foot paths

7/30/2019 Foot paths

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Title: (Foot)paths to health a call for institutional initiative

Author: J. K. Lakshmi

Institutional affiliation: Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad,

Public Health Foundation of India

Address: Plot # 1, A N V Arcade, Amar Co-operative Society

Kavuri Hills, Madhapur, Hyderabad- 500081

Phone: 91-40-49006015 / 91-9618261526

Email: [email protected]

Fax: 91-40-49006060
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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(Foot)paths to health a call for institutional initiative

Health is well known to be influenced by genetics, and personal choices in

lifestyle, including diet, substance-use, stress and exercise. Another factor that exertsconsiderable impact on health but is largely out of individual control is the physical,

including built, environment. This jurisdiction lies with institutions, particularly the

government. There is much to lament in the construction and maintenance of the urban

built environment, such as the network of paths, and the appalling neglect of one of

their features - the footpath. Deficiency of quality footpaths paves the way to poor

personal and public health.

What's the problem with footpaths?

Either they were never built, or they existed at first and were later sacrificed inthe interest of wider roads dedicated, de facto, to vehicular traffic. There are practically

no pedestrian-only pathways or safe footpath-flanked streets as alternatives. This ends

up forcing people to use the increasingly dangerous roads.

The overwhelming majority of road traffic fatalities are in middle- and low-

income countries.1 Road traffic accidents are predicted to

rise in the ranks of causes of death over the next two

decades.1 India demonstrated a worrisome surge, of

close to 80 per cent, in traffic fatalities over the years

from 1980 to 1998,2 and continues to show a rising trend

in the background of increasing population,

urbanization and motorization, and dated or

ineffectively implemented traffic rules. The World

Banks Traffic Fatalities and Economic Growth (TFEC)

model projects that the rising trend of traffic deaths in

India will not ease till the year 2042.2Indias annual

traffic fatalities were costed at 55,000 crore INR in the

year 2000,3 and the toll is rising steadily over the years.

Urban India is fast becoming unfit for elderly

persons, children, the sick, the disabled, and anyone

who wishes to use non-motorised transport to get

around. According to the 2001 Census of India,4 35.3 per

cent of the population is below the age of 15 years. The

Accidents

Road traffic accidents,

responsible for much

mortality, morbidity,

disability, economic

loss, and lowered

quality of life, are on

the rise.

Vulnerable populationsabound in developing

countries.


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absolute numbers, as well as the relative proportion, of older individuals are on the rise

in India as elsewhere in the world: The segment of the population above the age of 59

years, 7.5 percent in 20014, is projected to increase progressively. Accurate data on

persons with disabilities are unavailable on a national scale; however, it is understoodthat disabilities are underreported, and safe facilities for persons with disabilities scarce.

These statistics translate to a considerable segment vulnerable to injury.

Road traffic accidents are among the top three causes of death among persons

aged 5 to 44 years.1 A high proportion of victims are male,3 young adults, and earning

members of families. Also, the segments of the road-user population most affected in

road traffic accidents are pedestrians3 and two-wheeler users. A determined effort to

ensure footpaths on every street would surely go a long way to obviate the prodigious

loss of life and limb, and the decimation of productivity that road accidents lead to.

While bad road surfaces and poor lighting are clearly inconvenient, it is

disquieting to consider that these ills may actually be preventing other graver ones by

acting as an inbuilt check to high speeds. A smooth road sans supportive elements is

not merely inadequate, it is perilous. To go with the improved quality of the road

surface, with the current mushrooming of automobiles, we need a host of safety

features such as medians, smooth speed-breakers, safe pedestrian crossings, good

lighting, and, perhaps most important, footpaths.

The lack of a level difference between the footpath and the road, testimony to

thoughtless road-laying without the preliminary

stripping of old roads, allows easier access to the

footpath to bicycles and motor vehicles from the

road and facilitates chaos, negating the safety

features of the footpath.

