Freetown reflections, What walking means.
What does walking mean to you in Freetown? Reflection on the ironies of disregarding walking as a mode of transport.
Walking, the most fundamental mode of transportation, offers intrinsic values that extend beyond mere mobility. Unlike cars, walking promotes health, social connections, and environmental awareness. With this in mind, during fieldwork in Freetown we asked residents, practitioners and policy makers what walking meant to them. Ironically, in a city where rush hours manifest in rivers of people walking, most decision makers seem to have blinders to walking as a mode of transport. They view walking as a leisure activity to be performed when there is access to green areas and free time, only. Residents in hilly areas that depend on walking to access water, preform their economic activities, take their children to school through narrow, poorly-lit roads, that flood during the rainy season do not scape this irony. When asked about walking they describe it as a leisure, healthy and entertaining activity.
The oversight of practitioners and policy makers coincides with transport and planning policies restriction to motorized options, neglecting the potential of walking for a sustainable urban mobility system. In the meantime, walkers in Freetown face roads where cars are kings and pedestrian crossings and traffic lights are a rare sight. The lack of pedestrian-friendly environments strengthens the idea that only someone who cannot access a car would be walking as a mode of transport. A practitioner of the Ministry of Transport started walking to work and “They called my wife to ask if I had gone mad or if we were broke and in in need of help! Why else would I be walking to work to work?”. Other practitioners interviewed said they would like to work "I myself would like to work, yeah. Because it's good for you” but do not “Because the environment is not pedestrian-friendly". Then when it comes to improving walking conditions, budgets and competing priorities are said to be the limit. For example, at the municipality, programs for neighbourhood improvements are defined by donors and public lights to improve pedestrian safety are not necessarily within climate adaption funds priorities. Even when pedestrians are considered, the priority is given to car flow, opting for walk bridges rather than far less resource consuming solutions like pelican crossings or more far reaching as traffic lights.
A transport practitioner in Freetown relates the disregard of pedestrians in transport planning to a predominant exclusionary mindset: the association of walking to lack of resources to use a different mode of transport makes it difficult to enforce policies that address pedestrian accessibility, safety, security and enjoyment. Even when infrastructure such as pedestrian crossings is developed, “challenges persist due to a lack of implementation of regulations by transport authorities.” (Transport Practitioner in Freetown).
Reflecting on the irony brings to the spotlight an issue of positioning walking as the primordial mode of transport. As a leisure activity it is already recognised for all its benefits, as a way of transport is seen as a burden and disregarded when planning for better roads. For cities in transition like Freetown, stressing the role of walking in an urban transport system becomes crucial. The general acknowledgement of (leisure) walking as beneficial is a first step that can be seized to give walking as a mode of transport the centre stage it deserves.
Collaborative efforts involving all stakeholders and community participation are crucial for addressing these challenges. By walking together, insights into the city's challenges and opportunities can be gained, paving the way for a more liveable city in Freetown.