need to have free run of city

[Vinay Baindur]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45142763.cms

Kids need to have free run of city
Suhas Munshi
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Suhas-Munshi.cms>,
TNN | Nov 14, 2014, 07.19AM IST
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[image: Capture]
It's time, urban planning experts say, to reconsider Delhi's growth with
the welfare of its children in mind.
*Delhi has grown into a city that shuns children. Their cycles, skates and
skateboards should now be set free. *

NEW DELHI: Our city is now an urban sprawl, its development model skewed in
favour of motorized traffic and commercial capitalization.

This has snatched playfields from kids.With vehicles - both stationary and
on the move - occupying every inch of space available, the roads and even
lanes and bylanes are out of bounds for the little ones. Unlike in American
and European cities, there are few public spaces where one can hang out. No
wonder, our children spend a lot of time indoors, glued to the TV , PC or
mobile screens. It's time, urban planning experts say, to reconsider
Delhi's growth with the welfare of its children in mind.

Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph, earlier this year, expressed his anguish
at the shrinking playing space for children in Delhi through a letter,
which the Delhi high court treated as a PIL. The condition of the parks in
the city , he said in the letter, was a "serious violation of human rights
of children" as it was "their right in their tender times to have a decent
environment to play and frolic around."

Kuldeep Singh, an architect and urban planner, who worked with DDA during
195657 to bring out Delhi's first master plan, explained how initially
children's needs were the town planners' priority. "Space standards were
set very rationally , and in every neighbourhood, a huge open space was
reserved for children which we called tot-lots. This was the place where we
thought children would get a space to play and mingle with each other and
we kept it away from roads," recalled Singh. However, due to administrative
reasons, the idea of tot-lots had to be dropped and, regrettably , was
never entertained again.

"Over the years, circumstances have changed and people are reluctant to let
their children go out without some kind of security as a result of which
the children are now suffering," says Singh. Before it's too late, Singh
hopes these open spaces are restored and protected from motor vehicles
looking for parking lots.

Another urban planning expert says the first rectification Delhi's
development model needs to carry out is to ensure mobility of children."Two
thousand pedestrians die on Delhi's roads every year of which several are
children.There may not be a dearth of green spaces in Delhi - in fact, the
city has a unique advantage on that front - but kids have no safe means to
reach these places independently," says Manit Rastogi, founder of
architecture firm Morphogenesis.

"It's catastrophic to learn about child mortality on Delhi's roads but on
the other hand you have the tragedy of kids being confined to their homes,"
points out Rastogi. His suggestion is to convert the 350-km long covered
storm-water drains in the city into cycling and walking tracks. From a city
of cars, Delhi needs to become a city of pedestrians where children can
enjoy and identify themselves with their surroundings, he adds.

Development of the Yamuna riverfront and cleaning of the river could add
that one dimension of water which attracts children all over the world.
Developing public spaces with colourful street furniture - perhaps with
swings, art installations, street art and activities thrown in - could also
draw in kids.

DDA officials say their focus is on balanced development of the city ,
which takes into account residents' commercial and recreational needs. "DDA
is working on new policies like Transit Oriented Development which have
sufficient provisions for taking care of pedestrians and movement of women
and children safely. These policies will guide the future development of
city," said Neemo Dhar, spokesperson, DDA.