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Chennai’s Streets for People initiative wins the Ashden Awards

22nd August 2020 by admin

Over the last five years, Chennai’s Streets for People initiative has been instrumental in transforming over hundred kilometres of the city’s streets for more accessible and equitable mobility. An initiative of the Greater Chennai Corporation with technical support from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) India Programme, the Streets for People initiative has been selected as the winner of the acclaimed international Ashden Awards 2020 in the Sustainable Mobility (International) category.

Rethinking Urban Mobility

With citywide lockdowns and the suspension of public transport systems, COVID-19 has forced cities to rethink urban mobility. The pandemic has illustrated what streets without cars could look like, and people around the world have reclaimed their street spaces for mobility or access to essentials and services among others. More importantly, the lockdown has amplified the importance of walking and cycling as affordable, equitable, and sustainable modes of transport for a large section of the urban population. 

The Streets for People initiative in Chennai was aimed at improving walking and cycling infrastructure and enables people to move safely through the city. In Chennai, these streets proved extremely effective during the lockdown, enabling physical distancing and safe movement in neighbourhoods. As cities reopen and physical distancing becomes the new normal, the importance of such people-friendly initiatives for pedestrians and cyclists grows manifold.

The Ashden Award celebrates the city and its citizens for accomplishing such an amazing feat. In essence, the award recognises ITDP India Programme’s objectives to improve the quality of life in cities so that future generations inherit urban spaces that are liveable, equitable, and sustainable. The awards highlight sustainable solutions that tackle global issues such as climate change and create equitable societies. Chennai’s Streets for People initiative is among the 11 winners at the annual Ashden Awards, which was held on July 2nd 2020 in a virtual ceremony. The winners were chosen from over 200 applicants working on creating resilience, green growth, and fairer societies. 

The Chennai Streets for People Initiative

Since 2013, Chennai has been transforming its streets for safety, comfort, and inclusivity. In 2014, the city adopted the Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Policy, to dedicate 60 percent of its budget towards NMT. Chennai was the first Indian city to adopt a policy of this kind. Since then, with the support of the ITDP India Programme, the city has – 

  • inaugurated the Pondy Bazaar Pedestrian Plaza as a model ‘people-friendly’ public space.
  • built the capacity of municipal engineers through study tours, workshops and formal training programmes. 
  • launched a city-wide Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) system and a progressive on-street parking management system. 
  • adopted the Complete Street Guidelines to inform all future street design projects. 
  • launched a “Car-Free Sundays” programme to promote the idea of celebrating streets as public spaces.
  • engaged the public for a participatory planning process through several tactical urbanism initiatives and stakeholder consultations.
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Impact of the work 

Lauded as making Chennai the “walking capital of the country” by L. Nandakumar, Chief Engineer, Greater Chennai Corporation, these interventions have led to wider footpaths, cycle-sharing systems, and last-mile connectivity in the city of Chennai. The initiative has helped in transforming over 120 kilometres of streets to be safe and accessible for pedestrians across the city. The project has improved access to roughly 300 bus stops and over 60 schools. Moreover, it has also helped in the effective implementation of parking management systems in approximately 500 kilometres of streets. 

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Globally, cities like Paris, Milan, and London have allocated significant portions of their budgets towards creating walking and cycling-friendly infrastructure. Chennai has taken similar action through the Mega Streets programme, to create a city-wide network of streets with a lifespan of at least 30 years thereby prioritising ‘Liveability, Mobility, and Utility’. Launched earlier this year, the project aims to transform 1000 kilometres of streets in the city. The Government of Tamil Nadu, in its annual budget speech in February 2020, has expressed its intent to invest over USD $500M to replicate Chennai’s success in ten other cities, which will transform over 1600 kilometres of streets across the state.

A shining example for Indian cities

Chennai’s Streets for People initiative is a gamechanger in terms of transforming India’s cities into more equitable and people-friendly urban spaces. Moreover, the government’s intention to expand the project represents its potential to transform streets across Tamil Nadu for future generations. The Ashden award recognises and celebrates the success of Chennai’s Streets for People project done by the Greater Chennai Corporation supported by ITDP India Programme as not just the first step in scaling up across Tamil Nadu, but also as a lighthouse for urban development across the country. 

Written by Avishek Jha

Edited by Keshav Suryanarayanan

Filed Under: Uncategorised, Walking and cycling Tagged With: ashden, Chennai, Complete Streets, streets, Streets for People, Walking and Cycling

Pune lights the way for child-friendly cities

12th December 2019 by admin

Pune is leading the country in creating a city that is inclusive of the needs of infants, toddlers and their caregivers. The ITDP India Programme, with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF), initiated work on a programme with the Pune Municipal Corporation that aims at ‘Transforming Urban Mobility to Nurture Early Childhood Development in India’. The initiative was launched by the Additional Municipal Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation on the 9th of December 2019.

“Are our cities designed for children?”

This is an easy question to answer. Streets are designed as corridors for motor vehicles and very rarely even have safe walking space for adults, let alone children. People have to compete with cars and two-wheelers for space to move through the cities. Very little infrastructure is designed keeping in mind the needs of young children.

