Defying purpose of sidewalks: its story of many developing cities

They sleep, they socialize, they play, they construct, they're born, they die, they live, they beg, they sell and they do everything on that thin and broken strip of exposed sidewalks, but walking. They defy the very purpose of sidewalk.













Apparently It’s not their choice; for some its fate, for some its livelihood, for some its entertainment for some its greed. Sometimes it’s the only piece of land available in a big crowded city for those poorest of urban poor, sometimes it’s the most accessible everyday market place for those returning home from work, sometime its paradise for street food lovers, sometimes its playground for street kids, sometimes its breeding ground of crime, sometimes abandoned sometimes encroached sometimes its provider and sometimes victim of business greed, used for everything, but walking. It’s the story of almost every city of developing countries. In the absence of regular, appropriate, continuous and user friendly sidewalks and footpaths across the city and without better livelihood opportunities and ample urban housing, this phenomenon is going to inevitably present itself in different forms.