TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE AND HAPPIER CITY

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Debra Carr
7 years ago
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1 TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE AND HAPPIER CITY

2 American Indians were flabbergasted when asked if they would sell their land

9 What is a good city?

10 The wonderful Danish urbanist Jan Gehl says a good city is one where we want to be out in public space.

11 A city where people want to be outside.

14 Beyond survival, happiness needs: 1) to be with people 2) to walk (riding a bicycle is just a more efficient way of walking) 3) to not feel inferior.

16 A city that is good for children, the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, is good for everybody else.

18 Tell a 3 year old: Watch out! A car! And the child will jump in terror.

20 A city friendly to people, or a city friendly to cars? There are conflicts.

24 High velocity urban roads are like fences in a cow pasture.

26 Many cities demolished elevated highways which did damage to quality of life.

30 A measure to evaluate anything to be done in a city: Does IT make the city more, or less pleasant to walk?

31 ALAMEDA EL PORVENIR

32 Cars are extremely recent in human history

37 These were wealthy cities where there was science and art.

41 Cars first pushed people out to the sidewalks, later to the suburbs.

42 The 20th Century will be remembered as a disastrous one in urban history.

58 EL PORVENIR PROMENADE

60 World class bicycle infrastructure, totally protected, beautiful bicycle highways would multiply bicycle use anywhere.

62 Where JICA proposed an 8 lane highway, we created a 30 kilometer greenway.

63 CICLOVÍAS EN BOGOTÁ

64 JUAN AMARILLO GREENWAY

66 JUAN AMARILLO GREENWAY

68 JUAN AMARILLO GREENWAY

70 Such pedestrian-and-bicycle highways are not just for the poor!

72 How would your quality of life improve with a 100 mile pedestrian-and-bicycleonly promenade network you could enter a few blocks from your home?

75 Quality sidewalks are the most important element of a democratic city s infrastructure.

78 We require environmental impact studies. We should also require human impact studies

89 I was almost impeached for getting cars out of sidewalks.

90 People v.s Cars After Before

91 Sidewalks are relatives of parks, not of streets.

92 Before I was almost impeached

95 PUBLIC SPACE

98 Should sidewalks continue at grade at ALL non major intersections?

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101 There is not a natural level of car use in a city.

102 If there was more space for cars in New York, or Paris, there would be more cars there. If there was less space for cars, there would be less cars.

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104 How should a good city distribute road space between pedestrians, bicycles, public transport and cars?

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108 Wherever there is space for curbside parking there is space for wider sidewalks and bicycle ways!.

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110 Parking is not a constitutional right in any country.

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113 When shopping malls replace public pedestrian space as the place to see and meet people, it is a symptom that a city is ill.

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118 Pedestrian spaces are a magical good, whose capacity to yield happiness does not wear away.

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121 Transport is a peculiar problem.

122 Trying to solve traffic jams with more roads of bigger roads is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.

123 Seattle Despite giant highways, Atlanta has more traffic jams every year.

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125 What to do about Hwy 280?

126 Mobility and traffic are different problems with different solutions

127 Mass transit will solve mobility but will not solve traffic jams. Only restrictions to car use will reduce traffic.

128 Busways in highways?.

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130 TransMilenio

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132 Investments in infrastructure can be regressive.

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134 Suburbs are not friendly to youngsters without cars; or to the elderly. Suburbs look pretty but are lonely and a bit boring.

135 Density is the most important element of good transport, regardless of whether we use trains, buses, taxis, bicycles or walk.

136 Density is fun: it means people in the streets, a variety of cultural activities, restaurants! walking to buy bread or vegetables, a café, a movie! Density means health: more walking and biking, less driving!

137 Density makes trips shorter, homes smaller, energy consumption lower.

138 What attracts people to suburbs?

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140 Urban renewal acquired a bad name. It has been used successfully recently in London, Madrid, Paris! (New London, Connecticut?

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148 What would it take to bring high income people without children to go live downtown?

149 Perhaps we should not use the word density because it means something different to every person.

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160 It is possible to design a radically different downtown.

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163 Whenever people use public transport, it is rarely out of love for the environment.

164 Many possible means to restrict car use: London congestion charge, parking restrictions, gas taxes!

165 Bogotá: Tag number based restrictions «Peak hour and Tag» («Pico y Placa») 93% population support

166 Mass transit will solve mobility but will not reduce traffic jams. Only restrictions to car use will reduce traffic. The simplest car use restriction are parking restrictions.

167 If car use carries so many social and environmental costs, and public transport and bicycle use so many benefits...

168 !it seems only logical to tax much more car use in order to subsidize better public transport!

169 !and to take away road space from cars in order to give more space to public transport, bicyclists and pedestrians!

170 The street can become a park (and a symbol showing that people are more important than cars).

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173 Bogotá : REFERENDUM In a referendum in October 2000, nearly 64% of voters approved establishing a car free the first Thursday of February every year.

174 CAR FREE DAY

175 Bogotá : REFERENDUM Citizens also voted on a proposals to ban all car use, every day during peak hours, beginning We missed it by less than a percentage point.

176 A city that is safe and friendly to pedestrians and bicycles almost certainly is a good city.

177 CICLOVÍAS

178 CICLOVÍAS

179 CICLOVÍAS

180 CICLOVÍAS

181 Bicycles are a serious matter and need serious investment in infrastructure.

182 CICLOVÍAS

183 CICLOVÍAS

184 CICLOVÍAS

185 CICLOVÍAS

186 CICLOVÍAS

187 CICLOVÍAS

188 CICLOVÍAS

189 CICLOVÍAS

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191 The British Statistical Office says any trip less than 5 kms in central London is faster by bicycle.

192 Bogotá: BIKE PATHS

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196 In the Netherlands and Denmark:!it is colder than in the USA!and income per capita is higher

197 A citizen in a US $ 30 dollar bicycle is equally important as one in a US $ 30,000 car.

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202 Are quality sidewalks and protected bicycle ways just cute architectural features? Or are they a right?

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204 TRANSPORT Upper income citizens in developing countries demand subways, but they rarely have the intention of using them.

205 TRANSPORT Rail systems were completely out of our reach. Particularly if we wanted to reach all sectors of the city in a couple of decades!

206 TRANSMILENIO

207 Investment costs Operational cost Capacity Speed Comfort

208 Even with a few subway lines, buses will be crucial.

209 Light rail costs much more than BRT to build and to operate: What does it do that buses don t?

210 In 1940 buses were sexier than trams.

211 Do buses increase property values and stimulate private investment?

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214 All shopping malls built in Bogotá since TransMilenio began to be implemented have been located on its trunk ways.

215 How about some BRT along the rail corridors?

216 BRTs are a symbol showing that public good prevails over private interest. They are politically difficult: They take space away from cars.

217 TRANSMILENIO

218 MIO

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222 Where there is no space for bus lanes is where they are most needed.

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224 CICLOVÍAS

225 CICLOVÍAS

226 CICLOVÍAS

227 TRANSMILENIO

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233 In terms of transport, a good city is not one with great highways but rather one where a child in a bicycle can safely go everywhere.

The Mobility Opportunity Improving urban transport to drive economic growth

, CEO Infrastructure & Cities Sector, Siemens The Mobility Opportunity Improving urban transport to drive economic growth Answers for infrastructure and cities. We are in the "urban millennium" Population