@@erifetim One of many examples of how freedom and power interact, IMHO. Individual freedom can be collective slavery. Legal freedoms are irrelevant to those without the power to exercise them; they are only relevant to those with power (though that power may be individual or collective). Bicycle and walkable infrastructure would, in an ideal world, be won not by legal restrictions on the right of way of cars, but by walkers and cyclists exercising collective power through such tactics as critical mass rides. However, in most cities, cars have legal rights over cyclists and pedestrians, and so restricting drivers' legal freedom to drive where they please is a wholly acceptable and proportionate response to the excess of power that they have through their 1-ton metal boxes.
@@akashchoudhary8162 maybe there was a better way for those traveling to travel that didn't cause as much traffic, public transit like buses and trains as well as personal transit like bicycles or walking offer significantly better density than cars, even if the cars were full (when typically they have a single occupant) What most of this is trying to do is not get everyone out of cars but try and make it so that not everyone is in cars.
Can someone explain something people are ooohinng and aaahing over the netherland urban plannig but alot of their cities are bellow sea level because they destroy marshland swamps that are there for a reason in keeping eco systems substainble which long term could have all this places underwater very soon, so how is this urban planning so great...? Europe has no native old forest this is why there is very little wild life because you destroyed all your forest for logging for urban development for farming for industry again how is this a model follow no thanks I think we would look for something different something more green and substainable.... Amsterdam its a very cool place but I could not imagine my city or country being so popular and being completely innundated by tourist what a horrific night mare that would be no thanks... By the way how come all happiest places in the world are in rich white countries if they are so happy why do they need to travel every year warming the planet even faster.....
When we lived in America, we’d watch the cool things Europeans were doing but believed the narrative that those things work over there, but could never work here. It wasn’t until we started living in Germany and learning about urban planning that I learned most of Europe was starting to turn into totally car centric places through the 70’s. And they literally tore up asphalt and redesigned city roads to make them friendly for people. This can be done in America!! They can change zoning even out in the suburbs to make sure neighborhoods are close to essential services like a small grocery store.
When ever I discuss with americans about current issues in the US, and how it's solved in other countries. The the most repeated argument I hear is "Oh, that won't work here because the US is so big, or different, or whatever". For a country that has been the forefront of so much innovation and bravery, I'm often saddened by how hard it is to convince americans that things can indeed be different and better if they would be willing to change things.
Actually the US used to have walkable cities with public transportation. They used to be designed like European cities, they weren't build ground-up for cars. They then tore it all up for the cars.
Fun fact : the Netherlands is also one of the best places to drive your car around. Shows how reserving roads for cars and streets for people benefits everyone
This is only logical, since there's no other vehicle that uses up more road space than a car. The more people travel by bike, bus, tram or train, the more road space for the remaining car drivers.
@@jamesbrice3267 You will see a lot less accidents in places like the Netherlands with lots of cyclists. There's safety in numbers. There's also mutual understanding and respect, since literally every car driver is also a cyclist.
@@markusstudeli2997 it's not about numbers but culture. Sudden changes won't work in other parts of the world, rather small changes over time. Japan is also a country with very very little cars and it's because they designed top notch public transport and they prioritize it everytime they expand the city.
@@rRekko This why I dislike the idea of urbanist that think Netherlands should be the benchmark for the world to follow. Every city/country have its own challenge. Netherlands is flat tiny country that its city bunch up together which make perfect for cycling , but once they encounter a little problem they cannot overcome it, like chronic housing and pathetic public transport . Everybody know excellent public transport is the answer, people from 70km away from workspace can still commute in reasonable time, try that on bike, and yes we have another solution that can solve this distance problem, which most European love it called motorcycle.
That’s the problem with the Green leftwing. They don’t give a crap if other people disagree with them and their stupid expensive climate rules. That a green lefty is anti cars and airplanes that doesn’t mean that i als have to think like that. I love cars i will keep driving them. And i will always take the airplane to my vacation adress
Yes, the joy at the upset elitist, this must be the left wing equivalent to the feeling that right wingers have most of the time constantly screwing us over.
For anyone interested in urban mobility I recommend the channel Not Just Bikes. The creator is Canadian living in Amsterdam, and is very knowledgeable.
Witness the health of the American people who spend most of their time applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, at home or in the car. Not only physical non-health but emotional, mental, spiritual. Entitlement.
