Sei sulla pagina 1di 295

TOWARDS A MORE SOCIALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE CITY

BOGOT: A Developing World City

From the time when Latin Americas urban population was 45% to when it became 80%, the largest cities population increased by more than 500%

Transport is a peculiar problem: It gets worse as a society gets richer. (clearly a not sustainable model)

What equality in post-communism?

Public good over private interest.

Quality of life equality.

A quality city can provide much joy and ALSO economic growth.
Quality of urban life is the most important competitive factor for the next 100 years at least.

Can we design a transport system without knowing what kind of city we want?

A transport system is a means to a kind of cityand a city is a means to a way of life.

Our developing country cities, which we are building hundreds of years after other cities were built, SHOULD BE THE BEST CITIES EVER.

What is a good city?

A city where people want to be outside.

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

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.

We should not fear shops in residential areas, as long as nobody parks on footpaths and signs are discreet.

A city friendly to cars, or a city friendly to people?

There are conflicts

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

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

When cars appeared we should have started to build a parallel road network: One for cars and the other exclusively pedestrian.

ALAMEDA EL PORVENIR

Why not structure the part of cities yet to be built around a pedestrian and bicycle street network hundreds of kilometers long?

EL PORVENIR PROMENADE

ALAMEDA EL PORVENIR

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

Pakistani cities could become the worlds best, with thousands of kilometers of pedestrian-andbicycle-only streets.

New York or London would love to have, but cannot, a 1,000 kilometer pedestrian and bicycle promenade lined with giant tropical trees.

It would make our cities more attractive to highly qualifies people.

A good city shows profound respect for human dignity.

Footpaths are the most important element of a democratic citys infrastructure.

Cars parked on sidewalks, or parking bays where there should be sidewalk, are symbols of inequality and lack of democracy

People v.s Cars

After

Before

Before

Symbol: Pedestrians are important

PUBLIC SPACE

How does a democratic developing country city distribute road space between

pedestrians, bicyclists, public transport and cars?

The width and quality of sidewalks are good measures of a societys democracy and equity.

In public space we all meet as equals.

In expansion areas of Asian cities it is possible to do much better than New Yorks Central Park: Long parks crisscrossing cities for dozens of kilometers.

PUBLIC SPACE

Battle: Children before cars

It is crucial to buy land for future parks.

PUBLIC SPACE

HUMAN IMPACT STUDIES

Transport cannot be solved simply with money: It takes changes in our way of life.

Transport Policy means:


- Advanced city: How to reduce car use. - Developing country city: How to facilitate car use

Motorcycles are a new factor in urban transport, particularly in tropical and subtropical climates.
Public transport must compete with better quality and lower price.

Seattle

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

Montreal Commuting times:

1992: 62 minutes

2005: 76 minutes

COUNTER-INTUITIVE TRUTHS:

- The Earth circles around the sun

- More road infrastructure brings about more traffic jams

Solving traffic jams with more or bigger highways is like putting out a fire with gasoline.

Do you know ONE city which solved its traffic problems with more road infrastructure?

Highways will destroy quality of life in the city and they WILL NOT solve traffic jams.

In medium term highways will make traffic problems worse.

For traffic it is the same to double the number of cars, as to have the same cars do twice the distance.

Which is the objective of our transport policy?

a.Provide efficient mobility for all.


b.Minimize traffic jams for the higher income groups.

Investments in infrastructure can be regressive.

We chose NOT to embark on a US $ 15 billion highways program proposed by JICA and instead decided to restrict car use and create quality public transport.

Instead, we invested in improving the lives of the poor with projects such as the following:

Housing for the poor.

The other side of the coin of slums is private ownership of land around growing cities.

Private property and the market do not work in the case of growing cities.

Colombian public utilities such as water, electricity, piped gas and others charge much higher rates to higher income neighborhoods than to lower income ones.

Small public works with high community participation can strengthen community organization and create self esteem.

