Chennai’s Street Code Tests a Better Way to Build Cities
The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has drafted a unified street design code for the entire Chennai Metropolitan Area aligning footpaths, cycle tracks, bus stops, trees, utilities, and carriageways under one rulebook. This matters because India’s street failure is not a lack of money or ideas. It is fragmentation. Multiple agencies, multiple manuals, zero coordination. The result is dug-up roads, unusable footpaths, and design that prioritises vehicles by default. If implemented well, this code could shift Indian urban design from project-based fixes to standards-based thinking. The real innovation is not wider roads. It is governance that finally treats streets as shared civic infrastructure, not leftover space.
It is governance that finally treats streets as shared civic infrastructure, not leftover space.