Why it is important to recognise streets as ‘places of work’

Our streets have always accommodated various users and activities. The ‘Living Streets’ concept highlights their role as vital sites of work.

Public open spaces in Indian cities are scarce, falling below the WHO (World Health Organisation) standard of 9 sq.m. per person. Traditionally, Indian streets have served as multifunctional spaces, accommodating various users and activities, and playing a vital role in daily life. For example, Marine Drive in Mumbai is a popular spot for joggers and fitness enthusiasts in the early mornings and transforms into a social hub during evenings where people gather to relax, watch the sunset, and enjoy street food. 

While urban planning has historically looked at streets merely as routes for mobility, the Smart Cities Mission has shifted the focus to seeing streets as ‘places of recreation’. This has, over the last decade, led to the launch of national-level initiatives like the Happy Streets, Streets4People challenge and the Placemaking Marathon across all smart cities. Despite a positive impact, this particular narrative overlooks the crucial role of streets as ‘places of work’ — wherein streets provide a platform for the informal sector (like street vendors, and auto-rickshaw drivers) to thrive and enable access to affordable goods and services for citizens.

With the rapid pace of urbanisation and the growing focus on streets as ‘places of recreation’, there is a pressing need to advocate for streets as ‘places of work’ and thus recognise their significance in sustaining livelihoods. This approach can create opportunities to boost the informal economy and thereby, transform streets into equitable, safe and comfortable spaces for citizens.

The evolving narrative around Indian streets

The informal sector accounts for over half of India’s GDP, making it a crucial contributor to the country’s economy. However, most Indian streets are not designed to support this sector, making it difficult for players from the sector, such as street vendors, to sustain their livelihoods. As a result, many vendors are forced to occupy footpaths, which pushes pedestrians onto the carriageway, exposing the latter to chaotic traffic and creating unsafe conditions for everyone.

A comparative study of four streets in India — in Delhi, Nagpur, and Kolkata — conducted by Urban Design Square, a research organisation, reveals that while newly revamped streets have created dedicated spaces for walking and cycling, they do not offer enough room for the informal sector. 

Take the newly revamped Chandni Chowk street in Delhi, for example. There is a constant struggle between pedestrians and street vendors, as vendors do not have sufficient designated spaces. At Park Street in Kolkata, the lack of adequate space for taxis results in their halting and parking on the carriageway, obstructing moving traffic.

Street view of Park Street, with taxis on the road.
Taxis parked on the main road in Park Street, Kolkata. Pic: Tonay Kar/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Over the last decade, in a bid to shift the perception of streets from mere routes for traffic to vibrant social places, the Smart Cities Mission has popularised initiatives like Happy Streets. These campaigns temporarily close traffic in selected streets in a city, turning them into ‘places of recreation’. However, the activities promoted in such campaigns — Zumba, Art of Living, cycling, skating etc. —  primarily cater to affluent social groups and by their very nature exclude the local, informal sector.


Read more: Zumba on the streets: A new trend in Indian cities?


Why ‘Happy Streets’ are not always happy spaces

During a field research in Ahmedabad, we asked a street vendor how long he had been working there. He responded saying ‘30 saal se mera laari idhar hai, meri to sari zindagi is sadak se hi chalti hai’ (I’ve had my cart here for 30 years; my life and livelihood function because of this street only). But street transformation initiatives such as ‘Happy Streets’ often exclude a significant number of individuals like him, who use streets as regular ‘places of work’. 

The narrative trickles down further to permanent street design implementation as well, thereby making social inequalities more acute in these cities. Recent street design projects aim to create places that are sanitised of informality, often displacing street vendors. That is perhaps a reason why, despite huge economic investments, including foreign funding, Indian streets continue to experience conflicts; between pedestrians and street vendors, vehicles and auto-rickshaws, and more. 

This in turn results in an increasing need for enforcement, at heavy costs, as the informal sector (street vendors, auto-rickshaws, etc.) keeps coming back to the revamped streets out of no other choice, but only to be tagged as ‘encroachers’. Even after six years of its implementation, Pondy Bazaar in Chennai, which displaced street vendors, continues to struggle with encroachments.

The question then arises ‘Who is happy on these transformed streets’?

Living Streets – an alternative

‘Living Streets’, an initiative by Urban Design Square, aims to reshape the narrative around Indian urban streets by highlighting their role as vital ‘places of work’. 

The first step in this direction is a comparative study of 4 streets across India to understand the underlying patterns of human behaviour. By asking simple questions like where street vendors thrive, this study brought into focus the gap in the current design and usage of streets, a pattern that is common across the country.

Taking the work forward, the second research study, conducted in collaboration with Design OGC (an urban innovation studio), aimed to understand the design and usage of bus stops in Delhi. The study revealed that while bus stops are busy locations on streets, their design does not integrate space for street vendors and auto-rickshaw drivers, who offer affordable services, essential for citizens at large and in particular, commuters at these bus stops.

The research on ‘Living Streets’ is published as open-access documents at www.urbandesignsquare.com

Living Streets: A three-pronged approach

We suggest a three-pronged strategy to advocate for this approach towards ‘Living Streets’ — places where people create and sustain their livelihoods..

Street vendors thrive in the busy streets around Jama Masjid, Delhi.
Pic: Sophiya Islam

Evidence

The lack of ‘evidence’ on the need and potential of streets as ‘places of work’ is a major contributor to the current elitist approach to street design. The first step is to conduct on-ground research, generating ‘evidence’ in support of streets as ‘places of work’. The evidence can then be used to gather support from various stakeholders, including citizens, urban practitioners and government officials.

Create

The next step will be to explore tactical urbanism that can test pilot street designs using temporary materials. Citizens will play an active role in this stage, as they experience the design and contribute through feedback in public consultations. This stage will build awareness of the initiative and gather larger citizen support, crucial for its success.


Read more: Importance of participatory design in tactical urbanism


Sustain

Once a proof of concept is established, a detailed study of the existing policies, such as the Street Vendors Act, will have to be conducted. This will help identify the possible places to adapt for long-term regulatory support. At this stage, it will be crucial for local governments to establish street committees that include representatives of all stakeholder groups, to ensure an inclusive approach.

Transforming lives and livelihoods

By fostering a shared sense of ownership and responsibility, ‘Living Streets’ can revolutionise streets as ‘places of work’, boosting the local economy and enhancing the safety of streets. Through active citizen and government support, it will become a sustainable urban movement that benefits various user groups. ‘Living Streets’ can formalise street usage for local vendors and Informal Public Transport (IPT) providers, and therefore has the potential to resolve the growing costs of enforcement across recently transformed streets. They can also alleviate economic inequality by sustaining livelihoods.

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