In News: The Streets for People Challenge is an initiative of the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, to inspire cities to create walking-friendly streets through quick measures in response to COVID-19.
About Streets for People Challenge
- The Challenge will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of Streets for People in consultation with stakeholders and citizens.
- The Challenge aims to create flagship walking initiatives in cities, which focus on placemaking and liveability.
- Cities will be required to reimagine their streets as public spaces through the lens of economic regeneration, safety, and child-friendly interventions initiatives, in order to ensure a green recovery from COVID-19.
- The India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) will be the knowledge partner, providing guidance through the preparation of resource material and facilitating online peer to peer learning workshops.
Why this challenge?
- As the lockdowns lift, cities face many challenges in providing safe, affordable, and equitable modes of transport that enable social distancing.
- Limited public transport options, narrow, crowded sidewalks particularly in market places and deterioration of mental health, are key issues that must be addressed on priority
- Pedestrianisation of streets for walking and creating public spaces is a crucial step towards mitigating these issues.
- Significance- It would help cities to provide safer means of transport with social-distancing.
Aims- To inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures.
Source: smartnet.niua.org and The Hindu
