Do pedestrians matter? How unsafe it is to walk in urban India reveals a lot

What should be a simple act—walking a short distance—becomes a daily exercise in risk management.

These hazardous conditions push even willing pedestrians to choose vehicles for short trips. Not because they prefer driving, but because no one wants to gamble with their life navigating open manholes, construction debris, hanging wires, parked cars, sewage and unlit stretches of road.

The consequences are severe. Pedestrian fatalities in India have doubled in just six years. While poor traffic discipline is often blamed, this explanation ignores a more uncomfortable truth: our cities are designed in ways that make walking unsafe.

Urban spending has risen significantly over the years, particularly on transport infrastructure. Metros have expanded, flyovers have multiplied and parking facilities have grown.

Yet, a stark imbalance stares at us. Most mobility spending prioritizes vehicles, not people—despite pedestrians forming the largest share of urban commuters.

This raises a big question: why are Indian cities designed for cars rather than citizens? To understand the scale of the problem, social media is enough; it offers ample evidence of how walking in Indian cities has become an extreme sport. But these images only scratch the surface.

They rarely capture deeper issues: safety for women, accessibility for the elderly and differently-abled, continuity of footpaths and the systemic encroachment of pedestrian space.

Across cities, the patterns repeat. Footpaths disappear without warning. They narrow to unusable widths. They are blocked by vendors, parked vehicles, garbage and infrastructure that should be elsewhere. This predictably pushes people towards motorized transport. Congestion worsens.

Emissions rise. Road rage increases. Public health suffers. Air pollution intensifies. What appears to be a mobility problem is, in reality, a governance failure.

Administrations often defend themselves by pointing to public transport investments. Delhi Metro, for instance, has a large network. Yet, step out of a station and the experience collapses into chaos. The missing link? Walkways. Last-mile connectivity is about safe and dignified pedestrian access.

Walking is not a lesser mode of transport. It is the foundation of all urban mobility. It is affordable, egalitarian and indispensable. Yet it remains the most neglected.

Cities like to celebrate ‘road widening’—often a euphemism for either narrowing or eliminating pedestrian space. Sidewalks are treated as residual areas of no value. Roads are designed for speed, even though speed kills.

This brings us to a critical distinction: the problem is not a lack of planning, but the wrong kind. What passes for urban planning in India is usually rigid master plannin—drawing zones on maps and forecasting economic activity decades into the future.

This approach assumes cities are static. They are not. Cities are living systems that evolve continuously in response to migration, markets, technology and culture.

No planner could have predicted Gurgaon’s transformation into a global services hub. Had planners rigidly enforced earlier visions, that ecosystem would never have emerged. Similarly, many ‘perfectly planned’ cities remain under-used because they did not allow organic evolution.

What cities need is strong management of transitions. Planning should focus on trunk infrastructure, public space, walkability and the overall look and feel of the city—not micromanaging private economic activity through zoning fantasies.

Building codes in India obsess over private plots—setbacks, staircases, boundary walls—while largely ignoring public spaces. Garbage removal, sidewalk maintenance, lighting, signage and green space protection only require consistent governance.

Walkable cities are not accidents. Europe achieved them through sustained political struggle and citizen pressure. Amsterdam’s transformation began after public outrage over child deaths on roads. Walkability was demanded before it was delivered.

Indian cities are actually well-suited for walking. They are dense, compact and have shorter travel distances than car-dependent Western suburbs. The problem is the low priority we accord pedestrian facilities.

Making cities walkable is not expensive. Disruption-free footpaths, safe crossings and equitable road-space distribution are achievable and affordable, just as shaded, well-lit and accessible footpaths are.

Where implemented—in parts of Chennai, for example—the use of motor vehicles dropped, exhaust emissions reduced and safety improved. It’s a matter of intent.

Walking is the most basic form of mobility. Safe footpaths are not an urban luxury but a measure of how seriously a city values human life. Our cities must place pedestrians at the centre of urban design and management. Our people deserve better.

The author is director-Mrikal (AI/Data Center) and a young alumni member, Government Liaison Task Force, IIT Kharagpur.