Documentary: Why Indian Cities aren't Walkable

In this documentary, we go around different cities in India to probe their poor pedestrian infrastructure.

While pedestrians still are the biggest share of commuters, our cities give disproportionate importance to vehicles.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Like any other morning, the morning of 6 April 2022 started as usual for 18-year-old Manisha Kumari, a resident of JJ colony slum in West Delhi's Udyog Nagar. A student of class 12, Manisha was walking to her school along with her friends. It's a walk of about 20-30 minutes to reach their school Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Peeragarhi – a distance of about 2.5 km.

At around 8 am, while crossing the Delhi-Rohtak road, Manisha and her two friends were hit by a vehicle. Her friends sustained injuries, but Manisha died on the spot.

The absence of a pedestrian crossing makes such accidents a regular phenomena in the area. Manisha became one among four pedestrians who die on India's roads every hour.

The share of pedestrian fatalities in total road deaths has doubled between 2016 and 2023.

In 2016, 10.5% of all road fatalities were that of pedestrians. This doubled to 20.4% in 2023.

(Graphic: Naman Shah / The Quint)

"We focus so much on building infrastructure for vehicles, but don't care about people's lives," lamented Deepak Yadav, Manisha's brother.

Most people in urban India reach their work on-foot.

About one-third of all work commutes in urban India happen on-foot.

(Graphic: Naman Shah / The Quint)

Despite pedestrians comprising the biggest share of commuters, infrastructure remains majorly neglected for them.

The Cost of Neglecting Pedestrian Infrastructure

"Pedestrians and cyclists are the most vulnerable on a street," said Prasanna Desai, a senior urban designer based in Pune. Desai and his team has worked on enhancing non-motorised transport like walking and cycling in the neighbourhoods of several cities including Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Pimpri Chinchwad, etc.

"If you take image of any street in India, you will see people are walking on the edge of the road because the sidewalks are not continuos and full of obstructions. Such unsafe and inconvenient walking infrastructure get people to start using vehicle, even though they intend to walk."

- Prasanna Desai, Senior Urban Designer

More vehicle users in a city bring a host of problems – traffic congestion, pollution, road rage, accidents, etc.

Walk or Use Private Vehicle: What Influences the Decision?

"Owning a car or a scooter is an aspiration for many. And there is nothing wrong in that. But it is the number of trips you make in your private vehicles that makes the difference. The main aim is to go from one point to another. We always believe that if we have shorter distances, why can’t we walk? Why can’t we cycle for shorter distances? And if you want to travel longer distances then it could be the auto rickshaws, cars, scooters. And for really a longer distance, it could be a metro and a bus," Desai added.

Majority of work commutes in Indian cities are short.

A big majority of work trips in Indian cities are less than 5 km.

(Graphic: Naman Shah / The Quint)

But the poor condition of pedestrian infrastructure deters many to cover even short distances on foot.

"Within Mumbai, there are places which differs in terms of their quality of last-mile connectivity," said Vedant Mhatre, Program Manager of Mumbai-based walkability NGO – Walking Project. "In older areas like Churchgate, footpaths are broad and accessible by design. People here end up walking 1-2 km like a breeze. But if you compare this with footpaths of Andheri or Kalyan or Dombivali, the footpaths are narrow, congested, and have terrible designs. And this often pushes people to travel by their private conveyances and that adds the load on the streets. It becomes a vicious cycle – because there are more vehicles, the roads need to be widened, footpaths need to be narrowed, and narrow footpaths pushes more people towards vehicles."

Equitable Distribution of Road Space

The adoption of private vehicles in India has grown enormously in the last three decades and cities have started giving more importance to vehicles.

"Been born and brought up in Bangalore, I have faint memories of actually playing on the streets, cycling on the street. And you'll notice that our streets are now so overtaken by just vehicles coming in. I think that's a true indication of how unsafe and dangerous our streets have become," said Sobia Rafiq, an urban development professional and cofounder of urban living lab – Sensing Local.

To cater to the growing number of vehicles, our cities are being designed for vehicles, and it disregards pedestrians.

Pedestrians should be given the highest priority in a healthy street.

Indian Roads Congress Guidelines

"Money allotted for road design normally goes in the carriage way for motor vehicles," said Desai. "If some chunk is spent on the edge conditions which includes footpaths, then the number of vehicular trips will change."

"A road should be called a street, because that makes it holistic. Beside vehicles, a street has many other components – pedestrians, street vendors, trees, dustbins, electrical poles, etc. There has to be equitable distribution of the entire space and equal importance needs to be given to all the stake holders on a street."

- Prasanna Desai, Senior Urban Designer

Do Indian Cities Have Enough Space to Design Streets that Caters to Everyone?

"It is just 10-30% of trips in the city that happens in a car that occupy 90% of the road space," added Desai. "And now you design roads which are as wide as 60 m, 90 m, 120 m. Such wide roads increases speed of vehicles and it is the speed that kills. These broad roads are also difficult for pedestrians to cross."

If cities can invest in building vast infrastructures for vehicles, there should be fair consideration to build for the pedestrians as well.

"Often times the misconception is that we have to completely redevelop every single footpath. But most of the footpath just need repair and retrofit, which is not happening in our cities," said Ankit Bhargava, an architect, urban planner, and cofounder of Sensing Local. "Even though there are certain challenges, the solutions are very simple – continuous, levelled, and obstruction-free footpaths."

The Financial Feasibility of Building Walkable Sidewalks

"The rebuilding of non-motorised transport system into the road condition may cost about Rs 15-20 crore per km. But if the road is already existing, the services are also in place, this can be done within Rs 8 crore per km also, because in most of the Indian city the main carriage way is always done. It is the edge where we have to spend. And this is very much possible and feasible provided the willingness is there," said Desai.

Need For a Network of Walkable

Selected areas of some cities have made suitable enhancements for walkability. Streets4People, an initiative under Smart Cities mission by ministry of housing and urban affairs, claims to have transformed about 50 streets across India.

Desai said, "We have to take up streets but not streets in isolation. This has to be a complete network. Like how roads are always in network – a wider road, then a medium road, than a small road, and the last lane to your house. Similarly the walkability has to be seamless within the city. Each and every street must have an edge for people to walk. And this is what will automatically reduce the congestion on the streets and also make people's health better, life better, and social interaction better."

Walking is the most basic form of mobility and safe, walkable footpaths are a key metric to measure urban liveability. Wide footpaths and sidewalks are considered a way to tell ordinary citizens that “we care for you". Desai said, "The depth of democracy is decided by the width of the footpath in a city."