Walking, Bicycling and Public Spaces: Lessons from Bogota and Beyond

Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities, presents one of his celebrated lectures at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University as part of The City Program lecture series. Penalosa emphasizes the urgency with which cities must address pedestrian and cyclist issues to face the wide array of challenges facing this generation, including environmental degradation, rising obesity rates, and economic competitiveness, just to name a few. Included are examples of cities throughout the world that are implementing innovative solutions to globally faced transportation issues.

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.

Cycling Friendly Cities - Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Houten

Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Houten are three cities that have opted to create and support infrastructure that integrates the bicycle into an everyday mode of transportation for its citizens.  The bicycle has become a part of everyday life, especially after the innovative changes to the streets in these countries over the past couple decades.  Whether it’s going to work, school, shopping or a night out on the town, people in Denmark and Holland have the means to use their bicycles for all their daily tasks throughout the entire year.  The video shows great examples of bicycle friendly infrastructure, bicycle safety education, and the importance of sharing public space between pedestrians, cars and cyclists in these three cities.

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)

Paris Skates!

Every Friday in Paris roller blades take over the city's streets. In existence since 1998, Paris' Pari Roller now draws over 10 000 people on summer weekends, with over 2000 coming out even through the winter months. Tanao Terra, the Vice President of Pari Roller discusses the establishment and management of the weekly event with Streetfilms, while participants and volunteers discuss the Paris community of which they now a feel a part.
Made by StreetFilms (2:59 min)

Portland: Celebrating America's Most Liveable City

It's not often that a Department of Transportation receives love letters, but in Portland it's a regular occurrence. Frequently cited as America's most liveable city, Portland has spent the last 20 years promoting walking and biking as activities, and building the infrastructure to make such activities safe and possible. The result has been a quadrupling of the number of cyclists in the city, increased property values, and an improved quality of life for residents. Hear from Tom Potter, Mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, City Commissioner of Transportation, Mia Birk, Portland Bike Coordinator from 1993-1999 and many others on what it takes to create and keep up America's most successful walkable bikeable community.
Made by StreetFilms (30:00 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.

Articles

2010 World Population Data Sheet - Population Reference Bureau
Today, global population adds another billion at record rates. From developing countries that remain young and growing to developed countries that undergo aging and little growth in population size, this report unveils important information about current population rate, health and environment data from around the world. As aging population puts pressure on a society’s ability to support its elderly citizens critical information on projected population for 2025 and 2050, Gross National Income Purchasing Power Parity (GNI PPP) per capita, populations per square kilometer, percent of population who use improved sanitation in urban and rural locales, along with information on the number of mobile phone subscribers is available for each country and by regions.

Walking and Cycling to Health by Pucher et. al., 2010
This article uses a comparative analysis of city, state and international data to determine the magnitude, direction, and statistical significance of the relationship between active travel and rate of physical activity, obesity, and diabetes. A growing body of evidence suggests that differences in the built environment for physical activity (e.g., infrastructure for walking and cycling, availability of public transit, street connectivity, housing density, and mixed land use) influence the likelihood that people will use active transport for their daily travel. People who live in areas that are more conducive to walking and cycling are more likely to engage in these forms of active transport and Walking and cycling can provide valuable daily physical activity.

Report on Public Health and Urban Sprawl in Ontario- A review of the pertinent literature
Authors:  Riina Bray, Catherine Vakil and David Elliott.

This report summarizes pertinent information on the relationship between urban sprawl and health. It serves to identify the key issues that are relevant to the growing number of sprawl-related health problems in Ontario which is comparable to US situations and is far worse compared to Europe. The best available evidence indicates that greenspace is an essential part of human health. Neither of these complementary goals - protecting environmental systems and protecting human health - can be accomplished, however, without curbing urban sprawl. In this document, the pathway from urban sprawl to public health via vehicle emissions and air pollution will be examined, along with reviews of the relationship of sprawl to increased driving. The future pattern of land development will shape the choice and mode of travel for future generations, as well as determine housing location and affordability. The impact of the built environment on health is an emerging field of study and more rigorous research is needed, especially in Canada. Despite this, the results of current studies clearly indicate that serious public health problems will continue to escalate unless decisive and immediate action is taken to control urban sprawl and preserve sufficient greenspace, improve air quality, and protect water sources.

Urban Street Trees: 22 Benefits and Specific Applications
Street trees have progressively become a crucial component of urban sustainable cities, due to their endless amount of returned benefits regarding social, environmental and economical challenges. Studies have illustrated that the presence of these trees reduces traffic speeds, creates safer walking environments, enhances placemaking, increases business, reduces drainage infrastructure and efficiently absorbs harmful gasses from the air.

Active Living by Design: Increasing Physical Activity through Community Design
Active Living by Design (ALBD) is a program that promotes 5 innovative approaches to increase physical activity and integrate it into the daily routines of the general public through community design, public policies, and communication strategies. Physical inactivity is now one of the main causes for some of the most common chronic diseases in the U.S, including coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. ALBD advocates for the implementation of active transportation and recreation in our everyday lives.

