Redesigning 540 kilometers long roads in Delhi
DDC organizes a high-level international workshop on street design in partnership with WRI India
City-makers and transport experts from Seoul, Singapore, New York, London and Bogota share their experiences with Delhi government
Delhi Government committed to focus on infrastructural reforms and road redesigning with an open mind: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
Kejriwal Government committed to redesign and transform over 540 kilometers long roads in Delhi as per best global practices: PWD Minister Satyendar Jain
Our aim is to make roads safe, sustainable, pedestrian-friendly and accessible, especially to senior citizens and young children: PWD Minister Satyendar Jain
All the global cities cited political leadership as crucial to making street transformation happen. Under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi govt is determined to building world class streets in the national capital: VC DDC, Jasmine Shah
The Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) in partnership with WRI India organised a high level international workshop on today on the topic of ‘Transforming Delhi’s Streets’. The purpose of the virtual workshop was to understand international best practices in street design and development. The workshop was organised to learn from the journeys of top global cities in street transformation and apply those lessons to Delhi’s streets. Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia and Hon’ble PWD Minister Shri Satyendar Jain were present for the workshop as Chief Guests. VC DDC Shri Jasmine Shah, Dr. O P Agarwal, CEO of WRI India along with other top officials of WRI India and senior officials and engineers of PWD department also attended the workshop.
The workshop saw international participation of city-makers and transport experts from the cities of London, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Bogota among others sharing insights and experiences of street transformation in their cities. The workshop also saw participation from the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Mumbai. The session facilitated a direct interaction between all the experts and the Delhi Government during the workshop.
PWD Minister Shri Satyendar Jain in his opening remark reaffirmed the Delhi Government’s commitment to redesign over 540 kilometers long roads in Delhi as per best global practices with an aim to make them safe, sustainable, pedestrian-friendly and accessible, especially to senior citizens and young children. He emphasized on the importance of this global participation as a learning exercise and sought continued support from design experts across the world to collaborate with the Delhi Government for redesigning of roads.
Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia in his address said that the Delhi Government is currently identified with its social reforms in education and health sector, and it is committed to focus on infrastructural reforms and road redesigning with similar vigour. He further requested all the participants to keep an open mind to learn and deliberate upon the global experiences shared in the workshop. He also encouraged the participants to develop an understanding on the systems and processes that top global cities adopted in street transformation and their application to the streets of Delhi.
Vice Chairperson, Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, Shri Jasmine Shah said, “It was a privilege for DDC to organise such an international workshop that is happening for the first time in Delhi. It is illuminating to see the almost all global cities began their journeys in street transformation only 15-20 years back and have managed to do so in this short period. All of them cited political leadership as critical to making the transformation happen. Under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi government is determined to building world-class streets in the national capital.”
Social equity in the Philosophy of Transport Policy is important to develop human friendly streets: Expert from Seoul, Mr. GyengChul KIM, CEO DMROC
Mr GyengChul KIM from Seoul encapsulated the paradigm shift in Seoul from roads being a car-oriented space to becoming human spaces with their focus on human mobility. He shared that Seoul places public transport and pedestrian mobility as top priority areas in its transport policy and the law. From building flyovers and footbridges, which were inequitable and inaccessible to many, Seoul has incorporated more pedestrian squares, pedestrian crosswalks and lanes dedicated to buses. He said that political will and support from the leadership are significant to redesign and implement such a transformative program. He added that social equity in the Philosophy of Transport Policy is important to develop human friendly streets.
Redesigning streets is not about just creating infrastructure or using the technology. It is about connecting places, people and possibilities: Expert from Singapore, Mr. Ong Eu-Gene, Director at Land Transport Authority, Singapore
Mr. Ong Eu-Gene from Singapore shared the details of the Road Repurposing project in Singapore. Singapore decided to become a Car-Lite Nation i.e. a nation that rely less on cars on roads and more on public, shared and active transport. Mr. Oug Eu-Gene said that redesigning streets is not about just creating infrastructure or using the technology. It is about connecting places, people and possibilities. He shared their key infrastructural initiatives such as building more Integrated Transport Hubs, Active Mobility Networks, Community Spaces, Pedestrian Streets, Transit Priority Corridor and using railways as the backbone of public transport system. He emphasized on the importance of engaging with affected stakeholders prior to the implementation of any road design project.
In order to create an impact, to enhance road safety, a data driven process is followed: Expert from New York, Mr. Michael Replogle, Former Deputy Commissioner for Policy, New York City Department of Transportation
Mr. Michael Replogle from New York emphasized on the need to integrate data driven processes in redesigning roads, recording progress and revising yearly priorities. He shared the observations from the Speed Camera Program adopted in New York where most vehicles that received one traffic violation, did not receive another within a calendar year. Strategic multi-cultural communication strategies were used to engage the citizens and engineer an environment to improve pedestrian mobility. The COVID-19 outbreak further transformed street environment with the emergence of open streets, open restaurants, outdoor learning streets and expansion of bike network.
London has developed a set of 5 city planning scenarios for the short and long-term future in the light of Covid-19 - Expert from London, Mr. Alex Williams, Director, City Planning
Mr. Alex Williams from London shared London’s vision of Streets for All. London has focused on increasing the use of bicycles and buses. The London City Planning has made the buses more reliable and consistent with 24-hour operations, which has reduced the traffic congestions due to private motor vehicles and made roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. London has developed a set of 5 city planning scenarios for the short and long-term future in the light of Covid-19.
Planning for moving people, not moving cars. - Expert from Bogota, Mr. Dario Hidalgo, Sr. Transportation Consultant, Bogota, Columbia
Mr. Dario Hidalgo from Bogota illustrated the sustainable mobility “A-S-I” approach adopted in 1998 i.e. Avoid motorized travel, Shift to environment friendly modes of transport and Improve the energy efficiency of transport modes and vehicle technology. The expert suggested that since Bogota and Delhi have similar population density, their programmes could give an insight to the Delhi Government to develop its programme. Bogota focuses on the Low Income Population and promotes walking, cycling and public transport among these communities with a focus on improving their quality of life. Mr. Dario Hidalgo said that while one car lane moves only 2000 people in an hour, a bicycle lane moves over 6000 people. Planning for moving people, not moving cars.
Learning from Indian Cities - Bengaluru and Mumbai
During the conference, Jana Urban Space presented the TENDER SURE project being currently implemented to redesign 50km of roads in Bengaluru in collaboration with BBMP. Officials from Mumbai also participated in the programme and shared details of their experiences in setting up the Mumbai Street Lab to implement design interventions in road redevelopment