Strange to hear someone from Tourism Association to talk about the economic impact of reducing car dependency and increasing public spaces. When I visited Barcelona, I ignored the parks and pedestrian zones and rather went to walk along the highways to inhale some particulate matter and other car emissions. No, wait, it was the other way around! But still, it could be just me. It could be that tourists want the noise and smell of multi-lane highways instead of nice quite cafes and calm parks... Also, I, of course, completely understand that car enthusiasts would miss the possibility to have a blast across the city. But, you know, he/she who generates the money decides how they will be spent. And a few rich people in Porsches are not going to pay for building and maintaining of all the roads. So, yeah, they have to yield to bikes, pedestrians and the public transport. That's just how things work in a fair society. I understand that people are anxious about all changes. I also like(d) to sit around in a climate controlled privacy box that gets me to places without much (physical) effort. Unfortunately, we, as a society, discovered that if everyone wants to do it like that, it just does not work (whether it is climate, economics or space limitations). It is also not good for us individually. We are just designed to be getting some base level of physical activity every day and if we don't, we will, sooner or later, suffer the consequences. And, as was proven by many other cities, these changes won't make us die in an agonizing death but quite the opposite. So, be happy, don't worry and embrace and support these changes (and if you are a city planner, also think about them extensively, so they don't end up as a horrid mess of "patchy" so-so solutions).
I will have you know that much as I enjoy spirited driving, 99.9% of my driving time is spent stuck in traffic or driving carefully, with a particular fear of splatting a motorcyclist (no offence, motorcyclists), with only 0.1% spent opening the taps, kissing apex and having fun. Even then, not being in a performance car, the enjoyment is limited. Now on a bicycle, even a cheap one, you CAN have fun, open the taps and push the limits safely much more often in the absence of cars. In fact it helps you stay fit and slows the ageing process. What’s that? Buying a local manufacturer’s bicycle keeps money in your country by not sending it to a factory abroad and then not paying for fuel from abroad? Oh yeah, that too. I have lived in the UK, Greece and Russia btw.
As a smaller example, I know a lot more people who enjoy visiting small towns to walk around there and enjoy the shops and parks than I know people who visit interstate highways in order to get a good wiff of diesel fumes.
We are living a fast mutation of our urbanism in Paris, it doesn't please everyone yet, but it's a pleasure to enjoy these new living spaces! Thanks for sharing, it was a pleasure to be part of this documentary.
Even if it doesn't please everyone, it is in the end good for everyone.. And the naysayers will experience true urban environments meant for pedestrians and bikes and how they will adjust their behavior in the end..
@@Zoza15 it's not good for people who have to go to the hospital and are not allowed to use their car, nor for those who have elderly parents and find it difficult to get around without a car. Paris becomes a dead city, it is no longer the Paris of the 20th century, the city of light!
Salut Altis, A Paris, c’est sur la bonne voie mais il y’a encore tellement à faire pour que les cycles soient considérés comme un réel moyen de transport et pas juste un passe-temps ou un substitut opportuniste. Et là, je parle des automobilistes mais aussi et surtout des responsables des aménagements. Il y a un énorme manque de cohérence au niveau des infrastructures vélo. Pour la voiture, tout est normalisé (taille des panneaux, des voies, marquages etc.) Pour le vélo c’est encore vachement expérimental. En France, on a relevé pas mal de défis liés a l’aménagement du territoire. Le réseau de trains (tgv et régionaux) ne fait pas honte par exemple. Je suis sûr que nous y arriverons et que notre capitale sera un petit paradis. En tout cas bravo pour ton travail. Je te suis depuis quelques temps sur ta chaîne et j’adore le changement de ton et d’attitude dans tes dernières vidéos. Oui il y’a des incivilités à Paris mais c’est bien la qualité d’un aménagement urbain qui fait monter ou descendre là conflictuatilité entre les usagers. Et ça tu l’as bien compris. Et tes analyses sont super. Hâte de te croiser sur la route. (J’habite avenue de Flandres et circule beaucoup à Paris ) Tes trajets me sont très très familiers.
