The Importance Of Sidewalks

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painting cycling routes, and fixing traffic lights. . The short term process has low- cost, and they can fix all changes very fast. Long-term process takes more time to renew or change existing situation such as widening sidewalks, texture for pavement, and street lighting (Safe Routes to School, 2009).
For increasing children physical activity, improving well-designed routs for walking and bicycling between their home and school are necessary. Sidewalks as an important parts of a walking routes to school provide a space for children to make an independent experience from their parents to travel between the schools, and homes individually. Sidewalks create a multifunctional place for children’s walking, running, skating, and cycling without any routs safety fears. Accessible sidewalk networks improve physical mobility for children to reduce any health risk for children. For improving walkability, pedestrian path should be built in the both side of street to encourage children to have a motivation to start their trips on one side, and end it with another side to discover both sides (Safe Routes to School, 2009). For increasing children independent mobility, each street should have bike lane in both side of street to give an opportunity to children to decide what types of trips they prefer for their daily transport. Also, by providing bike lane, children whose house is far from school campus can come to school by their own biscle without parents’ supervision (Safe Routes to School, 2009).
Urban designer should consider at least five feet for bike lane width, and it should be the nearest lane to car routs without any curbs as barrier between street and bike lane. Bicycle lanes should have a different material or color and bike sign f...

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... also understanding the ways in which restricting children’s activities, and children’s views on why they are often unable to achieve their needs from urban areas. The barriers can be solved by short term and long term development which are not cost a lot. It needs to be considered from city planners and designers.
Physical activities not only has benefits for parents, but also, helps children’s social life, and health. The studies done by Woonerf in Netherlands and safe routes to school programs have shown how sidewalk infrastructure can change spaces for children to being more active. The safe routes program should extended to not only developed countries. The program should cover the whole world. Short term and long term development should happen in cities to promote the existing routes and create new sidewalks based on whole generation needs for the future.

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