Reclaiming the streets

The Megapolis and Western Development Ministry on Thursday opened a new walkway allowing pedestrians easier access to key areas in Pettah. Around the world people are trying to reclaim their cities from cars and it is time people in Sri Lanka, especially those in Colombo, joined the effort. 

Colombo, closely built and easily congested, can actually be a paradise of sorts for pedestrians if enough spaces are created for them. Other cities around the world that have attempted to encourage people to walk have seen greater economic output, tourism and better quality of life. 

In the last few decades people have stripped streets of every function except the movement of vehicles. Now, cities are looking to accommodate and encourage other uses. The premise is called complete streets, urban development that focuses on all the functions a street can serve as a social and commercial space, as well as a way to get around for bikes, public transit and personal vehicles. Including places for people to get a cup of coffee, read the newspaper or have an outdoor meeting next to a fountain can go a long way towards enriching a neighbourhood. 

Pedestrians should have easy ways to move through plazas, parks, restricted-access delivery streets and other places cars cannot go. Clear signage explaining how to navigate around a complex is important, especially for tourist-heavy areas. The best cities have bustling centres where people want to spend time. It’s important to find a good balance between active spaces and retail outlets like an outdoor cafe or a grocery store, without setting aside too much square footage for selling stuff. 

A quarter mile walk across a gigantic big-box store parking lot may seem daunting, but if that walk is instead down a sidewalk lined with shops and cafes it becomes a much nicer idea. It’s all about perception of distance. Cities should avoid taking up entire blocks with massive, impenetrable edifices and partition streets into smaller chunks that feel easier to walk.

Oslo, Madrid, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Brussels and Chengdu are just a few cities around the world that are trying to scale back cars and allow pedestrians to enjoy their cities. Most have demarcated extensive blocks within the city that are made car-free and people are allowed to walk and enjoy the spaces. This encourages pop-up stalls, cafes, street performers and other small businesses to emerge, increasing business, reducing pollution and increasing the standard of life. Cities need to be planned. If, like in Sri Lanka, they are not, then smaller changes are needed to encourage progressive mobility. The further people have to commute, the more traffic they cause. It is impossible to create more and more roads for cars without substantially damaging the liveability of a city, so the only alternative is to improve accessibility. If central city areas are made more attractive and affordable most people would want to live closer to work and enjoy parks and other green spaces without being discouraged by congestion. In Colombo, other than the Viharamahadevi Park, there are few large-scale green spaces to be enjoyed by the public and central areas are too expensive for most people to afford. 

At best pedestrians are offered a pavement in Sri Lanka, whereas paths and walkways are offered elsewhere to encourage people to walk or cycle. It is time that policymakers seriously implement changes to improve liveability, this is the true point of a city.