Mobility in deep water: Can Bengaluru turn the ship towards a 15-minute city?

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Almost every day, Anwesha Ray, an information technology (IT) professional in Bengaluru, takes a private cab to work even with the surging fares during peak Bengaluru traffic hours.

“The bus stop is about 800 metres from my home. However, it's about 2 km away from my workplace in Whitefield. And the metro station is 30 minutes away from my apartment. So, both are inaccessible to me," she added.

Already facing a traffic snarl, Bengaluru's poor urban planning, coupled with infrastructure failure, has dented mobility across the city.

So much so that the state government recently announced an action plan for 12 ‘good life’ clusters (live-work-play) to facilitate mobility, as well as, the "30-minute proposal".

Ideas like the 15-minute city, which originated in Europe, attempt to make services available to residents within a 15-minute or 30-minute radius of their homes.

However, experts say, the slow implementation of bicycle tracks in the city and lack of last-mile connectivity will delay the actual realisation of these urban models.

With the IT boom in the early 2000s, the city saw rapid urbanisation, which Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow Integrated Transport & Road Safety, WRI India calls a "miracle".

According to WRI India data, metropolitan limits in Bengaluru saw a 231 percent increase in area, while the municipal limits saw a 178 percent increase between 1991 and 2019.

Another 2021 global research paper titled ‘A Framework for Enhancing the Spatial Urban Form of Informal Economies in India: The Case of Krishna Rajendra Market, Bangalore" found that from 1971 to 1991, the city’s population grew from 1.66 million to 4.1 million and almost doubled to 8.5 million by 2011 to 8.5 million.

However, with an unclear Revised Master Plan 2015, experts say urban development in Bengaluru has been largely haphazard, as real estate expands into the suburbs.

Recently, the state government announced the drafting of RMP 2041 after the Karnataka High Court cited several violations in RMP 2031.

OP Agarwal, an urban expert, explained that the concept of a 15-minute city evolved from smaller, already-developed cities in Europe, and the concept can only be implemented in larger cities like Bengaluru, provided certain planning conditions are met.

Sathya Sankaran, Bicycle Mayor, Bengaluru, said for a 15-minute city, every service needs to be accessible around the residents, which puts more focus on mixed land usage.

"Having commercial, residential, and hospitality within a close radius is the key challenge. However, the RMP 2015 already allows mixed land usage zones, so we have the infrastructure planning in place," he said.

Sankaran added that more focus should be laid on connecting the mixed land usage to more efficient public transport that can reduce the frequency of motorised vehicles, leading to shorter travel times.

Experts say even then the last-mile connectivity remains a major issue, especially in the growing Bengaluru real estate suburbs.

For example, Farah Merchant, who lives in Cooke Town, a sought-after residential area in Bengaluru, said there are two local train stations close by, but neither connects the city. "The bus stands are far away and we have to use our own vehicles," she added.

Agarwal said unless last-mile connectivity is improved in the city, travel time will continue to surge. "In Cairo, Uber launched the Uber bus, app-based flexible smaller buses that can deviate from course to pick up residents. We can look at such premium bus options here," he added.

Additionally, the construction of cycling lanes in the city is progressing at a snail's pace.

In June 2022, Moneycontrol reported the government bodies are constructing 0.7 km of cycle tracks every month since the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) draft came into effect in 2020.

And by 2035, they will only be able to build 109 kilometres of cycle tracks, which is 18 percent of their target of 600 km of cycle tracks in 2035. "Cycling lanes or walkable footpaths are one of the key challenges to imagining a 15-minute city," Sankaran added.

Satya Arikutharam, former chief technical advisor to the state government, and now an independent consultant, added that last year the state approved Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy and Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) Bill, 2022.

"Both of these have a vision on how development around metro stations and transport nodes should evolve in the city. But now, we need to rethink how to make those transport nodes accessible within walking or cycling distance," he said.

As for Radha Chanchani, Project Manager, Smart Cities, who is also closely working with the state government bodies on mobility issues, the RMP is the most challenging hurdle. "We have delayed it for years, and without a proper RMP we cannot actualise the 15-minute or 30-minute proposal," she said.

Chanchani believes the drafting and implementation of the new RMP 2041 should commence by 2025, so that mobility models can be implemented within 2032.

Arikutharam however said, unless the ongoing Metro work is completed within 2032, mobility will remain a challenge in the city.

Experts say in Bengaluru real estate is launching projects at a faster rate than the government's ability to realise the infrastructure. The mismatch is the main cause of the unplanned and haphazard developments, they say.

Satya Arikutharam said as real estate in Bengaluru expands to the suburbs, several developments are happening without proper transport planning in place.

Raj Bhagat, an urban expert, added that such developments are not reversible and redevelopment will take more than 60 years, costing almost a fortune.

"Planning conditions should be imposed on real estate developers so that they share the responsibility of developing the infrastructure in suburbs. In the end, it will appreciate the real estate values," Arikutharam added.

Sankaran said the 100-acre townships that we see in Bengaluru should keep their internal roads open to public transport, as we see in a majority of developed countries.

"If real estate is leading into newer areas, there is a risk of losing control. Development control regulations are important to control the sprawl ― a major part of urban planning that goes into a 15-minute city," he added.

Alavilli said a lack of empowered structure for metropolitan or city governance is one of the key challenges to maintaining quick mobility.

For example, he said Bengaluru has three major IT corridors in Whitefield, Outer Ring Road and Electronic City. Areas in northern Bengaluru, the airport side, and closer to the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway are largely untapped by the commercial sector.

“Government bodies should step in to decentralise such high-density corridors and plan developments across the city. By law, every government school or hospital should be within walking distance from residents. However, this is rarely seen due to lack of facilities. Strengthening such institutions with a decentralised policy can stretch mobility with better accessibility," he added.

In 2015, the Karnataka Congress government passed a Bill to divide Bengaluru city into three or smaller administrative units, which was rejected by the then-opposition BJP party.

Sankaran said a major decentralisation by splitting the city governance will allow better development control over the microzones.

Bhagat, however, said it will take more than four decades to see the 15-minute city or 30-minute proposals in action. "However, intermediate steps like multiple updated RMPs to plan regional mobility and immediate action plans can speed up the process," he added.