There
are probably as many definitions of underdevelopment
as there are developing countries. So let me offer another
definition that may be appropriate for the early 21st
century: a developing country is one with few places
for urban residents to walk safely.
The lack of safety need not be a reflection of crime,
but simply a matter of inadequate facilities for pedestrians.
The almost complete lack of safe and continuous pavements
and footpaths that is so typical of the many urban sprawls
across the developing world is almost as notable as
the extensive provision of these in, say, cities and
towns of western Europe. Indeed, those cities of the
developing world where pedestrians are given some attention
and civic space are generally in the more developed
parts: Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, for example.
Developing countries currently have rapid rates of rural-urban
migration, and it is estimated that already more than
half of the population of the developing world consists
of urban residents. Yet the provision of basic infrastructure
has lagged far behind the movement of people.
The shortage of basic amenities especially in urban
slums is well known. Problems such as those of inadequate
safe water supply, sanitation, power provision, environmental
pollution and congestion have been widely studied. The
shortage of space, with cramped and crowded living and
working conditions, no playgrounds for children and
few parks for residents, have been noted.
Increasingly, there is also recognition of the ecological
footprints of urbanisation. Generally, towns and cities
in developing countries have lower per capita energy
consumption than those in the developed world. Even
so, developing country urban sprawls cast adverse environmental
shadows on the surrounding region, not only through
the generation of solid waste and air pollution, but
also by contaminating water sources, using up or degrading
what used to be prime agricultural land, destroying
natural vegetation. These eventually affect environmental
conditions in the urban spaces themselves, and impact
on urban quality of life, especially for the less privileged
residents who cannot protect themselves from the negative
impacts.
These issues are now commonplace in discussions on the
urban condition. But one very crucial aspect of city
life in developing countries seems to be missed out
in most such discussions - the importance of having
safe, continuous and usable walking spaces.
This is certainly evident in India, even though rates
of urbanisation in India are lower than in most of the
developing world. In general, urban development in India
is clearly engaged in the process of destroying the
footpaths and pavements that did exist. It seems to
be that most municipalities rarely accommodate for footpaths
in urban planning exercises, or if they do, they subsequently
turn a blind eye to breaches of plans that destroy walking
spaces.
As a result, even cities that even a decade ago used
to be seen as pleasant havens with leafy walk ways are
now congested nightmares, with paved roads for vehicles
taking precedence and reducing or even removing the
spaces available for pedestrians. The problem is not
confined to the rapidly expanding metros, but spreads
across almost all urban conglomerations. As a result,
pedestrians walk the streets at their peril, typically
having to share the road with unregulated traffic involving
all sorts of vehicles and without access to any separate
protected space.
To take only one example, consider Hyderabad, a city
that has grown very rapidly in the last decade not only
in population but even more in geographical spread.
Two aspects of Hyderabad's growth make it even more
instructive as an example with wider significance.
First, urban development in Hyderabad has raised property
prices so sharply that land has become a major source
of both accumulation and speculation. This in turn has
given rise to numerous scams around land-grabbing and
insider deals, of which that related to Satyam/Maytas
is only the latest. Second, both the current state government
and the previous one have emphasised the ''beautification''
of the city and the creation of ''world class'' urban
infrastructure.
So what are the ''world class'' facilities that the city
of Hyderabad now delivers it residents? Mostly, the
new urban development consists of some major new urban
road arteries, widening of existing roads, the spanking
new Shamshabad airport (which is almost desolate in
its distance and imitative grandeur), along with the
usual paraphernalia of contemporary metropolitana: shopping
malls and high rise apartments.
Much of this has predictably excluded the majority of
residents, and the lack of emphasis on basics such as
adequate sanitation or clean and affordable housing
for the poor is only too evident in the continuing chaos
and growing congestion of much of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
But the road expansion in particular has had another
effect: the almost complete destruction of pavements
and walking spaces in large parts of the twin cities.
Wherever roads have been widened, the assumption seems
to have been that no one will ever need to walk along
them, but will simply use mechanised transport to traverse
them even for short distances. There is no other way
to understand why in many places there has been no apparent
attempt to create any sort of separate pavement, and
pedestrians are forced to negotiate their passage in
direct competition (and often confrontation) with speeding
cars, buses, two- and three-wheelers. Since vehicular
traffic in India is almost universally aggressive in
its attitude to pedestrians, this does not make for
easy or safe journeys on foot. And the problem is compounded
by the various animals that are usually to be found
on our streets, for whom movement must be equally if
not more difficult.
On those streets where some minor concession to pedestrians
remains in the form of a few limited sidewalks, these
are little more than complicated and often malicious
obstacle courses. The narrow pavements are usually uneven,
poorly paved and apparently never cleaned. They tend
to be punctuated with trees, electric poles, stumps
of open live wires, heaps of rubbish and sludge, broken
glass and other discarded items - forcing those who
try to use them to periodically jump off them and on
to the crowded roads.
All this makes it difficult enough for healthy adults
to perambulate on such roads. Imagine the problems of
old people, small children, pregnant women, people with
some physical disability, those carrying heavy and bulky
burdens. The simple act of perambulation becomes not
just arduous but something fraught with risk, a near-impossible
task.
Since urban planning in India also apparently ignores
the obvious need for public conveniences for ordinary
people, and Hyderabad appears to be no exception to
this rule, public toilets are few and far between. They
are certainly hard to find on most major roads or even
in most markets and other crowded urban spaces. This
creates huge problems for women who are forced to be
in such public spaces for long periods, but the male
of the species in our country is typically not constrained
by such lack of facilities. Therefore the pavements
tend to have another, less dangerous but often more
unpleasant, feature: the pervasive stench of urine.
Combine all this with other sources of unease for hapless
pedestrians: noise pollution because of the constant
honking of car horns and the rumble of engines; atmospheric
pollution because of all the emissions from the vast
diversity of vehicles of every size and age; the difficulty
of crossing streets even when there are traffic lights,
because of so many transgressions by vehicles. It is
clear that street life is nasty and brutish, not just
for the poorest of the poor who are forced to live on
the streets, but even for those who have to walk on
them for a short while.
I have picked on Hyderabad as an example, but clearly
the problem is not unique to this city. From Mumbai
to Kolkata, from Pune to Chennai, from Bangalore to
Amritsar, we are destroying urban spaces and making
them dirty, difficult and dangerous for most people
to use.
What is extraordinary is that much of this is done precisely
in the name of making our cities ''world class''! Perhaps,
if we stopped thinking of the world, and started thinking
of the needs of most of our own urban residents, we
might actually begin to make our cities liveable.
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