The Impact of Street Layout Design on Non-Motorized Activities with Nairobi City, Kenya

Abstract

The design of street layouts in urban areas in developing countries has been centered around motorized transportation with little close to no consideration to non-motorized modes of transport. This has resulted in increased congestion, poor urban air quality, reduced safety for pedestrians and cyclists and poor health of urban residents. The transport planning of street layouts, especially within Nairobi City, has not adequately taken care of non-motorized transport (NMT) such as walking and cycling and the activities that occur around them resulting in competing use of pavements and roads, exposing pedestrians, cyclists, handcart operators and street vendors to insecurity and harassment. Through observation and interview methods, this study examined the current condition of the street layout along Luthuli and Haile Selassie Avenues and documented the NMT activities occurring along the two streets. The study aimed at assessing the impact street layout has on non-motorized transportation activities in order to determine both the positive and negative aspects of urban street design, in an attempt to improve the built environment of identified streets and in any other forthcoming redevelopments. It emerged that physical form and qualities of a place shape the way it is used, and the way people and vehicles move through it. Therefore, this study recommended that urban street design should help create spaces that connect with each other sustainably providing the right conditions to encourage walking, cycling and use of public transport.