What are the biggest challenges to walkability in Indian cities?
Walkability in Indian cities is often an afterthought, or worse, a non-thought. The infrastructure for walking is not treated as a priority despite its potential to foster healthier, more equitable cities. This results in an undesirable and unsafe walking environment, forcing pedestrians to navigate poorly designed or neglected spaces.
On a broader level, the biggest "software" challenge is the lack of civic and governmental commitment to improving walkability. There is insufficient energy and focus on making walking a safe and appealing choice.
At the "hardware" level, several governance issues exacerbate the problem.
Enforcement of design guidelines: India has robust design standards for pedestrian infrastructure, comparable to global benchmarks. However, the lack of proactive implementation and monitoring means these guidelines largely remain on paper.
Unregulated hawking: Unlike other Asian countries where hawking is an organized activity, India's lack of planning has led to informal, unregulated hawking. High-footfall areas often become congested, leaving little room for pedestrians. While guidelines do exist to accommodate hawking without impeding walkability, they are rarely enforced. While little heed is paid to actually increase the square footage of well-designed and connected municipal markets.
Parking issues: The unchecked growth of private vehicles has turned streets into parking lots, squeezing out pedestrians. The imbalance is stark—vehicles occupy valuable public space often for free, while people pay exorbitant rents for basic housing. Addressing this requires tough questions about how much public space can be allocated for parking and developing pragmatic solutions to balance walking, hawking, and vehicular needs along our streets and roads.
