Date of Publication :18th January 2022

Abstract: ‘Walkable Cities,’ although simple as a concept but have been a challenge that we have continued to fail on delivering to. India’s population largely depends upon commuter rails and buses for making sure her workforce reaches work on time. For the ones who wish to walk to work, the infrastructure hardly exists. In places where it does, it is mostly encroached into, patchy and unsafe. Add to it the perils of harsh climate, piece meal planning of urban land, and poorly followed traffic rules, one of the most elementary forms of mobility seem like a distant and unsafe dream. Pedestrian zones are need of the hour. These zones however must offer a bit more than just being a public infrastructure. They need to have a distinct visual identity, utility that aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals, ease of construction and scalability. These walkways will also have energy generating tiles which by virtue of pedestrian movement would power up their own lighting and even contribute back to the grid. Shading would be of built-in photo voltaic panels and some of these shade tops will double up as belts of urban farming with sit-out spaces. Careful planning and technological intervention could change the way we look at walkability in cities, add to its biodiversity, social landscape and generate energy as soon as someone steps on it.

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