PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY & WALKABLE NEIGHBOURHOODSApoorv Kumar GuptaSmarika SharmaPhone no.- 9098063754, 9479555604College- Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal

Looking at our past, preferred mode of transportation with the community designs and mode of living was walking. With the change in phase of time, infrastructural and transportation development along with decentralization of the cities and the movement of families to urban areas forced the shift of growth towards an environment with that reduced walkability. With the increase in urban issues and environment, interest of people in walkability and walkable neighborhoods has increased. The infrastructure has to be designed in such a way so as to promote walking. Its vibrant landscape and design amplifies the experience of walking. Pedestrian friendly areas are also environment friendly. They not only decrease the energy consumption but also helps in decreasing the traffic congestion to a huge extend. Adding trees, seating, holding events to attract users, creating walk trails are some of the methods that can be adopted. A few of the above said measures will help to develop a better neighborhood. While these neighborhoods will provide hope, there will still be need of a broader cultural conversation about walkability.Key words: Center, mixed income, mixed use, parks and public spaces, complete streets, parks and public spaces.

INTRODUCTIONWhile driving a person sees while walking he perceives.Walkers are 'practitioners of the city,' for the city is made to be walked. A city is a language, a repository of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of selecting from those possibilities. Just as language limits what can be said, architecture limits where one can walk, but the walker invents other ways to go.Considering the increment in services and facilities at door-step, the spillover of people in this globalizing urban setup has considerably decreased. The services which were miles away are now just a call or a click away. People have started prioritizing functions, the final outcome or the destination is what is sought for. As such, pedestrian culture is fading and soon, humans can be compared to captives in free bubbles which stay close yet isolated.The main function associated with pedestrians is walking, which generally acts as a function connecting two prior functions. How through architecture can a person as a pedestrian be made to take the experience of walking to a stage of leisure and a more conscious function so that its not just a walk, its a pleasant journey ?WALKABILITYWalking is ones conscious effort to travel and perceive the space.Walkability can be technically defined as: "The extent to which the built environment is friendly to the presence of people living, shopping, visiting, enjoying or spending time in an area".Factors affecting walkability includestreet connectivity, land usemix, residential density, the presence of trees and vegetation; frequency and variety of buildings, entrances and other sensations along street frontages, "transparency" which includes amount of glass in windows and doors, as well as orientation and proximity of homes and buildings to watch over the street; plenty of places to go to near the majority of homes; place making, street designs that work for people, not just cars and retailfloor area ratio.Majorinfrastructuralfactors include access tomass transit, presence and quality offootpaths, buffers to moving traffic andpedestrian crossings,aesthetics, nearby local destinations, air quality, shade or sun in appropriate seasons,street furniture, traffic volume and speedand wind conditions.PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD- AN INSIGHTAs per the observations and understanding of human psychology, spaces with a certain configuration and composition harness and fetch pedestrian activities. The destinations in the pedestrian friendly area are located within walking distance from residences or vehicular collection points. Essentially, the Pedestrian must be able to arrive in the area on foot. The combination of routes and destinations throughout the area must be safe, supportive and friendly to pedestrians. The pedestrian must feel comfortable walking from one place to the next and then ultimately back to where they entered the area preferably completing a loop. The area should be attractive to pedestrians once they have arrived and are presented with the functional requirements of safe and manageably walkable routes, the finishing touches are needed to encourage the pedestrian to actually walk. Reasons why walkability depends on block size are numerous. More intersections means more places where vehicles must stop and pedestrians can cross. Also, short blocks along with frequent cross streets create the budding for direct routing which is important to pedestrians, much more than to speeding motorists. Finally, a intense network of streets disperses traffic, so that each street carries lesser traffic and can be scaled accordingly; this makes streets more pleasant to walk along and easier to cross. There may be psychological factors at work as well. It has been suggested that more intersections give pedestrians more sense of freedom and control as they need not always take the same path to a given destination; that more intersections make a walk seem more eventful, since it is punctuated by frequent crossing of streets; that more intersections may shorten the sense of elapsed time on walk trips, since progress is judged to some extent against the milestone of reaching the next intersection.

PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY DESIGN

Space specific function or function specific space? Since spaces that accommodate pedestrian movements are multifunctional, they cannot simply be given a particular type of treatment but the flexibility to accommodate various profiles of pedestrian movement. Further, people do not need temple to pray, the same way they do not need material elements only but the immaterial ambience to develop an allure for the place. The above requirements can be achieved through good design that carefully considers basic architectural concepts like site planning, circulation, massing, proportion, etc. The following text discusses this in great detail.

DESIGN PROPOSALS

The worlds perpetual magnetism with the automobile and the cornucopia of mother earth have resulted in conventional growth patterns in which everything is spread out and is shaped by the requirements of the automobile. This fascination also has created a cultural phenomenon in which people tend not to walk as a means to move from place to place. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the fundamental elements that must exist to support a pedestrian friendly environment as well as how to achieve this desired pedestrian friendly environment, especially in areas which have historically been dense, compact and concentrated spaces.Out of time space and people, we can alter the space and in many aspects. The composition of the space and the dominance of its various characters can be altered to capture pedestrian charisma at that place.Site PlanningThis is the organizational stage of the design process that involves an analysis of composition and placement of a building within its surrounding environment.1) Site Planning and Context: A building should participate with the language of its environment. More importantly, successful pedestrian friendly buildings should maintain strong contextual elements in order to contribute to the "sense of place" of a particular city, region, or area. By continuing the quality and the character of its surroundings, the building facilitates the continuity of the vernacular style.2) Site Planning and Connectivity: Good vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian circulation ensures connectivity to and from the building, while accommodating successful links of the entire urban fabric. Sidewalks, walkways, intersections, crosswalks, signage, landscaping, and lighting should be considered from a master site planning scale in order to fully understand the building's impact on the surrounding area. In all loops should be completed. Discontinued sidewalks and bike paths are just as pedestrian un-friendly as not having any of these amenities.3) Site Planning and Parking: The placement of parking says a lot about a building's pedestrian friendly nature, as evident in the two sketches. A building engaged with the street edge and its environment is important for pedestrian accessibility, whereas a building surrounded by a parking lot is isolated and unapproachable.CirculationThe path of movement conceived as the perceptual thread that links the spaces of a building, or any series of interior or exterior spaces together. A vehicle requires a path with smooth contours that reflect its turning radius; however, the width of the path can be tailored tightly to its dimensions. Pedestrians can tolerate abrupt changes in direction, but require a greater volume of space relative to their bodily.1) Circulation and Sidewalks: As the primary means of pedestrian circulation, sidewalks are an important part of pedestrian friendly design. Sidewalks should be continuous from block to block and neighborhood to neighborhood. They should provide a clear and direct route and be wide enough to comfortably accommodate expected traffic levels and the street furniture that enhance pedestrian oriented areas.2) Circulation and Intersections: Pedestrian friendly intersections should have a turning radius of 5 to 10 feet. A tighter radius makes turning vehicles more aware of pedestrians than large sweeping turns where cars barely need to slow down. Narrow turns also reduce the distance of street that the pedestrian must cross.3) Circulation and Crosswalks: All crosswalks should be well marked and well lit. Crosswalk markings vary and can include crosswalk signs, unique paving, raised plateaus, sidewalks that flare into the parking lane, and Simple Street marking lines.4) Circulation and Traffic Buffers: Pedestrian circulation paths should be buffered from vehicular circulation by parking lanes, street trees, bollards, street furniture, and street lights. Not all of these elements are required all of the time but the idea is that an actual, firm barrier exist and not simply a narrow strip of grass.MassingThe term defines three-dimensional volume of a building, with an understanding of its overall impression of weight density, and bulk.1) Massing and the Human Scale: Pedestrian oriented massing should reflect the human scale within its overall composition. The interplay of solid and void can be used to help break down the general volume of the building and relate it back to human proportion and scale. Additionally, window size and placement can help facilitate the scalar difference from the overall building massing and the pedestrian.2) Massing and the Ground Level: Irregularities in the design of a facade are important to break down massing, especially on the ground level where a pedestrian interacts with the building. Composition pertaining