Pavement (mis)users, who do not merely

traverse the pavement but stay put on it for

extended periods, inconvenience others who would

like to use it as a safe path. However, the footpathis essential to the trade of street food and artifacts,

and the elimination of footpaths puts out both

peddlers and their customers.

The 2001 Census of India4 places the

Misuse

Hawkers, and homeless

persons, are forced to use

the footpath for want of

appropriate arrangements

for commerce and housing

respectively.


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houseless urban population at close to 1.4 per cent of the total urban population: With

the torrent of economically backward migrants to cities, this proportion could well have

risen. Many members of this disadvantaged group perform services that other residents

value, e.g. manual labour, fabrication of handicrafts, and trinket-sales. Street-dwellersare subject to almost universal disdain, but part of society nevertheless. The solution is a

complex, systemic one, including bettering the conditions of employment and

sanitation in rural areas, and providing basic amenities for migrants to urban areas. But

until improved conditions are in place, houseless persons have no recourse but public

land, including pavements.

What's bad about having no footpaths?

A high level of discomfort and danger, from physical

obstacles and traffic, for pedestrians using the streets;Impediments to smooth vehicular traffic flow caused by

the presence of pedestrians in the path of traffic;

High levels of short term stress caused by erratic traffic

bearing down on people, especially those who are sick,

disabled, or very young or elderly;

Lack of environmental support for walking for exercise or

leisure-time physical activity for people of all ages. Besides

walking for transportation, an activity increasingly

abandoned these days is walking for pleasure, what with

the hazards and discomfort attendant on negotiating the

suboptimal physical structures, pollution and traffic, which

put personal safety at risk; and

Far too often, cutting down of trees, short-changing road-

users and the planet, to make space for a widening road,

and forcing lampposts, if any, onto the street proper,

resulting in disruptions of traffic flow.

Is there anything good about having no footpaths?

Elimination of makeshift dwellings by the road for want

of any real estate to support them;

Diminished opportunity for encroachment upon public space by unscrupulous parties

it is easier to make inroads on a footpath than on a traffic-filled street;

Less space for unsightly heaps of garbage or stray animals to accumulate and raise the

Consequences

For pedestrians:

discomfort,

vulnerability to injury,

exposure to vehicular

exhaust and noise, lack

of support for

streetside recreational

activity

For vehicular traffic:

disruptions in traffic

flow

For all: less space for

trees and streetlamps


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risk of adverse traffic events and potentially the spread of disease; and

Freedom from pavement stalls and peddlers, and the organic and plastic waste that

their transactions frequently generate.

While having no footpaths may seem to obviate misuse, it does so at a very high

price, ruling out the many safety and recreational features offered by well-maintained

footpaths, and leaving people vulnerable to risks of injury, disease, and death.

How may street-use be optimised and public health promoted through footpaths?

Introducing or reinstituting footpaths as designated

pedestrian-paths;

Keeping pavements in good repair to facilitate safety for

users and to support the practice of walking for pleasure andexercise, besides for utilitarian purposes;

Ensuring a clear level difference between the footpath and

the street, and ideally creating an additional barrier of shrubs

between them;

Using pervious materials in paving to facilitate the

percolation of rainwater and waste water into the ground, to

prevent water-logging;

Building covered drains flanking streets, to obviate flooding

and facilitate the harvesting of rainwater runoff, keeping at

bay a potential disease- and death-trap;

Nurturing trees along the pavements to mitigate the adverse

effects of a warming planet and facilitate greater comfort on a

daily basis;

Setting up public toilets, paired with biogas plants, at busy

spaces such as markets and bus termini, to both obviate the

befouling of the streets, and to harness the energy from

human and market waste to provide better lighting of streets

for greater safety;

Checking unauthorised occupation of pavements forstorage, residence and commerce. Ideally, demarcated small

bays at intervals along the pavement should be designated

for hawkers, rest-stops, dustbins, and well-maintained public

toilets to ensure that streets and footpaths are not misused

and unduly dirtied; and

Current needs

Let water through:

pervious paving

facilitates the

recharging of ground

water, and prevents

water-logging.

