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Designing Cities For People |
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WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, May. 8 -/E-Wire/-- "The world's cities are in trouble. In Mexico City, Tehran, Bangkok, Shanghai, and hundreds of other cities, the quality of daily life is deteriorating. Breathing the air in some cities is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. In the United States, the number of hours commuters spend sitting in traffic going nowhere climbs higher each year," says Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute, in his book Plan B 2.0.
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In response to these conditions, we are seeing the emergence of a new urbanism. One of the most remarkable modern urban transformations has occurred in Bogotandaacute , Colombia, where Enrique Peandntilde alosa served as Mayor for three years. When he took office in 1998, he did not ask how life could be improved for the 30 percent who owned cars he wanted to know what could be done for the 70 percent - the majority - who did not own cars.
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In just a few years, Peandntilde alosa transformed the quality of urban life with his vision of a city designed for people. Under his leadership, the city banned the parking of cars on sidewalks, created or renovated 1,200 parks, introduced a highly successful bus-based rapid transit system, reduced rush hour traffic by 40 percent, planted 100,000 trees, and involved local citizens directly in the improvement of their neighborhoods. In doing this, he created a sense of civic pride among the city's 8 million residents, making the streets of Bogotá in strife-torn Colombia safer than those in Washington, D.C.
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Now government planners everywhere are experimenting, seeking ways to design cities for people not cars. Cars promise mobility, and they provide it in a largely rural setting. But in an urbanizing world there is an inherent conflict between the automobile and the city. After a point, as their numbers multiply, automobiles provide not mobility but immobility. And urban air pollution, often from automobiles, claims millions of lives.
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Throughout the modern era, budget allocations for transportation in most countries - and in the United States, in particular - have been heavily biased toward the construction and maintenance of highways and streets. Creating more livable cities and the mobility that people desire depends on reallocating budgets to emphasize the development of rail- or bus-based public transport and bicycle support facilities.
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The exciting news is that there are signs of change, daily indications of an interest in redesigning cities for people, not for cars. One encouraging trend comes from the United States. Public transit ridership nationwide rising by 2.1 percent a year since 1996 indicates that people are gradually abandoning their cars for buses, subways, and light rail.
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In Amsterdam, only 40 percent of workers commute by car 35 percent bike or walk, while 25 percent use public transit. Copenhagen's commuting patterns are almost identical to Amsterdam's. In Paris, just under half of commuters rely on cars. Even though these European cities are older, with narrow streets, they have far less congestion than Atlanta.
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Not surprisingly, car-dependent cities have more congestion and less mobility than those that offer a wider range of commuting options. The very vehicle whose great promise was personal mobility is in fact virtually immobilizing entire urban populations, making it difficult for rich and poor alike to move about.
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More of this excerpt is available online from the Earth Policy Institute
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Adapted from Chapter 11, "Designing Sustainable Cities," in Lester R. Brown, Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (2006), available online at www.earthpolicy.org. Contact Info:
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Media Contact:
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Reah Janise Kauffman
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Tel: 202-496-9290 x 12
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E-mail: rjk@earthpolicy.org
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Research Contact:
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Janet Larsen
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Tel: 202-496-9290 x 14
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E-mail: jlarsen@earthpolicy.org Website : Earth Policy Institute
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/SOURCE:
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Earth Policy Institute |
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05-08-2007 |
/CONTACT:
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Media Contact:
Reah Janise Kauffman
Tel: 202-496-9290 x 12
E-mail: rjk@earthpolicy.org
Research Contact:
Janet Larsen
Tel: 202-496-9290 x 14
E-mail: jlarsen@earthpolicy.org |
| /WEB SITE: |
http://www.earthpolicy.org
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