to columns, doorways, arches, awnings, niches, corners, covered walkways, and other details is as important as the overall building itself. These items provide a varied visual stimulus and further break down the building's massing to keep the pedestrian engaged within his I her surroundings.3) Massing and Density: The semblance of density can also be achieved by a building's massing, as evident in the above right diagram. A strong street edge is successful to a pedestrian friendly environment, therefore massing that breaks down the composition into a smaller, denser series of volumes should be considered.ProportionThe proper or harmonious relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to spatial quality is defined by the proportion. Proportional theories have been prevalent throughout architectural history, and remain a guiding force in design. Renaissance architect Alberti called beauty, "the harmony of all parts in relation to one another" and thus analogous to proportion. New developments should utilize short to medium length blocks. A higher proportion of intersections along a roadway creates more opportunities for pedestrians to cross streets, slows traffic, and provides more relief to the pedestrian than long uninterrupted blocks. Blocks 300 to 500 feet are good for pedestrians. Blocks over 600 feet should not be considered pedestrian oriented.1) Proportion and Street Oriented Buildings: The ratio of building height to street width is important for creating visual enclosure for pedestrians. Visual enclosure occurs when bordering buildings on a street occupy most of a pedestrian's cone of vision. Successful visual enclosure creates an "outdoor room" that the pedestrian occupies.2) Proportion and Facade Design: The proportion of various architectural elements also has an effect on the pedestrian. The dimensions of windows, doorways, arches and columns are most accommodating when they are not overwhelming in size. Formidable elements are difficult for the pedestrian to interact with while human scaled elements are comfortable and relatable.3) Proportion and Signage: Signage should be designed with consideration of street width, traffic speed and land use. For a pedestrian oriented area, signs should be mounted at a comfortable height and be clear and legible from the close range at which a pedestrian encounters the sign.MaterialityThe concept of, or applied use of, various materials or substances in the medium of building. Proportion and modularity based on materiality. Uniformly distributed material building facades are more attractive.1) Materiality and the Pedestrian: Materiality gives a pedestrian tactile experience of the building's facade and streetscape. Weight and scale are perceived differently due to light and sound absorption, therefore, texture and color affect the overall perception of the building's fa9ade. Materiality also adds depth to of how a building is perceived: from afar through a visual understanding of form and color, and from closer inspection through texture and grain.2) Materiality and External Elements: Humans are corporal creatures, relying on all of their senses to experience the world. Material differentiation can also be introduced through signage, landscaping, lamp posts, fencing, pavers, benches, planters, sculpture, cafe tables, chairs, art work, and other similar items. These external elements add to the ground floor design of a building allowing the pedestrian to relate to the building through its environment.3) Materiality and Modularity: Modularity in window sizes, door sizes, brick and block dimensions, and other sheathing materials should be in direct proportion to the human scale. Likewise, material proportion should relate to the overall proportion of the building, creating a harmony of parts to the whole.RhythmMovement characterized by a patterned repetition or alternation of formal elements or motifs in the same or a modified form.1) Rhythm and Repetition: Most buildings incorporate elements that are repetitive by nature. Beams and columns create modules of space that are perceived as rhythmic. Likewise, repetitive elements on the exterior of a building, such as window and door spacing, create rhythmic components that are easily read by a pedestrian. Rhythmic pattern alludes to continuity and is vital for pedestrian life.2) Vertical vs. Horizontal Rhythm: Most pedestrian friendly buildings incorporate vertical elements or rhythms along the ground floor of the facade. Horizontal rhythms tend to represent a long expanse, leaving the pedestrian feeling overwhelmed with large distance to travel. A better perspective for eye-level is short and staccato vertical elements, such as columns or window framing, that move the pedestrian from "column to column" and keep them engaged with the building's rhythm.3) Rhythm and Context: Rhythm should also extend to the overall building block or street edge. Continuity of rhythm from one building facade to the next can be done using similar proportionate and scalar elements, such as window and door placement and sizes, or the continuation of an architectural detail, such as a cornice or roof edge.TransparencyThe degree of enclosure and openness from one space to the next, implying a visual connectivity and/or an interchange of flow of space. No visual continuity into the building. Complete visual transparency from inside to the street.1) Transparency and the Ground Floor: The ground floor facade should be the single most activated interface between city and building. Open