India, Sept. 30 -- New Delhi

Waiting outside their school for their parents to arrive to take them home on a cloudy afternoon, three seven-year-old girls are spinning their little umbrellas and jumping on newly placed rainbow tiles. A little further, a group of women, having arrived much before the closing bell, sit on benches talking about their children's upcoming semester exams. Towards another end of the street, one bench is fully occupied by a street vendor lying down, talking on the phone, as he rests before kids start flocking to his stall to relish golguppas.

With table-top crossings, landscaped and shaded waiting areas, painted walls, play pockets, cycle tracks, parking space and a regulated traffic management plan, this is a 2...