Reclaiming Street Design
In August 2020, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi Shri Arvind Kejriwal announced the Delhi Government's vision to redesign all 540 km of 100-feet-wide roads in the capital as per European standards. Achieving this vision required accessing the latest technical know-how globally in urban street design and translating that knowledge to Delhi's street design project.
Based on thorough research, the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) facilitated a collaboration between WRI India, a non-profit organisation working extensively on urban development and sustainability issues, and the Public Works Department (PWD), GNCTD, to provide technical handholding support to bring this vision to reality.
Key Objectives
The street redesign project focuses on:
- Reducing traffic bottlenecks,
- Increasing green cover,
- Improving the efficiency of the existing space on roads,
- Creating planned spaces for vehicles,
- Making adequate space available for pedestrians and non-motorised transport users.
Technical Support Unit For Delhi Street Redesign
In July 2021, WRI India entered into an agreement with the Public Works Department of the Delhi Government to set up a Technical Support Unit for the 540-km street redesign project in the national capital. As the technical and knowledge partner of the project, WRI India supports the PWD in the end-to-end implementation of the street redesign project in the following ways:
- Understanding the streetscape projects in Delhi that were commissioned or executed in the past, including their planning, bidding and evaluation processes.
- Developing a detailed process for executing the ongoing streetscape projects including their conceptualisation and planning. These shall be designed to ensure that the deliverables help achieve the objectives of the project.
- Monitoring the progress of the design and that consultant's instructions/drawings are being followed during implementation.
- Assisting the PWD in evaluating the deliverables by the consultants and advising the engineer in charge on the shortcomings of the same.
- Coordinating with the appointed design consultants and engineer in charge to develop and approve samples, demonstration stretches, etc.
From 2021 onwards, DDC has worked closely with WRI India and the Public Works Department to define common design principles across all aspects of project design and review the submissions of the consultants appointed for the project to ensure they meet both the design and functional requirements of the project.
International Conference on Transforming Delhi's Streets
In October 2021, DDC, in partnership with WRI India, organised a high-level international workshop on the topic of 'Transforming Delhi's Streets.' The purpose of the virtual workshop was to understand international best practices in street design and development. The workshop was organised to learn from the journeys of top global cities in street transformation and apply those lessons to Delhi's streets.
The workshop saw the international participation of city-makers and transport experts from the cities of London, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Bogota, among others, sharing insights and experiences of street transformation in their cities. The workshop also saw participation from the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Mumbai. The session facilitated direct interaction between all the experts and the Delhi Government during the workshop.
