Coimbatore Complete Streets Transformation
IBI Group created a safer, more functional and welcoming streetscape for the diverse visitors and retail workers of Coimbatore’s essential retail district. We provided preparatory research services, including public engagement and analysis of the street and its context, developed the design and collaborated with partners on installation.
Creating a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly retail destination for the city of Coimbatore
The Coimbatore Complete Streets Project is a sustainable development collaboration between the Indian and German governments in partnership with the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation to prepare streetscape design for two streets in Coimbatore: Big Bazaar Road and Cross Cut Road. IBI Group was retained to research and draft design proposals, work with partners to implement the concept designs through tactical interventions, document the project, and refine the final streetscape proposal, reflecting user feedback.
Drawing on what we learned during a detailed study of the existing city centre street, we developed a user-centric design proposal for Big Bazaar Road, which facilitates the high number of bus users, improves the public realm around heritage structures and ensures road safety by equitable distribution of space for pedestrian, street vendors and vehicles. For Cross Cut Road, which is a busy shopping district, we created a pragmatic but innovative streetscape design that provides pedestrians and cyclists with a safe & vibrant environment. Our goal was to improve the district’s navigation, safety and overall experience through user-informed feedback that we collected while testing our design on the ground through tactical interventions.
Our design added safe intersections and crosswalks, protected bicycle lanes, organized spaces for street vendors and public seating areas. Colourful cultural elements, including paintings and planters added beauty while signaling the pedestrian-centric nature of the district, delineating different use areas and helping to slow traffic.
This streetscape improvement project was a logical extension of our previous work in the city, creating a citywide non-motorized transport master plan methodology.
The project is supported by the Indo-German Development Cooperation as part of the Integrated Sustainable Urban Transport Systems for Smart Cities (SMART-SUT) initiative. SMART-SUT is a joint effort of the Government of India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Germany’s international development agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, working on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
