Singara Chennai 2.0 | This design feature needs to be extended to other pavements 

Benches are parked on the pavement on a section of Sardar Patel Road in Chennai

The ideal pavement makes room for a triad of elements. The walking zone, of course. The buffer zone. And the multi-utility zone (MUZ). MUZ packs various components. Seating is one of them, a fact underlined by Indian Road Congress’ guidelines on pavement design. This component however is the most ignored. Greater priority is usually accorded to the other components of MUZ, particularly electricity junction boxes, which is doubly true of pavements strapped for space.

However, often, even when the pavement is wide, it would be devoid of any seating arrangement. Given this, it is heart-warming to see this component sitting snugly on the pavement of Sardar Patel Road, the section of the arterial road running parallel to Kasturbai Nagar First Main Road. Benches are parked on the pavement, each of them bookended by potted flowering plants, with one pot placed on each side of the bench.