For the Francophones, I suggest the INA-provided documentary 1975, le vieux Paris disparaît. It has this one segment where this elderly lady reflects on the fact that going to work by foot from Montmartre to the Opera was an absolute delight, and then cars took on more and more space... really interesting to see how it was really just ... a blip, in our history, barely long enough that most people grew up in car-centric cities
"You are only a true citizen when you can exercise all your rights, not only that of transportation" Very powerful quote from which america can learn a lot
There is already several studies that have proved that commercial activity increases when the area is pedestrian prioritized and traffic restricted. Somebody has to show this to that person from the Tourism Association. There are several commercial streets throughout the world that restricts or outright ban motor vehicles, including Tourists spots. An example from my country is Rock Beach in Pondicherry, India which is flanked by a thriving commercial street. Tourists wants to walk and explore either by foot or rented bicycles, not just get dropped off in locations just to click a picture. Only the insanely rich plans their vacation solely based on individual vehicles; most travel on budget and would prefer public transport.
Walkable neighborhoods definitely are more small business friendly. No one will check out a small, family owned shop in the middle of a strip mall hidden under the shadow of a big box store. However if you happen to be walking by one, you will notice the shop and have a greater chance of taking a peek through the windows.
Indeed, the most flourishing commerce is usually in pedestrian areas of a city. The most expensive street for shops to rent in Switzerland is Bahnhofstrasse Zürich, a car free street.
I hope India all the cities in India would do the same like Rock Beach in Pondicherry. Unfortunately not. Mumbai was the worst city for me when I visited Asia. So polluted with cars and noise. Unbearable
One thing I wish these videos would discuss is the financial productivity that occurs when building spaces like this. The capital to build roads and maintain them for cars is insanely expensive. Pedestrian infrastructure is much cheaper, and allows for denser development, leading to higher property taxes per government infrastructure spending. In Houston, for example, they are beginning demolition of a big apartment complex next week so that they can expand I-45 through a developing part of the city. This is occurring in the middle of a housing crisis. When I watch these things, it makes me wonder when America will start changing its government structures that are designed around cars. Our federal, state, and local governments are all designed around car dependency, and it will take a long time to restructure them. Our Department of Transportation was designed to be a highway building machine that destroyed our cities, and they continue to do so today.
It drives me crazy to watch how housing and walk/bikability is so neglected in my area. Places that could be great neighborhoods get turned into storage buildings and we have deteriorating side walks and almost no bike infrastructure. Meanwhile, housing in the area is so scarce that rents and homes are unaffordable to the average worker.
The point about more tax income per infrastructure spending is often overlooked - there is actually an epidemic of municipality bankruptcies in the US that is directly caused by suburban sprawl. The initial investment to build infrastructure for such sprawl often receives federal money, so lots of infrastructure gets built to support a fairly small population. Years later, when the infrastructure starts deteriorating and needing maintenance, the municipalities are suddenly faced with a huge problem: They're trying to maintain city-level infrastructure on a rural-level tax income because everything is so damn spread out.
The bit at the end about green washing our cities was wonderful. You could've had an animation where all the green cars were electric, yet honking and getting into mass traffic jams.
@@jaaput Indeed, but there's still a lot more effective means to transport people than in single boxes. If people can hop on a streetcar or a trains to get to their work place or back home, this eliminates a huge quantity of vehicles on the roads. For the odd journey that is not connected with urban transit, rental or sharing schemes for cars, electric bikes or even scooters can fill in the gaps or the last mile.
18:01, I hate how she compared how fast it is to get one place to another via driving. By removing cars off the streets, transit and biking is faster instead. Rather than saying "driving used to take 35 minutes, and now takes 1:45:00" she should say "It used to take 35 minutes by driving to get there, now it takes X minutes to get there via transit or biking." Its a disingenuous comment because it fails to acknowledge all other mode of transportation that gets improved with less traffic on the streets.
yeah at first it may seen as a negative but hidden away there are loads of befits! Even for the drivers as more people take alternatives meaning less cars on the road possibly making a better driving experience for drivers
So what do you do if you don't want to be near other people? Can you reserve the public transit for yourself? Public transit also has additional rules imposed on you - there are items you are forbidden from carrying on a bus or a tram. What do you do if the public transit employees go on strike?
@@yaksvk they are valid points, i would like to add that public transport does have some benefits as well unlike driving. 1. it is much safer taking public transport than to drive 2. you can do other stuff such as read a book or something productive during that time. each mode of transport has its pros and cons so i guess it can be objective but if one doesn't mind it , take public transport.