Influence of the Built Environment on Physical Activity and Quality of Life in the City of Bogota
Over the last 50 years, Bogota has created radical transformations in their infrastructure that have made the city much safer and enjoyable for pedestrians and cyclists of all income levels. The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact that the infrastructural changes have had on the levels of physical activity and quality of life for the residents of Bogota, as well as to further conceptualize the social environments that influence participation of active transportation.

Streets for Chicago: Complete Streets Policy
Streets for Chicago is a campaign that has been implementing the concept of Complete Streets, in where the infrastructural space is safely shared by pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles at all times. The Chicago Police Department launched the Pilot LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) speed gun system and increased the number or Red Light Cameras in order to deter excessive speeding by motor vehicles, as well as to increase awareness at cross-walks to infer safer facilities for pedestrians.

Ciclovia: the Car-free Zone
Daniel B. Wood writes an inspiring article illustrating the growth of car-free days all throughout America, in where the city closes down the streets to cars, in order to allow pedestrians and cyclists to exclusively enjoy the outdoors. This concept is very popular in many places around the world including Bogota, New York, and Paris. Alongside, many cities such as New York and Atlanta are now prohibiting the entrance of vehicles into the city’s public parks.

Transforming Australian Cities for a more financially viable and sustainable future
The Victorian Government’s Melbourne 2030 Strategy and more recently Melbourne @ 5 Million are both based on the Activity Centre or Transport Orientated Design principles and are widely regarded as both important and necessary strategies to meet the future needs of metropolitan Melbourne. This study concentrates on the ‘missing links’ in the above strategies, namely the potential of the tram and bus corridors to not only accommodate a significant proportion of Melbourne’s future growth, but to do so in a way that will help to meet the aspirations and needs of the greater population while enhancing the performance of the existing infrastructure of the City, particularly the existing public transport infrastructure.

American Planning Association: Complete the Streets!
A complete street is defined as a road that accommodates motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including people with disabilities. More than 2 dozen jurisdictions in the US have now adopted laws in where all main roads must mandatorily be built to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, with the exception of streets where they are prohibited, where the costs are excessive, and where there it’s not necessary (residential).

Cycling for Everyone: The Key to Public and Political Support
John Pucher’s magnificent powerpoint presentation provides insight into sustainable communities across the world, whether urban or suburban, that have been successful in encouraging many people to take part in active transportation. The presentation outlines strategies, suggestions, and guidelines on how to construct the facilities as well as maintaining them in order for people to live better and healthier lives.

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.

A Liberated Look Forward: The Future in Vancouver
Vancouver is a fantastic city with great potential to continue building sustainable communities in all sectors, in order to create more live-able areas. Larry Beasley, the Director of Current Planning in Vancouver, addresses the Urban Development Institute with his requests and ideas for a more sustainable infrastructure for the city.  Beasley’s report focuses on housing in core office areas, market opportunities, and cultural/entertainment growth.

Vancouver - Going for the Green
While the transportation component of Vancouver’s Winter olympics is being watched closely by planners of the 2012 summer olympics in London, Vancouverites saw the event also as an opportunity to reframe the city’s long range transport picture, particularly in the context of a greener future.

Measuring the Economic Value of a City Park System
 In 2003, the Trust for Public land’s Center for City Park Excellence gathered 24 park experts and economists in Philadelphia to analyze the economic benefits that arise from park systems. From the reunion, they gathered 7 major factors, which provide a city with direct income, direct savings, environmental savings, as well as qualitative benefits.

Trust for Public Land: The Health Benefits of Parks
The Trust for Public Land launched its report, titled Parks for People, in order to encourage the idea of putting a park within easy reach of every family, in order to reduce some health issues based on inactivity, as well as increasing social benefits. Studies have shown that when people have close access to parks, they exercise more and reduce car-usage within short distances, therefore removing great potential for these diseases.

The Happy City- From Bogota to Paris
Although parks improve our lives economically, environmentally, and physically, it is evident that one of the most remarkable effects that they impose upon us relates to our well-being. Cities such as Paris, Bogota and Hangzhou have clearly demonstrated this trend, confirming that it is the interaction, eye contact and experiences that we gain when we walk or bike that generate overall happiness. Creating meeting places, parks, and pathways, we promote a sense of equality and balance that allows people to feel happy.

My Pick for the Great American Neighbourhood
Walljasper, an experienced international traveller and author of Great Neighbourhood Book, analyzes the best things from the greatest neighbourhoods around the world to create a vision of the most fantastic neighbourhood that could ever be. His inspiring editorial gives guidelines and assertiveness that these neighbourhoods can and should be created all around the world!

Active Living by Design: Parks Trails Greenways Factsheet
Active Living by Design establishes and evaluates innovative approaches to increase physical activity through a more suitable infrastructure, in order to increase health. The report provides a list of promotions, policies, projects, and programs that are being implemented. Programs range from promoting bike safety, to creating after school and summer program to enhance physical activity.

Place-Making Around the World
Over the last 50 years, many cities in America have been focusing on transforming their areas with a more modern theme in mind, in where success is centered on the economic return. Other cities, however, have developed a more respectable view of our future, by creating sustainable cities for the 21st century where people will live happier and healthier. This report includes remarkable examples from places such as Paris, The Netherland and Canada.

World City Bike Collaborative
The World City Bike Collaborative Program offers assistance in screening and preparing city projects generated around the concept of sustainable cities, which includes place-making, parks,