and welcoming buildings bring with them a sense of security and accessibility that are important qualities for successful pedestrian life. Views into and out of a building visually connects the building with the pedestrian and the surrounding environment.2) Transparency and Exterior Enclosures: Large doors and windows maintain visual connectivity, while openings within the building's overall mass, such as entry courts, create pockets of exterior space that open the building up even further. This visual and physical continuity extends the building's program to its environment and generates a sense of an exterior enclosure or "outdoor room."3) Transparency and Programming: Pedestrian friendly buildings use programmatic elements to engage with the outdoors. Successful ground floor program includes, but is not limited to, cafes, restaurants, shops, farmers markets, and other socially driven program. Outdoor seating brings program out of the building leading to an even greater sense of exterior enclosure, and blurs the boundary of where the street begins and the building ends.DetailA small elaborated element of a work of art, craft, or design can further prove to be charismatic. "Details are much more than subordinate elements; they can be regarded as the minimal units of signification in the architectural production of meanings." Materials are seen primarily as a color field. The facade is seen only in fragments. Individual elements are clearer and materials are more clearly expressed. Only a small area of the faade is visible. The joints in materials are visible and details are easily read. Only an individual element is visible. The smallest details are clear and materials are now tactile as well as visual.A pedestrian's view of a building is greatly reduced as they move closer to the building, but the ability to perceive detail is increased.1) Detail and Architecture: Buildings in pedestrian oriented areas are experienced more intimately than buildings in higher speed car oriented areas. At close range and low speed, the pedestrian has time to admire rich textures, fine materials and subtle variations in design. This experience can also extend into the building through the transparency of the entry and display windows along the elevation. Pedestrian friendly buildings should provide these kinds of details for by passers.2) Detail and Street Furniture: As an important part of walkable neighborhoods, the design of street furniture should also enrich the pedestrian experience. Decorative lamp posts, bollards, tree grates, benches, bike racks, and even parking meters add interest and approachability in pedestrian zones. Many of these items are necessary for legal, maintenance, or safety reasons so it requires only a little extra effort to detail them so that they become an asset as well as a requirement.3) Detail and Public Art: Public art can both enhance the pedestrian experience, and create a uniqueness of place that adds distinction to an area. Unique works of art add to the individuality of the neighborhood, square or town where they are located. Art can also play an important role in reinforcing physical and visual connections between a place and its surroundings.One of the best ways to quickly determine the walkability of a block, corridor or neighborhood is to count the number of people walking, lingering and engaging in optional activities within a space.While this process is a vast improvement upon pedestrian level of service indicators recommended withinthe Highway Capacity Manual,it may not translate well to non-Western locations where the idea of "optional" activities may be different. In any case, the diversity of people, and especially the presence of children, seniors and people with disabilities, denotes the quality, completeness and health of a walkable spaceincreased walkability has proven to have many other individual and community health benefits, such as opportunities for increased social interaction, an increase in the average number of friends and associates where people live, reduced crime (with more people walking and watching over neighborhoods, open space andmain streets ) increased sense of pride, and increased volunteerism. One of most important benefits of walkability is the decrease of the automobile footprint in the community. Carbon emissions can be reduced if more people choose to walk rather than drive.COMMUNITY PLANNINGMany communities have embracedpedestrianmobility as an alternative to older building practices thatfavor automobiles. Reasons for this shift include a belief that dependency on automobiles is ecologically unsustainable; automobile-oriented environments engender dangerous conditions to both motorists and pedestrians, and are generally bereft of aesthetics.Auto-focused designs also diminish walking and needed "eyes on the street" provided by the steady presence of people in an area. Reduced walking also reduces social interaction, mixing of populations and pride in streets and other civic space.There are several ways to make a community more walkable. Sidewalks should be implemented where there are "sidewalk gaps", with priority to areas where walking should be encouraged, such as around schools or transit stations. In Atlanta,safe routes to transitis a growing campaign to provide safer access to transit stops for pedestrians. When implementing new sidewalks, there are several aspects to consider. For example, the width of the sidewalk is important for walkability.The AmericanswithDisabilities Act(ADA) requires that