THE STREET EDGE AND THE PREDESTRIAN

CORRIDOR IN THE URBAN FLUX

THE CASE OF RED FORT - JAMA MASJID CORRIDOR
Shivansh Singh
Postgraduate Scholar, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat,
India. (email: shivansh.cept.mla14@cept.ac.in)

Abstract
The Public Realm consists of space shared by a lot of people and functions. Streets
constitute a major part of the public realm of a city, housing numerous activities that
are crucial to the functioning of the city. The intent of this study is to understand the
relation between the defined street edges and the pedestrian desire lines. The street to
be studied consists of a 2.52 km stretch of Netaji Subhash Marg starting at Delhi Gate
and ending at the Lothian Railway Bridge passing through Daryaganj, the Red Fort,
Jama Masjid, Meena Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, and Lala Lajpat Rai Market. This Corridor
is an important link to the historic city of Shahjahanabad. It is perhaps the most intense
example of the Indian street and has a very wide & dense range of activities and a large
range of motorised and non motorised vehicles.

Introduction
Streets are thoroughfares located in urban areas with buildings and urban open spaces
along their edges. Apart from connecting various destinations in a city, the street is also a
public space, and is used to distribute utilities in urban areas. The quality of a citys street
network determines how easily people can access livelihood, education, and meet their
daily needs.
Pedestrian Corridors are movement paths followed by the people for their day to day
activities and walks. These movement paths can be traced by closely observing the
way people are using the streets. These paths are also called "desire lines" since they
are generally the way people move on the street, as per their desire, irrespective of the
footpaths provided on the either side.
Most often, especially in smaller cities and towns, the street consists of little more than
a potholed asphalt or concrete carriageway with open drains on both sides, and an
unfinished shoulder. During planning and construction, once the main motor vehicle
carriageway has been provided, the street is often considered more or less complete.
Little attention is given to finishing the street properly and ensuring that street elements
such as streetlights, kerb-cuts, signals, street furniture, and roadmarkings are properly
located and provided. Streetlights, signals, electrical poles, transformers, and other utilities
are poorly planned and located. They
often block traffic and pedestrian movement.
The lack of designated spaces for different users and activities, especially pedestrians,
street vendors, and paratransport stands results in them using the street in a haphazard
manner, often blocking traffic. As space on the street is poorly planned and organized,
various street users tend to use the space haphazardly, creating bottlenecks, reducing the
overall efficiency of the street, and creating unsafe conditions for all street users.
Street repair and retrofitting projects are rarely completed in their entirety and
critical details usually tend to be left out. The quality of construction itself is poor
and maintenance work is shoddy. Uneven footpaths and potholes are common sights

regardless of which city you are in. When maintenance work is undertaken it is usually adhoc and of poor quality, focusing primarily on resurfacing motor vehicle lanes. Footpaths
and other areas of the street are rarely repaired and are usually let to deteriorate.

Understanding the Indian Street

The streets in most Indian cities are basic and inadequate. They do not meet
international best practices, current codes, and standards.
Despite the large numbers of pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles found on Indian
Streets, current planning and design interventions and practices focus on the needs of
motor vehicles. Pedestrians account for a fifth of all road accidents in India. In most Indian
cities, less than 30 percent of the streets have footpaths1. Where footpaths are present,
they are often in a state of disrepair and difficult to climb. Intersections are particularly
dangerous for pedestrians; signalling systems at intersections are designed for vehicular
traffic, providing little time for pedestrians to cross roads.
Non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles and cycle rickshaws provide nonpolluting means
of commuting in a city. In spite of increasing trip lengths due to the sprawling of cities,
a substantial share of trips undertaken involves the use of non-motorized transport. The
mixing of non-motor vehicles with motorized traffic on major streets is unsafe, and also
has an adverse impact on motor vehicle speeds. . Bicycles may account for as much as a
fifth of the traffic in some cities. Yet, Indian cities have little infrastructure for bicycle and
other non-motorised vehicle users.
The Right of Way of a street is not adequately enforced. Encroachments significantly
reduce the effective space available on a street for movement and other functions.
Private users do not provide do not make adequate provisions for themselves within their
property and encroach onto the street to supplement their space requirements. Steps and
ramps providing access to adjacent land uses routinely project onto the street. Shops and
other local business use street spaces as extensions of their business often completely
taking over footpaths to store, display, and sell merchandise and small road-side shrines
expand into large temples taking over footpaths and carriageways. In residential areas it is
common to find street edges enclosed by private users to accommodate generators or as
gardens.
The right-of-way available on a street is limited, and the additional vehicles have been
taking space away from other users and activities. The more vehicles one has on a street
the less space one has for people to walk, to provide trees, for street vendors or any other
users. Consequently, one sees a significant deterioration in the quality of public realm in
urban areas.

The Pedestrian Movement

Pedestrians are one the most vulnerable street users. It is essential that streets be
designed to ensure their safety and comfort.
Spaces for pedestrians should be open and clearly visible. It is important that these
spaces are active and give a sense of safety to those walking through them. Dark and
empty streets discourage people from walking through them. It is also important that
streets be well lit at night to ensure safety. The presence of street vendors, bus stops, and
paratransport stands on a street helps maintain a minimum level of activity on a street and
improve safety. Streets feel safer when there are windows from adjacent buildings looking
onto it. It allows locals to keep an eye on their surroundings and gives a sense of security
to a person walking through that there are people nearby whom will come to help if
there is a problem.

