Editorial: Build a better sidewalk

Friday, Dec. 28, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

Building and zoning regulations were created to increase the safety for people inside buildings and ease overcrowding that, among other things, could promote the spread of disease.

But as noted in a story in USA Today on Wednesday, urban planners now are being asked to design buildings and city streets that are safe for women - especially for women who live alone or have small children.

Experts attending a September conference at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing told USA Today that poorly lighted neighborhoods with broken-down sidewalks and traffic lights that don't give people enough time to walk across intersections are a menace to the nation's urban dwellers - more than half of whom are women.

According to figures presented at the conference, almost 60 percent of people older than 65 who live in central cities are women. And these women are three times as likely as men to live alone.

Afaf Meleis, dean of the university's nursing school, told USA Today that "women are feeling frustrated in dense urban environments that are not designed for them to be able to get out." She cited public health officials' calls for people to walk and exercise more, yet noted that women are not likely to do so in cities beset by poor lighting and blind alleys.

Poorly maintained sidewalks and traffic lights that change too quickly also are discouraging to women pushing baby strollers or those who use wheelchairs, canes or walkers.

We would venture that women are not the only ones turned off by these aspects of poor urban design. Hardly anyone would feel safe heading out for a morning walk or run along a dark city street. And plenty of men push strollers or use wheelchairs, walkers and other aids to get around.

Urban design that benefits a community's most vulnerable residents ultimately benefits everyone. It is our hope that the planning philosophy that experts in Pennsylvania described as an "emerging trend" becomes more commonplace.