BENGALURU : KYC, Know Your Customer, is something we get reminded (apart from link your Aadhaar) about every time we need to open a bank account. Understanding your target consumers is 101 of any Marketing Course. Somehow that principle seems to have been forgotten on our streets. Common sense would dictate that the customer hierarchy should be the vulnerable (pedestrians, cyclists), the desirable (public transport users) and the rest (motorised vehicle users).
With the advent of the Tender SURE roads, for the first time there has been an attempt to build our roads around the most important customer, the Pedestrian. One has never understood our planners’ disdain for pedestrians. Most citizens, more so the underprivileged walk on our streets at some time of the day. Bengaluru has the weather where one can walk safely for distances of 3-4 kms if we had wide, firm footpaths. One can see evidence of that happening in the central business district where the first set of pedestrian friendly footpaths have been built.
Last week, the lovely looking Church Street was opened. Civil society is asking for it to be a pedestrian only street which would be a first of its kind in the country. The Government seems willing. It will be a transformative move to signal that yes, pedestrians matter! But the route to pedestrianize will need us to carry along all stakeholders, particularly the retail outlets.Marienplatz in Munich is today a pedestrian plaza. When vehicular movement was stoppedover a decade ago, there were protest from the shop keepers but post pedestrianization the sales increased multi-fold. The reasons are obvious - you create a safe environment for families, tourists to congregate and they tend to hang around longer and be consumers.
Our traditional shopping streets like Commercial Street, Brigade road, Avenue road, etc. are under assault from the homogenous malls. If they are to be competitive, their future lies in creating a vibrant street environment outdoors which is pedestrian friendly, safe and offers a multitude of options be it food, arts, entertainment and shops. Bazaars have been part of our social fabric for ages and we need to recreate the magic.
Church Street lends itself to pedestrianization. It’s akin to Adam’s rib – there, but not particularly necessary. Its been closed for over 18 months and we have managed without vehicular movement. Let’s start with making it a public space that comes alive as an example of what’s possible if we put pedestrians first.