Pedestrians should not be required to take long detours from their paths. Walking takes
up considerable energy and effort. Pedestrians are less likely to stay on their designated
path if there are obstructions or are required to take large detours to cross streets. It is
important that pedestrian crossings and other places where pedestrians are required to
change routes are seamlessly integrated with their routes to ensure that they do not take
alternative paths through NMV or MV lanes.
Spaces for pedestrians need to be comfortable. Footpaths and plazas should be
adequately shaded during the day for comfort. Streets should also have adequate
places for pedestrians to stop and sit when they are tired. This is especially important
in shopping districts and tourist areas where you have people walking considerable
distances and needing to take a break.

The Issues on Street Edges and Pedestrian Movement

When there are no footpaths,

the pedestrains walk on the
streets. This image of Nanded,
Maharashtra shows how a
Street without a defined edge
is used by pedestrains and
vehicles.

This image of a crossroad

in Delhi, shows how the use
of streets and the different
factors responsible.

The factors responsible for

the pedestrain movement on
streets.

Another example of Delhi,

showing the usage of roads.

The Red Fort - Jama Masjid Corridor

The Red Fort - Jama Masjid corridor is a very important link connecting major commercial
streets of the old city, like the Meena Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj, etc. It is heaveily
used by the pedestrians, who are mostly seen walking on the streets. The street consists
of a 2.52 km stretch of Netaji Subhash Marg starting at Delhi Gate and ending at the
Lothian Railway Bridge passing through Daryaganj, the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Meena
Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, and Lala Lajpat Rai Market.
The Corridor is an important link to the historic city of Shahjahanabad. It is perhaps the
most intense example of the Indian street and has a very wide & dense range of activities
and a large range of motorised and non motorised vehicles. The conflict between the
various activities on the street and lack of organisation generates extreme chaos and

has resulted in deterioration of the area. Appropriate space needs to be allocated to the
various functions and requirements to ensure an orderly, pleasant and efficient functioning
of the street. Western models of Street design can not accommodate the physical and
cultural complexities of the site. The street requires a site specific solution that would give
it an efficient and coherent structure and open up the links to the key buildings,
monuments & streets.

NETAJI SUBHASH MARG

Key Plan of Red Fort - Jama Masjid Corridor

Red Fort Entrance

Footpath near Lothian Bridge

RED FORT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

DARYAGANJ

LOTHIAN
BRIDGE

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JAMA
MASJID

CHANDNI CH
OWK

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Daryaganj intersection

Pedestrian movement near Chandni Chowk

SUBHASH PARK

JAMA MASJID

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DARYAGANJ INTERSECTION

The Red Fort - Jama Masjid Corridor Plan - Part 1

K EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

D ENTRANCE

PARKING LOT

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PARKING LOT

RED FORT - CHANDNI CHOWK

INTERSECTION

LAJPAT RAI MARKET

The Red Fort - Jama Masjid Corridor Plan - Part 2

AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

TIONAL PRODUCT

LUDHIAN BRIDGE INTERSECTION

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O P E R A T O R S

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T O U R

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Base Analysis Notes

DARYAGANJ INTERSECTION
Pedestrian Movement
No Pedestrian movement on the Foot
Over Bridge
Parking
Large Parking of Phat-Phat Service
vehicles
Ansari Road completely blocked due to
parking of private vehicles.
SUBHASH PARK
Vehicular Movement
Smooth flow of Traffic and intersection functions
unhindered by any encroachments
Pedestrian Movement
Hawker activities are relatively less and
does not hinder pedestrian movement
Pedestrian Activity
Urinals are draining out on to the paths
Relatively scarce hawkers in this stretch - mostly
selling beads and talismans, watches
The park is a popular recreation destination and is
largely used by the people hawking or vending in the
vicinity.
JAMA MASJID ENTRANCE
Vehicular Movement
Vehicular movement is hampered by the spill over
activities at the entrance to Meena Bazaar road.
Pedestrian Movement
Pedestrian path is completely taken over by Hawkers
& Vendors. There is no clear movement space for
pedestrians
Parking
Cycle Rickshaw parking at the entire lenght of the
footpath blocks up the pedestrian movement

 Phat-Phat Service vehicles are parked at the entrance

to Meena blocking half the acess to Jama Masjid.
MEENA BAZAAR
Vehicular Movement
Service Lane the vehicular movement is extremely
slow moving due to encroachment by Hawker activity.
Pedestrain Movement
There is no clear space available to pedestrians as the
hawkers & vendors have occupied the space allocated
for Foot Path.
PARKING LOT
Vehicular Movement
Present service road has very slow moving due to
congestion by hawker activities
Pedestrian Activity
Entrance to the main parking lot is completely
blocked by pedestrian activity due to encroachment
by hawkers & vendors
RED FORT CHANDNI CHOWK INTERSECTION
Vehicular Movement
Traffic is congested by spillover activities from the
road edge
Pedestrian Activity
There are two subways for pedestrian crossings. One
subway which has a Police station is in use, other is
not in use. Pedestrians at this junctions cross at the
traffic signal.
LAJPAT RAI MARKET
Parking
Large parking requirement which is not possible to
cater to in the given area. This gives rise to haphazard
on-road parking resulting in traffic congestion.
Pedestrian Movement
There is virtually no defined space for pedestrians as
the foot paths are taken over by vehicles and hawkers.