Prioritising the pedestrian

MAKING cities "livable for all," is a goal pursued by planners and sought by governments. As income disparity widens in Bangladesh, it is all the more imperative to ensure inclusiveness. One essential area of inclusiveness is the "Right to Movement." The pedestrian has been ignored and the mass bus operations have been marginalised for too long. The government must give the pedestrian the highest priority in the urban movement system along with mass public transport (MPT).
The mindset associated with walking and using public transportation must change. The sequence of urban road construction must be reversed so that footpaths are constructed first, then the section along the edge of the footpath for public buses, with the central lanes for private transport constructed last. Footpaths must become an integral and inseparable part of urban roads.
The routine traffic jams are evidence of misplaced transportation priorities. We read about ambitious flyover and sky-rail projects, not much is heard about provision of adequate footpaths and pedestrian facilities, although the civility of a city is judged by the adequacy of its pedestrian comfort and availability of mass public transport.
In respect to cities, we need to adopt a "transport priortisation policy" that prioritises the pedestrian and promotes mass public transport. The order of priority should be:
-The pedestrians: Since they form the majority. Walking does not consume energy or cause pollution. It saves scarce road space for other commuters.
-Mass public transport: Since they carry a large number of people per unit road space and are the most efficient form of urban transportation.
-The private car: Since it is the most uneconomic form of transportation. It occupies the most per unit road space, adds to congestion and pollution. (CNG's would fall in this category)
In respect to footpaths, if we look at the residential areas (R/A), where walking should be the primary mode of movement, we find that footpaths are almost nonexistent in even the planned residential areas in Dhaka or Chittagong. Footpaths in Dhanmandi R/A were constructed in the late '80's and '90's, the roads and houses in the '50's and '60's.
There are no footpaths in the planned R/A's of Gulshan, Banani, DOHS or Uttara. In Chittagong, no planned R/A has footpaths. Other areas evolved without provisions for footpaths. As multifamily apartments quickly replaced low-rise residences, population densities increased. Lack of footpaths presupposes that those who commute are dependent on private cars or other vehicles. Safety or convenience has been totally disregarded in pedestrian movement. This condition must change.
Footpaths in the CBD and other commercial areas are usually inadequate or unusable. The city development authorities (Rajuk, CDA, etc) have permitted construction of large buildings on the edge of roads without considering the traffic jam they are responsible for. Adequate dropping and parking areas have not been ensured. The existing pavements and roads are illegally occupied to serve the building users. This shows a total lack of community responsibility on the part of the developers and lack of foresight and professionalism by the controlling authorities.
A few recommendations for introducing inclusiveness in the urban movement system have been provided to get the attention of the policy makers. First and foremost, there has to be provision of adequate footpaths along all new urban roads across the country.
In the existing roads innovative ways must be explored, such as elevating the footpath where there is space constraints and making parts of the ground floor accessible to pedestrians. Provision for footpaths is a legal requirement for owners of road frontage development in many western and Asian cities. This provision is an integral part of the statutory building/planning rules. Road front property owners are required to allocate a strip of land to the urban municipality for pedestrian movement only.
Once footpaths are established, local surveillance must be ensured to keep them free from storage of construction materials, garbage/garbage bins, extension of shops, use as car parking bays or as dropping areas for the massive shopping malls littered across the city's thoroughfares.
Maintenance may also be made a legal requirement for the roadside building owners. The building owner may receive a small fee, get tax benefits, and obtain additional floor space benefit beyond the existing building rules for such services.
On a different note, it must be kept in mind that footpaths provide the only space for trading wares for a large section of the urban poor. Therefore, instead of eviction or neglect, innovative ways to make provision for street vendors must be explored, keeping provisions for pedestrian movement.
A mechanism to formalise their operations must be an integral function of the City Corporations/Municipalities, which they should pursue in association with the development authorities.
When adequate footpaths and pedestrian facilities exist, mass bus transport becomes an acceptable and popular option. Appropriate provisions for the operation of an efficient bus system should be included by the government through fiscal and spatial measures. Spatial measures include ensuring that the existing road network caters to the needs of bus operations, such as bus lanes, and designated waiting and dropping areas for passengers.
The surface of the bus lanes may have a different colour or texture. This helps it to become self-regulatory. Once this is done, all efforts must be taken to reserve this portion for public transportations, particularly during peak hours.
Private cars should get the least preference in the urban movement system. Our government must discourage the ownership and use of private cars through fiscal and spatial measures. Fiscal measures may include amongst others:
-High yearly car ownership tax;
-Low availability of institutional credit for purchasing private cars; and
-Higher fuel prices for private cars. Spatial restrictions may limit the entry of private cars into certain roads during peak hours.
Many Asian cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Taiwan, imposed restrictions on private car ownership as early as the '70's and opted for developing efficient mass public transportations. Other Asian capitals have, through the years, introduced fiscal measures to reduce car ownership, thereby slowing the motorisation process while keeping facilities for commuters.
Contrast this with Bangladesh's use of luxury private cars, which crossed all time records, and easy and attractive credit line under consumer credit scheme offered by banks. The hundreds of imported cars lined up for sale, occupying scarce port storage yards (Prothom Alo June, 28) are evidence of misplaced policies.
The CNG scooters operate like private transportation. They create indiscipline and chaos. As a mode of transport, they are expensive, unreliable and inefficient in terms of road space occupancy. It's time to look at long-term benefits against short-term prescriptions. Innovative ways to operate non-motorised transportation can be explored. Options have run out for many areas in the capital city but creativity can work wonders.
We appeal to the government to take a firm decision to provide safe and adequate footpaths, pursue mass public transportations, construct parking garages in all areas according to projected demand, and discourage "private car." Combined and innovative actions towards these goals will make Dhaka and other cities livable, will boost the economy and establish social justice.

Zarina Hossain is an Architect-Urban Planner.
Email: [email protected].