Raahgiri Day - Taking Back Streets from Cars ....by Car Owners?

Mid-November last year Raahgiri day opened in Gurgaon. A core group of socially minded institutions and individuals active in the Millennium City were successful in convincing the government agencies that manage Gurgaon (the municipal corporation and the the police, which are mutually exclusive) to organize a Sunday activity wherein they would shut down select streets for cars, and have residents free reign to walk, jog, cycle and pretty much do any activity that didn't include a car or motorized vehicle. Their objective is to expose the car-owning residents to the necessity for pedestrian/bike infrastructure in Gurgaon.  This is probably the first Ciclovia type event organised in India (if you don't count the wedding seasons' random blocking of streets for dancing). While this is commendable for any city on either side of the North-South divide, it was particularly astonishing to me that it was happening in Gurgaon. I have often, (and relatively accurately) visualized much of the new Gurgaon as a an upper middle class city where most of the residents live in a gated bubble, with incomes many times over the average Indian household. So it was surprising to me that they would be concerned about accessibility for all. It peaked my curiosity enough to go visit on a Sunday, since I was going to be in Delhi for the month of December.

The Raahgiri Day street fair is organised in the DLF parts of Gurgaon along a circular route around Sector 27, of approximately 2.1 miles (3.4 km) that include two arterial streets and two collector level roads. Here's a map of the route:

On the arterial streets the left most lane (Right hand drive) is cordoned off for cyclists and joggers. On one of the collector streets the central lanes are for pedestrians, with the left lane for traffic. And the other collector, in front of the local shopping complex (Galleria),  is completely pedestrianized and has several planned activities.

My experience was quite ironic as I got to Gurgaon the night before, and when I did go out to participate, I realized my car was towed away to make way for Raahgiri day. I literally had to walk most of the route just to retrieve my car. None-the-less I was impressed the high level of participants along the activity zone area. I found out from one of the organizers that they had initially expected 5,000 participants on the opening day, but were blown away to get over 20,000. On average they have been getting between 10,000 - 20,000 participants.

Most of the participants I saw were mostly the upper middle class residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, with some of the local help mingling around most of the activity areas. The activities themselves were pretty much catering to the sensibilities of the upper economic strata of Gurgaon. There was Yoga, Zumba, Crossfit classes, as well as street football (the real football), street cricket and other children activities. There were a couple of free cycle rental kiosks that were renting out cycles based on one's ID. The Gurgaon police chipped in a police marching band, while some social organizations were marching with slogans forwarding their agendas.  Overall, it was quite a festive atmosphere.

The success of Raahgiri Day seems to indicate the unmet demand of the residents of new Gurgaon for a safe public spaces for recreation. Much of Gurgaon is gated with apartment complexes having pocket parks within them, golf courses, shopping malls and private gyms being the only source for any recreational activity. All of these are restricted either to residents of complexes, or by usages fees or memberships. There isn't much of an area to hang out, other than the Galleria shopping complex, which is limited in it benches and seating area. I would also add that the initial crowds maybe due to the novelty of exercise classes on the street (Zumba ladies and Crossfit hunks squatting and jumping) , which may fizzle out as the program progresses into March. In the long run, the program would have to show some socio-economic benefit to the local businesses and residents to sustain itself, as it takes a lot of police personnel to manage it. Somewhere down the line those costs need to be recuperated. It does seems that the Galleria Shops are reaping the benefits with an uptick of  upto 20% extra sales ( according to anecdotal information) during the Raahgiri time. Hopefully that is good enough for the shop owners to insist that it continues.  I for sure contributed by paying for breakfast for my family who I mercilessly dragged away from their Sunday slumber.

Here are my thoughts on how this initiative can move forward to become an integral part of Gurgaon:

• The length and route should be expanded to incorporate access to anchor destinations such as larger parks and shopping centers.
• The activities should incorporate mobile vendors that can start to generate greater economic activity helping the program become more vital to the residents of the area.
• Find ways to be more inclusive for lower income residents to participate in the program. Yoga or Zumba is far too alien for them to feel involved. 
• Extend Raahgiri beyond March - change it to Raahgiri night, possibly on Saturday evenings where mobile produce markets, mobile eateries and other vendors could bring goods and services to the residents.
• Expanding on the previous idea and incorporate the 1G cloud idea outlined in the Ring (T)Rail Concept explained here.
• Create temporary parklets for people to hang out...cause they are cool, and can provide folk to sit down and enjoy passers by.
• Create demo areas with pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure facilities that exposes residents to what quality multi-modal streets can be.
• And lastly, put up signs so that I don't park my car on a street that needs to be clear for Raahgiri.

Here are some photos from my visit:

 Lane used for Raahgiri on Arterial Roads

 Main Activity Street

 Rip-Sticker on the Streets of Gurgaon

 Street Yogis

Bicycle Congestion

 Street fit with Cross fit

 Onlookers

Police presence 

Raahgiri Day 

References:

Raahgiri Day Website: http://raahgiriday.com/
The Ring (T)rail Concept: http://anagramarchitects.com/?arc_project=the-ring-trail-urban-renewal-project
Cityfix post on comparing Raahgiri with Ciclovia: http://thecityfix.com/blog/memories-ciclovia-bogota-dreams-for-raahgiri-day-gurgaon-dario-hidalgo/
Ciclovia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclov%C3%ADa
Parklets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parklet
More on Gurgaon: http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/road-gurgaon
The Times of India interviewed me about Raahgiri and Gurgaon. The interview can be read here : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-15/gurgaon/46223855_1_raahgiri-day-gurgaon-cycle-lanes