Ramola set me thinking!

Ramola disagreed with my idea and sent me this link http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/liveable-neighbourhoods/home-zones !

She was Rohini's class mate at J J School of Architecture and is now a PhD candidate in Urban and Regional Planning at the London School of Economics and an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Development Management, Asian Institute of Management, Manila.

Home Zones

A home zone is a street or group of streets where pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles share the space on equal terms, with cars travelling at little more than walking pace. Home zones subvert the traditional distinction between carriageway and footway. They conceive and define the street as a valuable part of the local community's living space. So whilst in the UK home zones are primarily being promoted as ‘traffic management' projects, they are by definition projects that require a significant programme of community involvement and participation.

UK home zones have been inspired by Dutch woonerf [translates as ‘living yard']. Typically, awoonerf combines shared surfaces, trees, planters and parked cars along with seating, artwork and / or children's play areas to create a street-space so unlike a traditional street that vehicle speeds are significantly reduced by the instinctive, behavioural change in drivers. With vehicles travelling at low speeds, all users are able to establish eye contact and negotiate with one another.

Home zones embody the design principles of safety through uncertainty, whereby an absence of priority along with short driver sight-lines, social activity and a lack of clarity regarding vehicle routes, significantly reduce vehicle speeds. The application of these principles need not be limited to the residential situation: in northern Europe they have been successfully applied to shopping areas and public squares and spaces.

Since 2000 Sustrans has actively been researching and promoting home zones. From 2002-05,Sustrans worked in partnership with Bristol City Council on the Dings home zone in Bristol as part of the Vivaldi project. The Dings project demonstrated how community involvement can enhance street improvement schemes and help to ensure significant support for controversial transport initiatives. The home zone in the Dings has not only created a safer and more pleasant environment to live in but also encouraged residents to use their street for social gatherings and outdoor play, therefore creating a stronger sense of community spirit within the area.

The Streets for Living initiative in Swindon was delivered with the support of Sustrans, addresses anti-social speeding traffic and a high turnover of residents in areas which lack community engagement.

Sustrans continues to work with a number of partners, including the Children's Play Council and the Campaign for Better Transport, to encourage the development of home zones in the UK, both in existing communities and in new housing developments.

Before and after:

This road appears to be a good place to start ! There are many such residential areas which could benefit.

The website gives us a concept which if we could adapt and implement, could be an answer to many more of my serious grievances! Two wheelers speeding with their engines revved up. The continuous unnecessary honking at all times. Dangerous driving by many 2 wheelers, autos, delivery vans and also the cars!

It will surely encourage children to play again on the streets. I would love to see our kids come out and play. They are missing from our surroundings, as are the sparrows. It is only in gated communities are children free to run around and play.

This reminds me of another upsetting feature of our urban growth. (I am now becoming greedy!) Lack of play grounds, not play area, for the young adults! It feels terrible to see the condition and the size of playgrounds in our locality. I grew up in this area and we had a lot more space to play. We had the whole of Gaffar Khan maidan (Hopefully still known by the that name!) and many stretches of open spaces around our house.

But as we grew, we had a glimpse of what the future held for us! We would clear an area for cricket and a week later, the foundation stones and bricks would arrive at our grounds, totally frustrating us. Even though more and more houses were built, we still had the streets for ourselves and we preferred it, as the road surface was much better for our tennis ball cricket.

Here is how the play ground in G K maidan near Sheshadripuram High School appears now! About only 15% of the original play ground is now available for kids. Rest was stolen from them for a market, a post office, a temple and many more. Also a park which is closed during school hours, keeping the kids out!

In my time we had a very nice volley ball court where state level tournaments were held. Couple of ball badminton courts and a few cricket pitches. For some reason we stopped playing real cricket and played only tennis ball cricket. I guess it was more an economic reason.

This is next to the Gandhinagar school. In out times it was known to be a very good school. Hope it still is. The ground is just right for a Basket Ball court. I hope it gets made.

Below are some of the buildings in our GK maidan. All of them were built after I moved out 46 years ago.

The swimming pool, closed after thieves stole all the water treatment equipment!

A corporation run clinic which seems totally shut!

It was a relief to see this! Probably the best maintained among the lot. Surprisingly I saw kids peeing on the walls of their playground. Old habits surely die hard!

My school which was rather small has grown into a very big institution. But I see no sports facility. The open quadrangle could house some sports activity, but did not see any!

The school and the park opposite.The park is closed during school hours. Obviously there is a fear that the students will behave irresponsibly! A sad reflection on our students and in turn our schools.

I feel it is now time to introduce a blog from which I have borrowed these picture of a village school, as I was impressed with the space provided there for the children. Varsha, an artist, is a dear friend of ours and her blog about the project she is intiated is worth a visit.