Walking first, driving second: Salman makes the case at Urban Adda 2026
Walking first, driving second. That principle was at the heart of Dr Salman Khan's contribution to Urban Adda 2026, where the Youth Leadership Board member represented YOURS and the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety among policymakers, researchers, artists and young people.
Hosted by Raahgiri Foundation and co-hosted by GuruJal, ICCT India and Nagarro, the second edition of Urban Adda took place from 5 to 7 October 2026 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, following a Raahgiri Day street takeover in Connaught Place on 4 October. Over three days, ministers, regulators, city administrators, urban planners and young people discussed clean air, electric mobility, water security, road safety and walkability, and seven new studies were launched on how traffic pollution, unsafe streets and diesel fleets shape life in Indian cities. YOURS joined the conference as an event partner.
Putting people on foot first
On 6 October, Salman took part in "Right to Walk before Right to Drive in India", one of the conference's technical workshops. The session put a clear principle up for discussion: that people's right to move safely on foot should come before the right to drive. Run as a round table, it focused on practical recommendations to make walking safer, more accessible and better built into street planning and road safety decisions, bringing together perspectives on accessibility, road safety and youth leadership.
With a background in medicine and public health, Salman brings a health lens to road safety, treating safe walking as a question of wellbeing as much as of transport. It is a perspective that fits the conference's wider focus on cleaner air, safer school zones and streets where everyone can walk without fear.
On the first day, Salman also welcomed visitors to the YOURS space in the exhibition area, home to the interactive session "Draw your street around school zone", where participants designed their own street section, deciding how much space to give to cars, walking, cycling, greenery and parking with simple temporary props. Some conversations went well beyond today's traffic. One of Salman's highlights was a talk of nearly 45 minutes with Banani Bhattacharyya about urban planning in the Harappan civilisation, which left him reflecting on how much the past can still teach the cities being built today.
Young people at the centre of the programme
Urban Adda kept youth participation at its core. The Youth Adda space brought youth-led workshops and a Solutions Showcase poster gallery highlighting student and civic-tech ideas in micro-mobility and accessible design. Ahead of the event, YOURS shared the call for posters with Coalition members in India, and Raquel Barrios, Executive Director of YOURS, recorded a video message for participants.
A partnership that keeps opening doors
Salman's participation builds on a long-standing partnership between the Coalition and Raahgiri Foundation, which has opened space for Coalition members in India again and again, from school workshops to webinars and conferences. Each of these moments gives young people a seat in conversations about the cities they will inherit, and the chance to show that safe, walkable streets are where healthier cities begin.