Plant trees.

Establish public toilets,

and convert waste to

fuel.

Improve public

transportation.

Provide recreational

facilities.


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Judicious urban planning to mitigate pollution and alleviate traffic congestion by

enhancing public transportation, providing environment-friendly alternatives to private

vehicles with the co-benefit of drastic reduction of accident-risk.

The future a fantasy waiting to be realised?

Bicycle lanes between streets and footpaths to encourage bicycling as a safe mode of

transportation, while not impeding either motorised or pedestrian traffic;

Repurposing certain 'waste' materials to pavement-

construction rather than useless accumulation in dumps,

e.g. shredded discarded rubber for the pavement surface;

discarded plastics for pavement structures;

Solar panels at regular intervals to receive and store

energy for public good;Technological innovations such as pervious concrete,5

an eco-sustainable6 material that allows rainwater and

run-off to percolate into the ground and replenish

groundwater in place of waterproof surfaces that

encourage waterlogging and make no contribution to

much-needed groundwater; and

Piezoelectric pavements that convert the mechanical

stress generated by users to electrical energy that can be

used for street-lighting, putting into place a virtuous

circle of encouraging pavement use and harnessing it for

public services. This would be a remarkably eco-friendly,

sustainable, low-carbon energy-generation technique,

apt for our human-resource rich country.

Collaboration and cooperation are key to the optimal construction, maintenance

and use of the built environment. Ideally, a coalition of the government and private

bodies could construct and maintain pavements, and users cooperate in their upkeep, to

yield the diverse health benefits of greater safety from injury, reduction in exposure to

vehicular exhaust, diminution of (urban) heat islands, and an environment supportiveof healthy behaviours such as physical activity, and smoother social interaction. The

manifold advancements in health and well-being that can be achieved by the diligent

maintenance of well-made footpaths, an aspect of the urban built environment, is

displayed in the figure below.

Future directions

Extract resources from

waste.

Use technological

innovations for safer

roads.

Harness renewable

solar and mechanical

energy for public good.


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Figure 1. Public health benefits associated with well-designed, well-maintained footpaths

Well-designed,well-maintainedfootpaths

Safety frominjury

Smoothertraffic flow

Opportunitiesfor outdoor

socialinteraction &community

activities

Opportunitiesforemployment& recreation

Protection

from airpollution

Reducednoise

pollution

Support foroutdoorphysical

activity &active

transport


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References

1. World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety: time for action.[Internet] 2009 [Cited September 21, 2011] Available from: http://whqlibdoc.

who.int/publications/2009/ 9789241563840_ eng.pdf.

2. Peden M, Scurfield R, Sleet D, Mohan D, Hyder AA, Jarawan E, and Mathers C.World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention: World Health Organization. [Internet]

2004 [Cited September 19, 2011] Available from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/

publications/2004/ 9241562609.pdf

3. World Health Organization, Regional Office for South-East Asia. RegionalReport on Status of Road Safety: the South-East Asia Region. [Internet] 2009 [Cited

September 21, 2011] Available from:

http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Publications_report-status-road-safety.pdf

4. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Statistics onDemographic & Socio-Economic Characteristics [Internet]. 2007 [Cited October 12, 2009]

Available from: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/

India_at_glance/glance.aspx

5. National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. Pervious Concrete Pavement: AnOverview [Internet]. 2009 [September 14, 2011]Available from: http://www.pervious

pavement.org/

6. Obla K. Pervious Concrete for Sustainable Development. Recent Advances inConcrete Technology [Internet]. 2007 Sep [Cited September 14, 2011]Washington DC.

Available from: http://www.nrmca.org/research/Pervious%20recent%20advances%20in%20concrete%20technology0707.pdf

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