Program contents...

Hello everyone 

I'm not representing Ciudad Humana in what I'm writing. 
I'd like to say that I was in charge of the program content of the last TCFC
in Bogotá. And Randall, I -we- did understand what "reducing our dependence
in transport- means. We're not just bike promoters, but you have to
understand that there are several steps until people from a so-called
"undeveloped" country -who dreams every day to own a motorcycle, or a car-
understands what proximity and livability means. We have to fight against a
whole culture of "development" that says walking and biking is for poor
people and peasants.

We noted that the debates in Europe are far ahead from us, although our city
has been shown as "the carfree role model". Here we're trying to show people
that there is something called mobility and that it's not just about cars,
freeways and bridges -which is what everyone, including those who don’t own
a car- want. Perhaps we had mayors who understand it, people don’t. And it's
not people's faults not to understand, it's political and citizen leader's
fault. 

So, my conclusion (and what led us to include the word "motorized") is that
making people believe messages as "culturally deconstructive" as livability
or proximity has to be done by steps. Telling people to find a house near a
school, near a market, near their work is not that easy in a profoundly
socially-space segregated city. That's only for rich people here, and
Randall, you saw it. 

I also want to invite you to see what Carlos mentioned. We did the picture
of the cars-Transmilenio-people triptych. 
http://www.ciudadhumana.org/campanas/calle%20inteligente/index.htm 

And the message is not as simple as some think: what says beside the
pictures is: "Three ways of using city space, moving 150 people and building
different types of city and citizenship". I change some of the words because
of the translation).

Finally, I want to support our decision of centering the program content in
bikes, pedestrians and public transport -also because that was what we got
from proposals-, but more important, I have to tell you that if the carfree
movement wants to change people's mind and deep-rooted ideas will have to
stop excluding those who are in a "surface" level of defending bikes,
pedestrians and public transport. 

I hope this would at least make you think that there are different realities
all over the world and even though we share the same goals, our means could
differ. 

Brenda Pérez

 
-----Mensaje original-----
De: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
Enviado el: Martes, 19 de Diciembre de 2006 10:18 a.m.
Para: carfree_network-3hfIC0tI0F+k/[email protected]
Asunto: RE: [carfree_network] re: TCFC 2008 and "obstacles"....

Carlos wrote:

> Also, it must be
> noted that Ciudad Humana did the pictures of space occupied by cars, buses
> and people in Bogota the last day of the conference.

This is a nice idea and I have nothing against it, but the message of it
goes only so far. It implies that cars waste space compared to other
forms of movement. It doesn't question what streets should be used for,
how wide they should be, etc. It doesn't suggest "we'd have enough space
for a public stage for concerts and events here, if only the cars were
removed". It's just suggesting people should move around differently -
a true and good message, but also rather limited. I agree with Todd
that it can be self-defeating as well, since the public might not be
inspired by the idea of replacing one transport mode with another. But
if we talk about building that public concert stage (or whatever it is
the neighbours want), they might be more engaged and supportive.

So I think we should open the debate regarding how much street space
there should be and what it should be used for. And nobody else is
doing this! It's possible, for example, to put a building in the middle
of a wide street, creating two narrow streets on each side. This is the
kind of thing that must be done to reduce distances and create a more
human-scaled environment that encourages walking.

If it were up to me, I'd have the conference be mainly about converging
the concepts of proximity and livability, and leave alternative
mobility as a side topic, since it is discussed in detail by many other
conferences.

More comments appreciated!

Randy


Randall Ghent
Membership & Conference Coordinator
WORLD CARFREE NETWORK
Kratka 26, 100 00 Prague 10
Czech Republic
tel/fax: +(420) 274 810 849
skype: wcn-icc / randallghent
[email protected]


> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: RE: [carfree_network] re: TCFC 2008 and "obstacles"....
> From: "Carlos F. Pardo" <[email protected]>
> Date: Tue, December 19, 2006 7:26 am
> To: <[email protected]>, <carfree_network-3hfIC0tI0F+k/[email protected]>
> 
> Joel and all,
> 
> - Regarding the video or other method to explain space efficiency, see the
> video I did in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guodaBkDPP0 . Also, it must
be
> noted that Ciudad Humana did the pictures of space occupied by cars, buses
> and people in Bogota the last day of the conference. I guess they'll make
> them available at some point.
> 
> -  I also fully support Lloyd's idea, and I think if it is taken up, there
> should be a strong commitment from the municipality (which should then be
a
> requirement for hosting the conference as well!!!). If this implementation
> is achieved, I think the conference will have a very useful product to
show
> to others.
> 
> This is a very interesting discussion. I hope more people share their
views.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Carlos F. Pardo 
> Coordinador de Proyecto 
> GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) 
> Cl 126 # 52A-28 of 404
> Bogota D.C., Colombia
> Tel:  +57 (1) 215 7812
> Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662
> e-mail: [email protected] 
> Pagina: www.sutp.org
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
> Sent: 19 December 2006 09:57 AM
> To: carfree_network-3hfIC0tI0F+k/[email protected]
> Subject: RE: [carfree_network] re: TCFC 2008 and "obstacles"....
> 
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> Randy said:
> 
> > I also agree that the conference should emphasise proximity solutions
> > over mobility shift.
> 
> 
> > In Bogota, I proposed having one day on "Improving alternative human
> > mobility" and another on "Reducing our dependence on transport". The
> > latter theme got changed to "Reducing our dependence on *motorised*
> > transport" - which wasn't my point at all.
> 
> No, clearly not. I think the concepts of space efficiency are
> clearly not obvious to most people, even those in our movement.
> The central importance of this concept is critical. A video, or
> some other method, such as the "street space occupied by 40
> people moving around" (the series of photos showing how much
> space bikes, pedestrians, buses, cars etc. occupy) could be
> useful. The FAR Illustrated section at carfree.com is a starting
> point.
> 
> Then Randy quoted Lloyd:
> 
> > I had a thought regarding criteria for future hosting of the TCFC
> > conference.  Perhaps we could request that the hosting city commit to
> > at least one street for conversion to permanent car-free status.  It
> > could be a commercial street or a residential street.
> 
> GREAT idea, especially in combination with his proposed
> design competition.
> 
> Joel
> 
> 
> 
> 
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