As many as 18 locations in the city and its suburbs have been identified for development of pedestrian malls.
Pedestrian malls are open spaces that serve as gathering and activity spaces for social, recreational and civic purposes. The malls will be designed similar to those in Hong Kong.
“Such spaces can be created beneath Metro Rail stations and flyovers where large pedestrian volumes are reported throughout the day,” said a civic official.
The Chennai Corporation has already started developing pedestrian facilities in areas such as T. Nagar.
The pedestrian malls proposed for the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) are expected to serve as one of the core elements of urban renewal. According to studies carried out in other cities, the pedestrian malls have shown improved footfall, a sense of identity and belonging, improved social interactions, better safety, making them active and vibrant spaces of the city.
In the case of CMA, the locations where the quality of streets and public spaces have been deteriorating have been identified for the project.
Pedestrian malls would be developed in Chennai Central, NSC Bose Road, Chinna Bazaar Road, Kasi Chetty Street, Broadway Eravalu Street, Puraswalkam, T. Nagar Usman Road, Mylapore Tank Road, Pondi Bazaar, Parry’s Corner, Anna Nagar Roundtana, Muthulingam Street, West Tambaram, Vadapalani North Mada Street, Madhya Kailash, Olympia Tech Park, Kathipara Flyover, Koyambedu and Moolakadai.
