We came across another great TED talk in December, featuring the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Enrique Peñalosa, who suggests a new yardstick by which to measure our cities of the future.
“An advanced city is not one where even the poor use cars, but rather one where even the rich use public transport.”
Peñalosa claims that his radical transport projects for Bogota while mayor (1998-2001) nearly got him impeached. Underpinning the strategy was the concept that people are more important than cars, and that whether on foot, bicycle or bus, they deserve the same rights as those in cars.
Bus lanes, bike lanes, pedestrian areas, flyovers and footpaths are all examples of “democracy in action”. Watch and nod your head.