@@yaksvk If you don't want to be near other people then why are you in a city in the first place? You can opt to live on the countryside, have a car parked on your driveway and drive everywhere you like all the while seeing very few people. I lived in Dutch cities for about half my life. Public transit never felt like a limitation. It was rather liberating really not having to use a car for most trips. It was a lot cheaper too. Cars are expensive to buy, use and maintain. I think people who are against cycling and public transit are 100% car dependent and basically trained to think a car means freedom while it really doesn't.
"If your barista cannot afford to live within 15-minutes of the coffee shop, then it's not really a city, it's an amusement park." kinda sums it up for me. I'm all for liveable-walkable car-free cities, sooner the better for everyone.
@@michah321 with how many places are rightfully abolishing parking minimums, times and attitudes are changing, especially with a new generation that does not drive being voting age now. Don't plan on having huge big box store parking lots and stupid 8-car lane wide roads everywhere forever.
@@billbillerton6122 Nope, they're just realizing they don't care to fork over the money it takes to purchase the burden of a car, unless it's absolutely unavoidable. The smartest thing GenZ ever did was snub car ownership. It financially cripples many, many households.
a large city must live and its inhabitants must be able to move about freely! By preventing people from living, by restricting their freedom of movement (except for the richest), Paris loses 10,000 inhabitants every year!
@@ascl3133 Paris is currently growing at 0.54% per year. People who aren't able to move around because they A) can't drive, B) can't walk because they'll be killed by a car C) do drive, but are stuck in perpetual traffic like in the US don't have freedom of movement. Able-bodied people who can afford access to cars are the only ones allowed to move. Everyone else gets fucked.
Some of the most beautiful streets I have seen are in Japan. Lots of smaller side streets there don't have many traffic lights, like the intersections in Amsterdam, and no side walks either. So cars have to share the same space with pedestrians and cyclists. And those streets are quite narrow as well, which forces car drivers to reduce speed and pay attention to others around them. Naturally, traffic in those streets is very low, even though you actually do see a car in front of almost every house. The other thing are lots of plants growing somewhere every few meters, not even arranged by people, but just growing there naturally, which gives you a very cosy and peaceful feeling, even though you're in the middle of a city.
Exactly, I was thinking of Tokyo the whole time. People praise Amsterdam all the time but I think Tokyo had already achieved all of what this documentary is discussing. It literally is a 15-minutes city, with streets full of life full of greenery and services and cars and bikes and kids and elderly. To me, Tokyo's city design is the best. The thing is, it's not only in Tokyo but even going to a small village in the middle of nowhere in Japan you'll still see elements of very good urban design.
@@yuzan3607 true. No wonder why a show like "Hajimete no Otsukai" (My First Errand) has been airing since 1991 and has recently become popular abroad as well. It's because the streets are safe enough for children to go anywhere.
@@ianhomerpura8937 Yea, I think also because the streets are so lively, crime is very rare. I'm a female who grew up in a country where it's considered dangerous to walk at night alone, but in Tokyo I could go to the convenient store if I felt like it at 3 am and not think twice about it. That's why parents never worry about their kids, it's almost like living in a village where everyone sees everyone. Which is an enigma since Tokyo is the biggest city in the world that feels like village.
On a plane stop over I went to the old town of Narita and discovered similar streets to what you describe for Tokyo. I found Narita indeed very walkable and charming! Glad to hear this is the case all over Japan.
@@vali20vali20vali20 if you have lived in shitty country you won’t be saying that. I noticed many of you born in good countries don’t feel satisfied and stay ungrateful because you didn’t live the struggle when you feel not a human and get paid minimum wage. Don’t move to asia, some countries try to focused on technology but many aspects are so backward and people who only follow rules without helping you turn a whole place without any human side.
Many thanks to Miguel Angel Cano Santizo and Michael Trobridge for this very worthwhile documentary! May it reach a lot of people. I am very pleased to have been able to contribute to it. So many inspiring voices!
I've been living in Groningen for the past 4 years and it is amazing how well everything is designed here. The bicycle paths are insanely well designed, not only in the very efficient routes that they take but also in the sheer number of them. As an example, I live on the outskirts of the city and I can get to the center by bicycle in HALF the time it takes a car.