Although available land is outside the urbanized area, it is adjacent to it: With good public transport, this land is only 25 minutes from the center of the city.

URBAN LAND REFORM

Saving on road infrastructure

Santa Marta Nursery

Saving on road infrastructure

PRIORITIZING THE POOR

PRIORITIZING THE POOR

For example, where JICA proposed an 8 lane highway, we built a 35 kilometer greenway for pedestrians and bicyclists only.

CICLOVAS EN BOGOT

JUAN AMARILLO GREENWAY

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

It is Government which determines, explicitly or implicitly, how much will the car be used.

If there was more space for cars in New York or London, there would be more cars.

If there was less space for cars, there would be less cars.

A long time ago advanced cities such as Manhattan, London, Paris, or Zurich decided they would NOT build more road infrastructure in order to alleviate traffic jams.

There are NO elevated highways across the more desirable world cities.

There are serious problems with low density suburban development

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

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

CICLOVAS

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

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

A protected bicycle way is a symbol of democracy. It shows that a citizen on a $ 40 bicycle is equally important as one on a $ 40,000 car.

Quality sidewalks and protected bicycle paths are not cute architectural features: they are a right.

Unless we believe that only those with access to a car have a right to safe individual mobility.

In Bogot there was not one meter of bike-ways and rider-ship was insignificant. Today more than 350.000 people ride to work daily.

Bogot: BIKE PATHS

The only individual transport means accessible to low income citizens in developing country cities (or children in all cities) is the bicycle.

In developing country cities bicycling to work can save between 10% and 30% of a minimum wage earners income.

Bogot: BIKE PATHS

Bogot: BIKE PATHS

Bogot bicycle riders increased from 0,3% to 4,7% of population. Not much, yet more than those who use a $ 2,5 billion subway built in another Colombian city.

In the best cities of the world a large majority of people uses public transport for their daily mobility.

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

Many possible means to restrict car use: London congestion charge, parking restrictions

Parking is not a constitutional right in any country.

Traffic jams are effective means to achieve: - Public transport use - Density

Bogot Experience:Ciclova

Bogot: Tag number based restrictions

Peak hour and Tag ( Pico y Placa ) 93% population support

Bogot : REFERENDUM

In a referendum in October 2000, nearly 64% of voters approved establishing a CAR FREE DAY the first Thursday of February every year.

Bogot: CAR FREE DAY

During 13 hours all citizens meet as equals in public transport, bicycles or walking. It builds community

Bogot: CAR FREE DAY

TRANSPORT

If car use is to be restricted, there must be good public transport

30,000 traditional bus owners

Transport subsidies are very inelastic and thus better than most. A democratic city should charge the same fare for long or short distances.

Transport subsidies are very inelastic and thus better than most. But there is a limit: Rail systems are too expensive to bring to all parts of a city.

Even with a few rail lines, the only possibility to reach a whole city with quality public transport are bus based systems.

TRANSMILENIO

Owners of traditional buses became shareholders of the new operating companies.

TRANSMILENIO

Most Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are poorly implemented. They can compete with subways at a much lower cost, but need investments and good management.

CICLOVAS

CICLOVAS

It was said some roads were too narrow for TransMilenio to fit

TRANSMILENIO

TransMilenio

TRANSMILENIO

Buses can have practically the same capacity as rail.

Buses can be faster than rail.

Buses do not have to stay on track and can minimize time consuming transfers.
Express buses on roads without traffic lights are faster than non-express metros.

What about school buses?

TransMilenio

TRANSMILENIO

TransMilenio

TransMilenio

TRANSMILENIO

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

New or wider roads should be built with: Exclusive bus-lanes; very wide sidewalks; and protected bicycle-ways.

Great planning for future Katchi Abadis .

Buy and preserve 2000 hectares of parkland around the city, in green ways.

One great road with BRT, sidewalks and bicycle-ways for 30 kilometers.

One great road pedestrian-andbicycle-only promenade in the outskirts of the city.

Potrebbero piacerti anche