Designing for children with their limited range of travel and slower pace, can simultaneously address the needs of other vulnerable groups such as the elderly and disabled. Then, should we not be prioritising the needs of the youngest among us while building our cities, ensuring that children can travel around our cities freely, safely, and without fear?

This brings us to another important question, “How can our cities be designed for children?” 

A question that was on everybody’s minds at the launch of the initiative aimed at ‘Transforming Urban Mobility to Nurture Early Childhood Development in India’  under the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s (BvLF) global Urban95 initiative for children between the ages of 0-5 years and their caregivers. Launching the initiative in Pune on the 9th of December, Rubal Agarwal, Additional Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said, “Pune is a pioneering city in many ways and we welcome initiatives such as Urban95 to transform urban areas and make them children and caregivers-friendly. We are proud to launch the project in Pune in collaboration with ITDP and BvLF and look forward to participating in nurturing early childhood development.”

Rubal Agarwal, Additional Commissioner- PMC, launching the initiative

Speaking at the launch, Shreya Gadepalli, South Asia Programme Lead, ITDP, presented the vision for the city and the initiative, “In India and across many fast-developing countries, the ever-increasing investments are not focused enough on incorporating the needs of infants, toddlers, and caregivers. Under this programme and with BvLF’s support, we hope that cities like Pune become lighthouses for other cities in Maharashtra and the country to incorporate the needs of young children and families in their mobility policies, plans, and projects.”

Shreya Gadepalli speaking at the launch

The event was also attended by government officials from the Roads and Family Planning Departments. Representatives from local organisations such as MASHAL, Centre for Environment Education, Parisar, Prasanna Desai Architects, and Shelter Associates suggested various ways for Pune to become a child-friendly city. The discussion brought up many important factors and considerations for the initiative to focus on. 

The presentation session was followed by a panel discussion with Shreya Gadepalli, Rushda Majeed – Country Representative for India BvLF, Cecilia Vaca Jones – Progamme Director BvLF, Dinkar Gojare- Executive Engineer, PMC Roads Department, and Milind Khedkar- Medical Officer, PMC Family Planning Department, and moderated by Aswathy Dilip, Senior Programme Manager, ITDP India Programme.

The panelists and members of the audience had an active discussion that brought up many important factors and considerations for the initiative to focus on. The panellists emphasised the need for all developments to be done with a holistic and integrated approach. Policies and guidelines are necessary, but it is also the responsibility of citizens to participate in the process, demand, and ensure the  maintenance of facilities used by the children. Members of the audience also highlighted the importance of scaling up the initiatives to the city level through quick steps like Tactical Urbanism interventions.

Panel discussion on creating safe and inclusive cities for children

Speaking about the factors to ensure scaling up of the initiative, Cecilia said, “It is vital to have continuous documentation of what is working and what is not, and a good communication strategy to scale up the work at the state and national level. Understanding the financing of such initiatives is also very important for a long term engagement.”

Speaking about the importance of safe and high quality urban mobility to ensure the wellbeing of children and their caregivers, Rushda Majeed said, “Babies and toddlers are dependent on their primary caregiver, be it mothers, fathers, elder siblings or grandparents, to get around. If walking conditions and public transport are poor, they are less likely to be able to go out with their parents and grandparents, have uncomfortable or long commutes, be exposed to unsafe environments, and have limited options for physical activities.”

Mobility policies that focus on ITC would equip decision makers to invest in sustainable mobility – walking, cycling, and public transport – with specific interventions and improvements dedicated for early childhood development to increase safety, convenience, and vibrancy of public spaces, and improve access to childhood services such as health care, education, and play.

The event received support from representatives of organisations in Pune

With several developments to make the city more inclusive, Pune is already on its way to becoming a “City for all”. Highlighting the work done in Pune, Dinkar Gojare said, “The PMC has already adopted the Urban Street Design Guidelines, a “Pedestrian First” policy, and implemented several road safety improvement projects. 100 km of street redesign is already on its way. A Children’s traffic Club has been initiated, along with other place making projects. Open spaces are available but they are misused. We should begin with freeing up about 25% of them for projects that ensure early childhood development.”

Participants at the launch event

The programme that is now set in motion will build on this work and see Pune transform itself into India’s first safe and accessible city for infants, toddlers and their caregivers and a model for other cities to emulate. The ITDP India team and BvLF will support PMC to make this dream a reality. 

With a clear vision and people’s support, Pune is building a future where cities are designed for children. After all, a city for children is a city for all! 

Written by Keshav Suryanarayanan

Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged With: children, inclusivity, Pune, safe cities, streets, Transport

The Curious Case of Intersections

24th September 2019 by admin

An Infographic Blog

Designed by Aishwarya Soni
Conceptualised by A V Venugopal, Santhosh Loganaathan and Aishwarya Soni

To know more about the best practice standards for designing intersections and complete streets, check out our Complete Streets Design Workbook, Volume 4 of a 7-volume toolkit prepared by ITDP India Programme. 

https://itdp.in/strides-towards-smart-cities-in-india-the-complete-streets-framework-toolkit/

Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged With: Intersection, pedestrians, Salem, streets, Walking and Cycling

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