How to make all days car-free?

Analysts of urban development welcome car-free Sundays. They however point out that the initiative will make sense only if efforts are also taken to address the root cause of the problem. They want urban planning to be focussed on creating self-contained neighbourhoods that would obviate any undue reliance on motorised transport.

“The majority of areas within Chennai are not self-contained. These areas are compartmentalised. They may be large residential areas. Or, they may be commercial areas. Typically, residents live in commuter towns and travel to their workplaces located faraway. This situation increases the demand for quick travel. The travel distance is also huge. Motorised transport becomes essential due to these factors,” says K.P. Subramaniam, former professor, Department of Urban Engineering, Anna University.

He believes these areas have reached a point of no return. They don’t lend themselves to root-and-branch change anymore. Huge parcels of land are not available for development.

In contrast, areas on the fringes of the city offer immense possibilities. They could be planned better.

“With balanced development, all the essential elements can be brought into one locality. One part of the locality can be residential. Another part of it, commercial, which includes offices and companies, except for polluting companies. And another part, institutional. Self-contained neighbourhoods promote the ‘walk to work’ concept. Living in self-contained neighbourhoods leads to minimal use of motorised transport. Car-free Sundays give us only a fleeting sense of being free of cars. Promoting walk to work offers a more meaningful and sustainable solution.” explains Mr. Subramaniam.

Are efforts being made by government agencies engaged in urban development to prevent compartmentalisation of localities?

“The blueprint for balanced development is inherent in the Master Plan. When a developer of a layout seeks approval, he is asked to earmark parcels of land for specific purposes such as residential, commercial and institutional. If the developer fails to do so, the CMDA revises the layout to ensure balanced development,” says S. Santhanam, former member - chief urban planner, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.

Mr. Subramaniam however believes more aggressive measures are necessary to create self-contained neighbourhoods where most essential services can be accessed by walking and cycling. The government should attempt innovative urban development models to achieve this objective.

They should incorporate features of proven ‘walk to work’ models from other parts of the world while developing the Tiruporur-Maramalai Nagar Corridor and the Thirumazhisai Satellite Township.

Without an aggressive approach, it’s difficult to arrest ribbon development, which promotes urban sprawl and undue reliance on motorised transport, he points out. A classic example is the Velachery-Tambaram Main Road, where one comes across one commuter town after another.

The residents travel long to reach their workplaces, most of them by bikes and cars.