This post might be more of an impulse, as I’m forced to write about it. The road which leads to my house has been in a state of repair/retrofit/carpeting/crumbling/inaccessible (the author uses negative words as we have seen times when we felt like living in a rural hinterland as the road didn’t literally exist for as long as a year – and we had to navigate our ways like a ride on camelback). The state of our public infrastructure is a grim reality where lakhs are being spent to build, repair, demolish and build again, but somehow an uninterrupted journey to the destination on foot is a distant dream for most Indians (Delhi to be specific as the context here is Delhi streets).
Despite having numerous Acts & regulations ; guidelines & toolkits, streets in Delhi repeatedly fail to provide a seamless, comfortable and pleasant experience – the basic reason for which they exist. Their existence is further shunned by the merciless vehicles who unapologetically maneuver their ways jumping onto the pedestrian pathways to shorten their trips. Furthermore, in most parts of the areas, these footpaths are encroached by urban paraphernalia including vehicles, garbage, wrongly placed street furniture including traffic lights, kiosks, taxi stands etc. As public space in Indian connotations parallels to a no-man’s-land, it is left to the mercy of the users and thus is never meant to solve its original purpose.
The BIG problem
So, “where have we failed”? Is it the policy-making, is it the approach to design, is it lack of implementation or is it lack of monitoring? The answer might be a combination of all of the above as each component of the Lifecycle of the street (the author defines it as a lifecycle as it has a step-by-step approach and would one day complete full circle) plays a critical role and even if one of the links goes missing, the lifecycle would stop functioning efficiently. So, the next question is “what do we do”?
There are many facets to building an urban infrastructure and it involves a legion of agencies to complete the process and make it operational. Now this procedure requires a well-coordinated show where the actors are in sync with each other’s duties and work like ant’s do! (Ants work like an army; an army of ants, remember) who go hand-in-hand and co-operate and co-ordinate with their fellow members. Similarly, these agencies including PWD, MCD, DJB etc. need to work in unison to ensure a road/street when built, incorporates all features and amenities, neatly arranged in a design template, so that that public infrastructure does not need any digging up in order to lay down the utilities. But, on the contrary our streets and roads are built in such a manner that they are in a state of perpetual making, thus adding to the misery of the end user ie. the general public. This is a combined result of the following (and other possible reasons beyond the scope of this space):
- MOST IMPORTANT: The primary task of building a street/road, being carried out by engineers and not designers, who build the infrastructure based on ancient design techniques and no consideration of the user needs and context whatsoever – resulting in an amenity which is Not inclusive, not user-friendly and not human friendly (at times) to say the least.
- Government agencies working in silos; resulting in roads being dug up perpetually for a variety of tasks carried by different agencies at different times (Power, water, sewerage, telecom, Piped gas, Internet – yes, we live in the 21st century and we have a whole world existing beneath us)
- A dearth of norms and guidelines enshrined in the working of each organization thus lending no uniformity to the process
- The plethora of institutions and agencies working within the radar of their ambit whereby each agency takes up ‘only’ their mandated tasks including design, construction, implementation, O&M. This is a major roadblock in provision of urban infrastructure as a holistic development is not envisioned by any one agency and in case of a mishap it becomes blame-game between the agencies.
- Often the material used in the construction of our streets and roads is sub-standard and will not be sustainable in the long run (sustainable here refers to the longevity of the product being used), therefore, it will be in a state of disrepair or decay as maintenance is not the top-priority after building the infrastructure (for our agencies per se).
“So, what do we do?”
I won’t predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible
– Michael Phelps
Recommendations
Although, many expert individuals and organizations have worked tirelessly to suggest best practices and prepare design guidelines which probably are catching dust somewhere (or in very rare circumstances – getting effectively implemented). So, the author (by virtue of experience and research) gives suggestions to save our humble streets and turn them into a resource and not as a liability:
- The agencies should have a context-based design approach ie. assess the surroundings based on a reconnaissance survey and adopt appropriate design guidelines (suggested for the typology of street and width of the road – Right of way) to ensure the end result is user – friendly. For example: –
a. provide adequate pedestrian crossings with raised table tops to ensure safe pedestrian crossings;
b. provision of shaded pathways to provide comfort to the users;
c. safe streets by provision of enough openings / reduction of boundary wall heights to ensure the street is being watched (A concept called ‘Eyes on the Street’) - Work in a unified manner by effective co-ordination amongst all respective agencies whereby laying down a Roadmap as to what utilities need to be laid down and how to manage in case of repair/retrofit at later stages. This would technically need an overlaid plan of all utilities neatly superimposed on a base master plan where all the respective utility providers mark paths of their utilities along with its maintenance plans and requirements. This would although require a robust co-ordination to be in place, maybe supervised by another nodal agency overlooking it as a Project-based approach.
- Adoption of best practices from across the globe to improve upon designs and innovations and learn to evolve as with growing urbanization we would only be adding to the layers of the utilities and not reducing them.
- Use of long-lasting, sustainable material for construction and amenities so as to ensure that the exchequer is not burdened by the sub-standard material leading to our roads being in a constant state of repair.
- Making the citizens a part of the process, where they inform the respective agency (via apps/social media platforms) of any issues (broken amenities/encroached spaces/wrong designs leading to user discomfort etc.) so as to make the process inclusive and For-the-people who need to use them.
- Having a framework to audit the streets and roads periodically to ensure there is a monitoring of the built resources.
Above are few suggestions which the author felt could be adopted by the respective agencies in order to make walking a pleasant and comfortable experience and not a ‘Camelback ride’.
“Twin gods of Smooth Traffic and Ample Parking—have turned our downtowns into places that are easy to get to but not worth arriving at.”
― Jeff Speck, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
Meanwhile, check out this informative yet fun video on efficient street design —- very very impressive!!!
AN URBAN LENS 