sidewalks be at least five feet in width.Obstructions like sign posts and utility poles can decrease the walkable width of the sidewalk, so alternative locations for these obstructions, especially sign posts, should be used.Quality maintenanceand proper lighting of sidewalks should be sustained to reduce obstructions, improve safety, and overall encourage walking. Another way to make sidewalks safer is to implement buffers, which are areas of grass between the street and the sidewalk. An additional benefit of buffers is that the vegetation absorbs the carbon dioxide from automobile emissionsand assists with water drainage.Making crosswalks safer is also key to walkability.Curb extensionsdecrease the radii of the corners of the curb at intersections.Curb extensionscalm traffic and decrease the distance pedestrians have to cross. On streets with parking, curb extensions allow pedestrians to see oncoming traffic better where they otherwise would be forced to walk into the street to see past parked cars. Striped crosswalks, orzebra crossings, also provide safer crossings because they provide better visibility for both drivers and pedestrians.A further justification for walkability as a consideration inurban designandplanning is founded upon evolutionary and philosophical grounds, contending that gait has been vital to thecerebral development in humans.After millennia of human development firmly based upon gait, the twentieth century automotive and automated metropolis has separated walking from thinking, and in this sense it has become an agent of regression rather than human progress. Walkability, therefore, is offered as a critical component in contemporary urban design considerations, with implications far beyond the scope of current concerns.NEED FOR PEDESTRIAN CULTUREPedestrian friendly areas are also environment friendly. They not only decrease the energy consumption but also helps in decreasing the traffic congestion to a huge extend. A few improvements when done will help to make the community pedestrian friendly and neighborhoods walkable.As the human population has increased, the consumption of natural resources has become a serious problem for our society. With the possibilities of severe oil shortages, there is a growing need to promote a society which better suits the requirements of pedestrians. At the same time, there is a big push for urban redevelopments to rebuild a strong city center in the United States. It is important that these new redevelopments take into account the changing needs of our society by providing a good pedestrian environment. The main objective of this thesis is to illustrate the fundamental elements that must exist to support a pedestrian friendly environment in urban areas, to determine the potential and potential problems facing, and to offer suggestions on how to further bolster these plans in its effort to establish a healthy pedestrian downtown.Walkability has also been found to have manyeconomic benefits, including accessibility, cost savings both to individuals and to the public, increased efficiency of land use, increased livability, economic benefits from improved public health, and economic development, among others. The benefits of walkability are best guaranteed if the entire system of public corridors is walkable - not limited to certain specialized routes. TheWorld Cancer Research FundandAmerican Institute for Cancer Researchreleased a report that new developments should be designed to encourage walking, on the grounds since walking contributes to a reduction of cancer.All components should work together to provide a diversity of downtown uses thereby generating the critical mass necessary to support a healthy pedestrian environment, Provision of Public Transit Systems, Establishment of Central Transportation Hub, and Enhancement of Sufficient Parking Facilities, should work to ensure accessibility and to create an environment that is compatible with pedestrians; and Size of the concerned Area, Size of the City Blocks, and Other Elements Serving to Create a Sense of Human Scale, will condition peoples perception of downtown thereby prompting people to walk. Hence, pedestrianism becomes a very important aspect of our planning solutions.CONCLUSIONWith the increase in urban and environmental, interests of people in walkability and walkable neighborhoods have increased. The infrastructure has to been designed in such a way so as to promote walking. Its vibrant landscape and design amplifies the experience of walking.Apart from the environmental issues, it also benefits the health of the users, increases opportunity for social interactions and also decreases the economic load. Automobile footprint i.e. carbon emission can be reduced to a considerable level if people choose to walk.Pedestrianism is a concept important for urban development. They should ultimately attempt to improve city centers making them strong economic, social, and cultural center assuring health growth patterns and take into account the changing needs of our society by providing a good pedestrian environment.

REFERENCES-1) PEDESTRIAN AND TRANSIT-FRIENDLY DESIGN: A Primer for Smart Growth Based on a manual prepared for the Florida Department of Transportation and published by the American Planning Association.2) Wikipedia 3) Pedestrian scale design guidelines manual- pdf4) A Pedestrian friendly neighborhood for downtown baton rogue5) http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/120665-walkers-are-practitioners-of-the-city-for-the-city-is