Walkability is a measure of how friendly an area is for pedestrians. A discussion on walkability situation in Guwahati city was organized by Centre for Environment Education (CEE) on 16th May 2018 at Swahid Nyas Bhavan, Uzan Bazar.
CEE’s North Eastern regional cell is conducting a walkability study of seven major road stretches of Guwahati. The team had also interviewed pedestrians and held discussions with line departments for understanding their role in the process of creating a pedestrian friendly city. The attempt is to benchmark streets and footpaths against different walkability parameters. This study was conducted as part of Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net), India’s Walkability Project.
Mr. Rizwan Uz Zaman, State Team Leader and Technical Expert to Assam Climate Change Cell, Govt of Assam, Dr. Abhinandan Saikia, Assistant professor, TISS Guwahati, members of SUM Net India and representatives from North East Network, FASCE India, NEDSS Guwahati and IIT Guwahati were present for the discussion.
The study conduced by CEE and its outcomes were presented in the meeting. Members from SUM Net India presented ideas for street design using the MRD road as an example. The group discussed about infrastructure, planning and behavioural issues leading to pedestrian problems. They also discussed future initiatives to bring in more awareness among public and came up with a set of recommendations which will be forwarded to the line departments with the final results of the study.