I live in San Francisco so I’m lucky in many ways to be able to walk and use public transit. There is a major program under way to make sidewalks safer. Traffic lights allow pedestrians a head start and there are more bike lanes and streets closing to traffic. I love that Market Street is now easier to cross. We have a long way to go! This podcast was very interesting to me. Thank you!
What a wonderful video. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and hope that towns and cities in the UK will start taking on board a lot of these excellent concepts.
I think many cities in the UK are, the ones I know are Sheffield and Oxford but lots of other areas are incorporating these ideas. Although there's a growing movement against this by some many selfish people.
I think we can incorporate many European designs, like woonerfs, superblocks, and the fifteen minute city, in the states. "What street do you want?" simple yet effective messaging - I only fear Americans will still say they want cars right in front of their homes and businesses
What the States likely needs are better zoning regulations to able to reach everything on foot in a short distance, like groceries, shopping, entertainment centers. schools, churches and local services..
In my American town/city of ~100,000 people, there is actually quite a bit of push for having more options to get around. It may not be as strong as in Europe, but the momentum will only grow as more and more changes continue to be made
@@KyrieFortune mixed use is the most important concept to incorporate, but it’s also extremely hard to make it walkable without also having higher densities than single family homes.
I live in the city of Groningen, the city mentioned in the video. And yes, although still not perfect, it has a lot of great ideas for any city. You can watch these from your own house using google maps. Or of course take a visit and see for yourself. I think I have been on every street within the "gemeente" (municipality) Groningen or the city and its surrounding villages. And most of it is safe yes. I walk and bike way way more then I use my car. Using my own city as the standard, I notice a lot of cities are just wrong, in my opinion. But for a long time I didn't know why. And then I started to watch "not just bikes" and then I understood
I'm from India where it's known for heat and pollution, and of course the obvious traffic. The usage of cars has increased over the last 3 decades, and even while employment is being hard and cost of living is rising, most of us still prefer having cars because of various reasons like need of AC due to extreme heat all year, especially in summer, and also lack of proper public transportation and the last foolish reason is to show off the wealth. And only recently since the past 5 years people has started following traffic rules as they started facing fines if they disobey vehicle traffic rules especially when crossing. We can see the problems of climate change for the past decade as long as I remember, yet no action being taken by the government which is a shameful thing. I would die happy if it changes for better in my life time. I know it's quite an impossible task in the country I live in.
very true.No matter whom we elect either BJP,Congress or Left.No parties gives a damn about public spaces,pollution,carbon footprint and so on.And if someone tries to do something new,there are political conflicts for eg Kejriwal introduced odd and even concept in Delhi which were opposed and criticized by many BJP ministers by breaking the odd even laws .
The belt line in Atlanta and Austin was the first and second times I was able to go to work/yoga/out to eat/Events without using a car. We NEED TO BUILD purposefully with city planners who make things green and with a major walking and cycle path.
Great documentary. I live in Oruro, Bolivia a horrible, chaotic, NOISY, inhuman city. Just as example. There are, every day of every week for over maybe more than 30 years, abandoned dogs, eating, living, defecating on streets, informal vendors all on streets and sidewalks, ruined sewer system, garbage everywhere, incredible quantity of plastics, and thousands of illegal motorcycles and cars (last ten years) It is incredible how kids are growing in this city. For them is normal, natural. There are plenty of laws but are unfulfilled daily. COVID 19 pandemic made the conditions of the city worse. hundreds of new NOISY motorcycles to deliver since goods to illegal drugs. no licencse plates, no traffic lights, no speed limits. Watching this video is a 100 years utopic future for us. the recent environmental traggic is the noise pollution. Business speakes positioned on sidewalks, bullhorn on "mobile vendors", unsanctioned use of fireworks, motorcycles and cars without soundkiller.... a nefast situation
I'm sure you are not the only one who hates those conditions in your city. Maybe you can organize online somehow (e.g. in a Facebook group) and get in touch with the authorities. If nothing helps a strike could be the last resort. As they said in the video: Even in the Netherlands they had to go to the street to fight for their right of a livable environment.
