Sustainable streets

If we ask visitors to the city what they notice the most, their answers may include buildings, streets, vehicles, gardens, and monuments. While a city cannot exist without buildings, buildings themselves cannot exist without streets.

Streets are to a city what blood vessels are to the body. But are they significant enough to be the focus of a three-day conference? The resounding success of the ‘Namma Raste’ (meaning “Our Streets”) event, held in Bengaluru from February 20 to 23, 2025, suggests they are.

Organised by BBMP, the city corporation, in collaboration with WRI India, the World Resource Institute, this was the second edition of Namma Raste. The event had WRI India as the knowledge partner, alongside 65 other contributors from academic, research, and civil society organisations. Their collective efforts focused on data-driven, sustainable, safe, and citizen-centric urban mobility.

A key highlight of the event was the release of Namma Raste Kaipidi, a manual jointly developed by BBMP, WRI India, and IISc. This manual captures best practices for sustainable streets, emphasising better design, engineering, and maintenance. It also explores solutions for safer school zones, station precincts, and urban spaces, making it a first-of-its-kind guide in India and a crucial reference for BBMP.

The event featured contributions from several key organizations, including BBMP, BMRCL, BMTC, DULT, K-Ride, Traffic Police, and B.CAP (Bangalore Climate Action & Resilience Plan), all of whom shared their visions for urban mobility. Students from institutions such as Srishti, RV, BMS, Ramaiah, and Manipal showcased their academic studies in art and architecture. BBMP also presented its mega projects, alongside precinct studies conducted by consultants like SDeG.

Among the event’s most significant contributors was WRI India, which provided research insights, curated posters, and played a leading role in organising the conference. Other notable participants included IISc’s IST Lab, which examined sustainable transport; TUMMOC, which discussed integrated ticketing systems; Namma Yatri, which promoted local auto-rickshaws; and MoveInSync, which analysed traffic quality. Sensing Local focused on urban design solutions, while PotHole Raja proposed ideal road maintenance strategies. Everyday City Lab explored shading solutions, Bangalore Walks led the Walkaluru initiative, and India Rising Trust reimagined under-flyover spaces.

Other contributions included ITDP’s study on air pollution, Voltrix’s advocacy for a 15-minute city model, and Compartment S4’s analysis of crash data. HSR Citizen Forum emphasised feeder services, while APD India pushed for better accessibility. B.PAC encouraged public participation, Bengawalk reviewed bus stop infrastructure, and Pedaluru promoted cycling. Jana Urban Space advocated for public spaces, CSTEP emphasised scientific approaches, and the Bangalore Apartments Federation championed cultural spaces. Toyota Mobility Foundation supported universal accessibility, while ALSTOM contributed insights on low-emission transport. Numerous other initiatives also made their mark at the event.

Namma Raste was not just a conference — it was a major public consultation seminar that laid out a roadmap for a better city. It demonstrated how a multitude of small, citizen-driven initiatives can collectively enhance mobility, accessibility, and safety.

Namma Raste, a major public consultation seminar, gave a road map to a better city, advising and proving how multitudes of small initiatives can improve the city’s mobility, facility, accessibility and safety. Small is beautiful, said economist E.F. Schumacher. Small is necessary, said architect Laurie Baker. Small is doable, as we all know.

While discussions about Greater Bangalore often focus on mega-projects and large budgets, these can lead to greater urbanisation and more challenges. Instead, what Namma Raste showcased were not unattainable large-scale plans but practical, actionable solutions that citizens can implement at scale. For Bengaluru to truly become a greater city, the government must support and empower these grassroots efforts.

(The author is an urban designer, heritage conservationist and ecological architect in Bangalore)