8-80 Cities hosted the "Great Streets, Healthy Cities" Public Meeting and Panel Discussion about Car Free Sundays on February 2, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Great Streets, Healthy Cities event highlighted the best practices of planning and implementing Car Free Sundays from the foremost international program examples. Three leading Car Free Sundays/Ciclovias experts from New York, San Francisco, Bogota and Guadalajara provide a unique perspective and a diversity of implementation tools and models used to make these programs world class examples.

Streetfilms goes to the Ciclovia in Bogota, Colombia

Every Sunday from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm some of the busiest roads in Bogota, Colombia are shut down to cars and open to people – allowing citizens, residents and tourist the chance to walk, bike, skate, dance and enjoy the city's roadways. See how the Ciclovia began, how it is operated and how it is enjoyed by 1.5 million people every Sunday. Includes an interview with Gil Penalosa who oversaw the extension of the Ciclovia from 13 km to 113 km during his term as Bogota's Commissioner for Parks, Sports and Recreation. Penalosa, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities, says that the Ciclovia is “like a party that everyone attends.”
Made by StreetFilms (9:41 min)

Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise

Melbourne is repeatedly cited as one of the most liveable cities in the world. Watch interviews with Robert Adams, Director of Design and Urban Environment Melbourne, Eliot Fishman from the Institute for Sensible Transportation, Gilbert Rochecouste the Director of Village Well, Kevin Luten from Urban Trans and Jan Gehl founder of the revolutionary architecture firm Gehl Architects to see how this city doubled its pedestrian traffic and transformed into a vibrant community through restricting car access, and giving priority to pedestrians, cyclists, and public space.
Made by StreetFilms (9:54 min)

Parks, Bikeways & Open Space in Bogotá

Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities and former Commissioner for Parks, Sports and Recreation in Bogota Colombia, leads Clarence Eckerson Jr. of Streetfilms, Karla Quintero of Transportation Alternatives, and Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog around Bogota's parks, streets and trails. Residents discuss the social integration and economic boom that has resulted from Bogota's transformation into a city that focuses on pedestrians, cyclists, and public space. Today, Penalosa says, a person could not be elected to the smallest ward of the city without making parks, open space and bicycles and pedestrian issues a major part of their campaign.
Made by StreetFilms (9:58 min)

Summer Streets 2008 (NYC)

Streetfilms follows New York City's first Summer Streets event that saw 6.9 miles of the city's streets, stretching from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, closed to cars and open to people. Aside from the walking and cycling that took place, art activities and aerobics classes were held along the route. Interviews with Aaron Naparkstek of Streetsblog, Mark Gorton, Executive Director of Open Planning Project, Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, and Janet Sadik-Khan, New York City's Transportation Commissioner who spearheaded the project, discuss the benefits and success of the event that was so well received one participant said “every day should be summer streets!”
Made by Street Films (4:37)

Video on vancouver.ca

This video presents a vision concerning how inclusive planning – that puts on walking and cycling – can create world class cities such as Copenhagen, Denmark, and Amsterdam. Due to its recognition as one of Canada’s greatest cities, Vancouver is now striving to compete with these cities, and become one of the best places to live in the world. By creating a complete grid of safe bicycle and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, as well as public places for people to enjoy, Vancouver will be able to showcase the opportunities and benefits that can come from focusing city planning around active transportation.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Matt travels to hundreds of cities throughout the world to dance in public spaces with perfect strangers. A window into the boundless potential of public spaces to foster creative thinking and a community atmosphere. Read more about Matt at www.wherethehellismatt.com
Running time (4:29)

Articles

Broadway Is Busy, With Pedestrians, if Not Car Traffic & Not So Broadway
Under Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, Broadway has been transformed from a grand avenue that ferried automobiles on a scenic route through Midtown to a narrow passageway with barely more room for cars than a sleepy street in Greenwich Village. In as little as two years, the city has transformed Broadway making the street more palatable to pedestrians and bicyclists, improving traffic and accommodating thousands of more people. In some spots, automobile traffic has dropped by one third, and dozens of parking spaces are gone and replaced by bicycle lanes and pedestrian picnic areas making Broadway more of a local street with increased access.

World Class Streets: Remaking New York City's Public Realm
This report is part of an ambitious and far reaching effort to place New York at the forefront of urban development. It builds on two previous plans: PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg’s comprehensive sustainability plan, and Sustainable Streets, NYCDOT’s strategic plan. While the previous reports were comprehensive in scope, this document focuses solely on the NYCDOT public realm strategies listed at right.

Trust for Public Land: Growing Smart
In creating sustainable communities, many political leaders tend to struggle between choosing economic growth or open space protection. Will Rogers thoroughly clears up this confusion in the following article, indicating that new parks and open spaces in fact increase business in downtown markets and neighbourhood economies, as well as increasing the community’s health, stability, beauty and quality of life.

Price Tags: Paris 2008
Over many years, Paris has transformed into a city that is tying itself together through overlapping modes of movement, building new kinds of infrastructure to make connections among its great public spaces. From creating a city for strictly cars, Paris has re-invented a new sense of life, in where parks are created for people. Events such as the Paris-Plage or the Simon-de-Beauvoir provide a fantastic sense of life for citizens and visitors.

Ecology Action Centre : Based out of Nova Scotia, EAC is an activist organization working to build a healthier, more sustainable province.

Environment Canada : A Department of the Government of Canada which works to preserve Canada's natural environment and conserve its resources.

Great Streets : An organization which works to create great streets across the U.S.

Project for Public Spaces : A central hub in the placemaking movement. PPS uses a variety of methods to create great communities and beautiful public settings.

The Trust for Public Land : A national, U.S. based non-profit organization that works to conserve land and ensure liveable communities for many years to come.