With the recent spate of flyover constructions in Chennai, pedestrians and bicyclists have been swept out of the main thoroughfares as if they don’t even exist. The same pattern can be seen in other Indian metros, as an ubiquitous obsession with cars overtakes the country.

It certainly does not have to be this way. Alienated from our surroundings, many of us are forced to drive to places that are close enough to walk, simply because it is safer to be in a car. Cities can be places where people have an integrated connection with their surroundings because they have been designed to ensure this through the creative use of urban spaces, which emphasises public transportation, bike paths and green areas. This kind of ‘intelligent urbanism’, which can include dedicated bus lanes, concentrated housing with convenient access to stores, and public transportation, is the new rage in numerous cities the world over. The sight of families riding bikes to work, for errands and even for pleasure, is quite commonplace there.

Paris recently adopted policies that provide bike rentals at low cost in various parts of the city. Lyon, which came up with a similar policy two years ago, has had very good success with such urban redesign. In Groningen in the Netherlands, about 40 per cent of commutes are already made on bikes. The city has dedicated bike lanes, bike parking facilities and two-way bike paths. Other European ‘cycling cities’ include Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Ghent.

This movement is not restricted to Europe. Bogota, Columbia, has one of the most extensive bike path networks, or ciclo-ruta, in the world. Curitiba in Brazil, is well-known for its integrated city planning with bike paths, dedicated bus lanes and other facilities that underscore car-free living. In the US, cities like Portland, Seattle and Tucson have many miles of bike paths. Even in a huge metropolis like Los Angeles, which has been dedicated historically to an automobile culture, bike paths and bus rapid transit are being introduced to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

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