Assessing the Walkability Index in the City of Vadodara, Gujarat. The study of factors affecting walkability in the urban context

Abstract

Walkability provides a foundation for a sustainable city (Bhattacharyya & Mitra, 2013). Walking is measured as one of the most sustainable & democratic ways of traveling within the city—the advantages of applying the walkability concept and the factors related to making cities more pedestrian-friendly (TUROŃ et al., 2017). Walkability provides travel safety, security, and comfort for city dwellers (Bhattacharyya & Mitra, 2013). Pedestrian paths must be well planned in width, paving, landscaping, signing, and lighting. A walkable neighborhood or city has a controllable pattern of events to serve daily wants. Pedestrian-friendly transportation is essential for any local area as it increases social gatherings, improves peoples' safety, and improves public health and the overall urban environment. Thus, there is a need to address walkability as an essential transport mode as a revised perspective of sustainable transportation. A walking environment is one of the essential needs to take a step toward sustainable transportation. This research is based primarily on qualitative and qualitative evidence sequentially collected in three phases based on the research objective. In the first phase of research, there are two segments. The first is the footpath mapping done with the help of QGIS software, which helps identify the availability of the footpath in three areas of Vadodara city. The second is to take a pedestrian perception survey based on the MoUD framework of the walking index based on the IRC Guidelines. The second phase investigated the gap between the existing situation of road sections based on elements affecting the walkability of the proposed road section in the IRC Guidelines. It is a comparative analysis between standard & existing conditions. The last phase was to prepare guidelines & design needs to revise in IRC guidelines after examining the second phase's result. The research concludes by redesigning the existing roads for pedestrian, non-motorized transport vehicles & motorized transport vehicles with wide footpaths and spaces for vendors on the streets & roads that will enhance the walkability in the urban area.