[sustran] Pedestrians in peril

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20090213260308600.htm

*Pedestrians in peril *

 JAYATI GHOSH

 * They are forced to negotiate their passage in direct competition, and
often confrontation, with speeding vehicles. *

   K.V. Srinivasan

* Destroying footpaths and pavements is part of urban development in India.
Here, a scene in Chennai. *

 THERE are probably as many definitions of underdevelopment as there are
developing countries. So let me offer another definition that may be
appropriate for the early 21st century: a developing country is one with few
places where urban residents can walk safely. This need not be a reflection
of crime rates but may simply be a matter of inadequate facilities for
pedestrians.

The almost complete lack of safe and continuous pavements and footpaths that
is so typical of the many urban sprawls across the developing world is
almost as notable as the extensive provision of these in, say, cities and
towns of western Europe. Indeed, those cities of the developing world where
pedestrians are given some attention and civic space are generally in the
more developed parts: Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, for example.

Developing countries currently have rapid rates of rural-urban migration,
and it is estimated that already more than half of the population of the
developing world consists of urban residents. Yet the provision of basic
infrastructure has lagged far behind the movement of people.

The shortage of basic amenities in urban areas especially in the slums is
well known. The problems of inadequate supply of safe water and electricity,
poor sanitation, environmental pollution and congestion have been widely
studied. The shortage of space, with cramped and crowded living and working
conditions, no playgrounds for children and few parks for residents, has
been noted.

Increasingly, there is also recognition of the ecological footprint of
urbanisation. Generally, towns and cities in developing countries have a
lower per capita energy consumption than those in the developed world. Even
so, developing-country urban sprawls cast adverse environmental shadows on
the surrounding region through the generation of solid waste and air
pollution, the contamination of water sources, the using up or degradation
of what used to be prime agricultural land and the destruction of natural
vegetation. These eventually affect environmental conditions in the urban
spaces themselves and have an impact on the quality of urban life,
especially for the less privileged residents who cannot protect themselves
from the negative impacts.

These issues are now commonplace in discussions on the urban condition. But
one very crucial aspect of city life in developing countries is missed out
in most such discussions – the importance of having safe, continuous and
usable walking spaces. This is evident in India even though rates of
urbanisation in India are lower than in most of the developing world. In
general, urban development in India is engaged in the process of destroying
footpaths and pavements. It seems to be that most municipalities rarely
accommodate footpaths in urban planning exercises, or if they do, they
subsequently turn a blind eye to breaches of plans that destroy walking
spaces.
 Congested nightmares

 As a result, cities that even a decade ago used to be seen as pleasant
havens with leafy walkways are now congested nightmares, with paved roads
for vehicles taking precedence and reducing or even removing the spaces
available to pedestrians. The problem is not confined to the rapidly
expanding metros but spreads across almost all urban conglomerations. As a
result, pedestrians walk at their peril, typically having to share the road
with unregulated traffic involving all sorts of vehicles and without access
to any separate protected space.

To take only one example, consider Hyderabad, a city that has grown rapidly
in the last decade not only in population but even more in geographical
spread. Two aspects of Hyderabad's growth make it even more instructive as
an example with wider significance.

First, urban development in Hyderabad has raised property prices so sharply
that land has become a major source of both accumulation and speculation.
This in turn has given rise to numerous scams around land-grabbing and
insider deals, of which the one related to Satyam/Maytas is only the latest.
Second, both the current State government and the previous one emphasised
the "beautification" of the city and the creation of "world class" urban
infrastructure.

So what are the "world class" facilities that Hyderabad now delivers its
residents? Mostly, the new urban development consists of some major new
urban road arteries, the widening of existing roads, the spanking new
Shamshabad airport (which is almost desolate in its distance and imitative
grandeur) and the usual paraphernalia of contemporary metropolitana:
shopping malls and high-rise apartments.

Much of this has predictably excluded the majority of residents, and the
lack of emphasis on basics such as adequate sanitation or clean and
affordable housing for the poor is only too evident in the continuing chaos
and growing congestion of much of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The road
expansion, in particular, has had another effect: the almost complete
destruction of pavements and walking spaces in large parts of the twin
cities.

Wherever roads have been widened, the assumption seems to have been that no
one will ever need to walk along them but will simply use mechanised
transport to traverse them even for short distances. There is no other way
to understand why in many places no apparent attempt has been made to create
any pavement, and pedestrians are forced to negotiate their passage in
direct competition (and often confrontation) with speeding cars, buses and
two- and three-wheelers. Since vehicular traffic in India is almost
universally aggressive in its attitude to pedestrians, this does not make
for easy or safe journeys on foot. And the problem is compounded by the
various animals that are usually to be found on our streets.

On those streets where some minor concession to pedestrians remains in the
form of a few limited pavements, these are little more than complicated and
often malicious obstacle courses. The narrow pavements are usually uneven,
poorly paved and apparently never cleaned. They tend to be punctuated with
trees, electric poles, stumps of open live wires, heaps of rubbish and
sludge, broken glass and other discarded items – forcing those trying to use
them to jump off them and on to the crowded roads.

All this makes it difficult enough for healthy adults to walk on the roads.
Imagine the problems of old people, small children, pregnant women, people
with some physical disability or those carrying heavy and bulky burdens. The
simple act of perambulation becomes not just arduous but something fraught
with risk, a near-impossible task.

Since urban planning in India also apparently ignores the obvious need for
public conveniences for ordinary people, and Hyderabad appears to be no
exception to this rule, public toilets are few and far between. They are
certainly hard to find on most major roads or even in most markets and other
crowded urban spaces. This creates huge problems for women who are forced to
be in such public spaces for long periods, but the male of the species is
typically not constrained by such a lack of facilities. Therefore, the
pavements tend to have another, less dangerous but often more unpleasant,
feature: the pervasive stench of urine.

Combine all this with other sources of unease for hapless pedestrians: noise
pollution because of the constant honking of car horns and the rumble of
engines; atmospheric pollution because of the emissions from the vast
diversity of vehicles of every size and age; and the difficulty of crossing
streets even when there are traffic lights because of so many transgressions
by vehicles. Street life is nasty and brutish not just for the poorest of
the poor, who are forced to live on the streets, but even for those who have
to walk on them for a short while.

I have picked on Hyderabad as an example, but clearly the problem is not
unique to this city. From Mumbai to Kolkata, from Pune to Chennai, from
Bangalore to Amritsar, we are destroying urban spaces and making them dirty,
difficult and dangerous for most people to use. What is extraordinary is
that much of this is done in the name of making our cities "world class"!
Perhaps, if we stopped thinking of the world and started thinking of the
needs of most of our own urban residents, we might actually begin to make
our cities liveable.
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