Pedestrians - Question of Cities

Building bridges: Why it need not be street vendors versus cities

Though a cityscape is nothing without its street vendors and they are an integral part of a city’s economy providing many services to people across class, they are unwelcome. Its system views them as encroachers while people believe they are…

The framework for public transport in our cities: Thoughts and suggestions

An efficient public transport system must compete with the convenience and comfort of a personal vehicle. The choice of the public transport system must be guided by a city’s mobility vision stated in its Comprehensive Mobility Plan. Its operations need…

India’s missing pavements, thanks to car-centric planning and official apathy

Life happens on pavements or footpaths in cities across India. A mind-boggling number of people walk to work or for leisure every day and the informal economy of hawkers and service providers supports millions. Yet, pavements are either absent on…

Where pavements hold space for conversations and ideas, besides mobility

Some cities in the world see pavements as insignificant in the urban design, a waste of space on car-centric roads, but other cities have done wonders with them. Besides providing open mobility space for pedestrians and cyclists, pavements were turned…

On streets of India, life unfolds through food, flowers, traditions and people

Urban India lives on its streets, it is said. This is not far from the truth of everyday life for millions in our cities, large or otherwise, where streets come to life at dawn and barely wind down at night,…

Micro-mapping streets and footpaths in a neighbourhood, as a woman

We walk by on badly-designed streets and footpaths or race across at ill-planned traffic intersections made to facilitate vehicles rather than pedestrians, and come to believe that this is a part of wretched and stressful life in a city. Walking…