A user perception based approach to derive policy intervention areas for enhancing walkability of cities: Experience in Kerala, India

While walkable pedestrian infrastructure is essential for the sustainable growth of cities, the prevailing facilities in emerging countries such as India are not suitable for pedestrians. A user perception-based approach is presented here to identify intervention areas for enhancing the walkability of cities and also to prioritize catchment areas for improvement. The methodology includes seven stages in which perception data collected from the pedestrians are subjected to fuzzy-based Importance Satisfaction Analysis (ISA). The factor structure and management schemes developed using ISA were instrumental in deriving interventions areas. The study was conducted with reference to a road stretch of 5 km in Kollam District, Kerala, which is classified into five catchments. Among the 17 selected attributes, 12 attributes were identified as intervention areas in a single catchment, which shows the alarming situation of pedestrian infrastructure in Indian cities. The sidewalk related deficiencies were identified as common intervention areas across various catchments. Increased vehicular volume on roads, absence of guard rail, and lack of facilities for differently-abled pedestrians were the other common deficiencies. An index is developed for prioritizing pedestrian catchments. This may be useful, especially for countries with financial constraints, to prioritize the catchments based on the need for improvement. Although the findings are city-specific, the approach and experience presented here are useful for enhancing the walkability of pedestrian infrastructure in other cities.