The Streets for people challenge was an initiative by Smart City Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to inspire cities to create walking friendly streets through quick measures after Covid 19. Kota, ranked as the second most livable city in the state, is an economic hub of the region. The city has a semi-arid climate with high temperatures throughout the year. The Gumanpura market area flagship site is an ideal place for ‘street for people’ interventions as it has the right mix of commercial edges, residential infill, institutions, hotels and eateries. This brings a variety of users to the precinct at different times of the day. To this end, our proposal focuses on creating an inclusive, pedestrian-friendly and active public realm to offer comfort, safety and equal access to the users.

The design began with a detailed mapping of activities, including people’s movement, pause points, crossing points etc. The wide carriage way of the road is repurposed to allow for equitable space for all modes of movement including pedestrians and cycles. In the residential areas, some internal streets are proposed as pedestrian playstreets, allowing children and adults to carry out social activities on the streets and compensating for the scarce open spaces. The wider neighbourhood streets are imagined as shared, interactive spaces that offer various recreational activities to people of all age groups. The space along the commercial building is reclaimed from haphazard parking to make way for seating, planters, cycle share points and more space to walk and ease the transition from private to public domain.