Towards a pedestrian-friendly environment (1)

A PEDESTRIAN-friendly environment can be defined as “ the extent to which the built environment is friendly to the presence of people living, shopping, visiting, working, enjoyed or spending time in the area.” Abley Stephen.

Our communities are designed for people to enjoy the experience of the environment. The ambience, beauty, serenity, scenery, character, and the soul of the environment all enhance individual experiences and they go a long way in making people embrace and take ownership of their space. This affects the wellness and total well being of the individual.

A pedestrian-friendly environment should naturally consider the comfort , safety, and convenience of pedestrians, cyclists and people on non -motorized means of transport.

Walking has become a very important transport alternative for short trips between zero and five kilometers. The walkability index focuses on physical activity and health that creates a pedestrian walking experience. The following factors are deemed to affect the experience of a pedestrian.

• Street Geometry. – This includes the street size, the sidewalk size, the size of buildings and the look and feel.
• Walking Impedance.- This includes the type of crosswalk, the quality of the sidewalk, the traffic light, the trees, the seat and signage that may be in the way of the pedestrian.
• Traffic Characterization.- The various types of traffic- low traffic, medium traffic, high traffic; traffic segregation.
• Built Environment and Network Layout.- Land use density, presence of open spaces, parks, trails and recreation centres.

These factors are necessary ingredients that shape the ‘friendliness” of the environment to the pedestrian. Our Street Geometry is a function of our level of infrastructure, which is in deficit and needs to be ramped up. The open- drain concept for our drainage has been a limiting factor for achieving a pedestrian-friendly environment. 

Of equal importance is the size of these sidewalks relative to the location and busyness of the areas. Hardly do we provide seats and trees for the pedestrians and traffic lights for our Pedestrians are usually non existent. The surfaces of the pavements and drainage of the paths should be of little impedance.

With Traffic segregation, Pedestrians and Cyclists can feel safe if on high traffic routes, separate lanes are provided for Pedestrians and Cyclists.

Our current disposition to planning and the built environment layout needs to be retweaked to take into consideration the present day reality that the Pedestrian is king and not the motorist. The sidewalk must be a conscious part of our layout and the conflict between the driveways and the sidewalks, particularly in residential neighbourhood must be resolved. In busy commercial centres, the sizes and relationship of the walkways to the business activities areas should be one that is welcoming and the people should take the pride of place before vehicles.

For a Pedestrian Experience Satisfaction, seats, shades, trees, water bodies, wall murals, lighting, shaded pathways should be provided. The Pedestrian Experience Satisfaction index is lowest in Africa, Latin America and the Carribeans. It is highest in Europe and North America.

A Pedestrian Friendly Environment has a lot of advantages which are enumerated below:

• Health Benefits.

Walking has a lot of health benefits.

• Increased Social Interaction.

In the course of people walking around regularly, you meet with neighbours and build acquaintances.

• Reduced Crime Level.

Walking around makes people see and know one another. People are no longer faceless, hence a great reduction in crime.

• Increased Humanity & Volunteerism.

It allows us to be closer to nature, to appreciate things around us and when there is a general call for neighbourhood activities, residents are quite willing to volunteer and participate in such activities.

• Decrease in Carbon Emissions.

This means of transport reduces significantly the carbon foot print and helps mitigate Climate change and Global warming.

• Cost Effective

Walking and cycling are obviously cheaper than driving. Significant cost is reduced.

In conclusion, the major factor militating against the provision of Pedestrian Friendly Environment is largely due to our poor infrastructure. Most Nigerian Cities are still fixated with the open drain systems which take up the space suitable for the sidewalks.

Also the lack of coordination, enforcement and approval of layouts at all levels of development from Federal, States and Local Government levels, has been a major factor in the quality of our built environment. 

Standards must be maintained and enforced all over the Federation and care and welfare of Pedestrians must be a priority, particularly in high-density city centres, whilst neighbourhoods with markets, churches, schools and places with high pedestrian traffic should be regulated to provide maximum comfort and convenience for the pedestrians. This, indirectly will go a long way to improving the socio-economic well being of the people. 

Gbenga ONABANJO

GO-FORTE FOUNDATION