Reclaiming Urban Streets – A Case Study of Peshawar

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the idea of living streets has evolved and is now being considered in urban planning and design development of different cities around the globe. The concept of living streets is not limited to the provision of walkways and bicycle lanes; rather, it focuses on the overall sustainability of the city. In Pakistan; particularly in Peshawar, the inclination of street design is towards facilitating vehicles which contradicts the concept of livable and sustainable streets that support accommodation of various modes of transport on a single street and prioritizes pedestrians so that they can walk and experience the street as a public space. This study assessed the present situation of major commercial hub of the city which can form the basis for policy measures that can be adopted and implemented for the betterment of the environmental and social conditions of the study area in future. Issues like noise, air and land pollution, lack of appropriate public transit, poor traffic management; and lack of pedestrian facilities for disabled and senior citizens were discovered through current research. The study also showed that the existing pedestrian facilities were not sufficient for catering needs of the pedestrian traffic; and absence of street furniture discouraged community engagement in the study area thus, affecting the socio-economic viability of the study area. Based on findings of field survey, a scenario-based Living Street model for study area was proposed which was discussed with experts of different backgrounds like urban planning, architecture, and transportation engineering. The model was then revised so that opinion of the respondents of field survey and experts could be incorporated in the proposed model for creating a Living Street layout that would help in reducing negative impacts of urbanization in the study area. Futuristic impacts of the proposed model are also discussed in this report along with recommendations for successful and continued implementation of the proposed model in the study area.