They won't demolish Doha and rebuild it. That would be too hard. Which is why the Lusail project is underway. Much easier to just build a new capital, which is what Lusail will be in the next 10 years.
To me the reason why there is little in the way of pedestrian infrastructure is that there are few reasons for people to walk.
I used to walk everywhere back in Australia. In fact I never even owned a car. So most of my walking was to and from public transport, of which there is none in Doha.
I would frequently walk to the shop, and I do that here too. There is a small shop on almost every corner in most neighbourhoods. Sure the footpaths aren't great and the lighting maybe poor, but it's still easier to walk than to drive. People generally choose not to walk because of the heat, not because of the footpathes.
Recreational walking in Doha is limited to the Corniche, Aspire or a handful of other places around town. People won't suddenly start going for a leisurely stroll around their neighbourhood if you built footpathes because the urban environment is simply too unpleasent. There are no trees, heavy, smelly traffic and cars honking all the time. It's not just the lack of footpathes, but the whole deal.
I totally agree that in some places more can and should be done to pedestrianise some parts of Doha, such as around City Center and surrounding the Corniche. But within the urban built environment more generally (areas such as Mansoura, Al Sadd etc) it will be a tough problem to fix.
They won't demolish Doha and rebuild it. That would be too hard. Which is why the Lusail project is underway. Much easier to just build a new capital, which is what Lusail will be in the next 10 years.
To me the reason why there is little in the way of pedestrian infrastructure is that there are few reasons for people to walk.
I used to walk everywhere back in Australia. In fact I never even owned a car. So most of my walking was to and from public transport, of which there is none in Doha.
I would frequently walk to the shop, and I do that here too. There is a small shop on almost every corner in most neighbourhoods. Sure the footpaths aren't great and the lighting maybe poor, but it's still easier to walk than to drive. People generally choose not to walk because of the heat, not because of the footpathes.
Recreational walking in Doha is limited to the Corniche, Aspire or a handful of other places around town. People won't suddenly start going for a leisurely stroll around their neighbourhood if you built footpathes because the urban environment is simply too unpleasent. There are no trees, heavy, smelly traffic and cars honking all the time. It's not just the lack of footpathes, but the whole deal.
I totally agree that in some places more can and should be done to pedestrianise some parts of Doha, such as around City Center and surrounding the Corniche. But within the urban built environment more generally (areas such as Mansoura, Al Sadd etc) it will be a tough problem to fix.