@@rene78 Thanks. I got in touch with authoritties. since 2019. I am in a frustating process for over two years at the city council. It is hard to explain how difficult to change things in my countries are. There are strikes every week in mi city and in general in my country. Just check bolivian news. We are so used to protests, violence, corruption that only ten Thousands people could actually do something and sometimes not even that. Urban mobility or environmet is at the bottom of priorities for Bolivian State, despite its deceptive propoganda.
Great video! Waiting for this content available in DW Indonesia, Because Indonesian need to see this... People are still in car-oriented mindset even though traffic jam is worse..
I wish there were cities toatally free from private cars. Several in every contry so it was actually an possible for anyone who wanted to find one and live in them.
I love this video, and Malaysia where currently I am living now have a lot of learn. Till today many people here still supporting infrastructure for cars. In fact the entire country is designed for cars in mind only, building more and more highways and sadly now we are seeing ourselves stuck in the traffic like European cities 10-20 years ago.
You know its ok if your city have bikes and car..the only problem today is 90 percent of the street are form car 10percent for bike or walking..but if the develper change it to 50/50 ..so people can choose bike or car.its nice.the problem if only bike is option.you cant go far away..
Malaysian here and I gotta agree with you. People always come up with excuse like we are in a tropical environment, it's hot and plenty of rainfall so we can only use cars. Dude, that's why we need to figure out a way and SOLUTION not just bypassing all the options. I'm from Sarawak and I think it's not late for Sarawak to have a good people focused urban planning because we are still underdevelop. But the narrative right now is very car centric and I'm afraid we might be a KL duplicate in the future.
It's interesting, because from what I saw your neighbour (Singapore) is rather pedestrian and bike-friendly. Granted, it's easier to do when the country is just one city. But still, it shows it's possible.
Keep Asia great, don't destroy it like Europe. Trust me, when living in the real world, lacking infrastructure sucks. They "think about the future" with highways and trains that back their economy and give them the funds to waste on stunts like these. Europe is at a test where they show how much they value freedom compared to the will of a tiny elite. So much for the claimed values, it seems.
@@vali20vali20vali20 There are problems in Europe (mainly the rise of criminality, more or less related to mass immigration), but the infrastructures are rather good, depending on the country. Not as good as in Japan, but better than in USA. Europe has good infrastructures.
This gives me hope. I live in Berlin where there are piecemeal efforts to make a few districts better, yet an overall concept is missing. Today I battled through rush hour traffic by bicycle. I drove along a road that connects two districts, Treptow and Neukölln, which are divided by a canal and a highway. There are only a few bridges that cross the canal and highway from east to west. The bicycle infrastructure on these roads is atrocious. One road has a a bicycle gutter (a line to remind cars that they share the road with bicycles), the other has nothing, not even a sidewalk for pedestrians. I am risking my life every time I bike there. What's needed is a citywide concept, that makes biking a safe alternative where ever you want to go.
I don’t see this happening in the US unfortunately. There is so many people with a closed mindset, and the massive suburban sprawl has taken root that it will take 50+ years to change the way it used to been. Also, politicians have made people so addicted to oil, if we suggested other ways of transportation people will riot as if there is no alternative. Call me a pessimist, but I do not see a bright future for the US in how they way things are developed.
It would take many many years of reforming our entire political and social climates. Change won’t happen without absolutely astronomical amounts of eye-opening control. The American people are slaves to “The American Dream” of millionaires to make more millions. I agree.
Yup, at least not outside of big cities, And those already have better public transport. I don’t think the public wants it because they find it dangerous for their kids to play outside.
It took 50+ years for the Netherlands to change, too. They were horribly car-centric in the late 70's might as well have been as bad as here. But they fought for change, and now, decades later, their cities have improved tremendously, and are still improving the car-centrism that remains. Sure, it'll take a long time, but so what? We just give up? This is a terrible attitude to have.
I like this video presentation. Very provoking concept of modern days urban planning. I agree that the public and the community deserves more open and green space than car owners for more roads.
These videos make me love my country even more. We do try. I travel a lot and ofcourse i know that our country has a lot of benefits. But i never saw the urban city plans as a benefit. But it really is! I took it for granted i guess. And it even is going to be more because we think we need our cities to be greener.
13:00 living in Brussels, this intersection already sits on top of a traffic bypass tunnel that links to the inner ring road in the distance straight ahead. However I think the southbound tunnel is only tunnel linked with west-ward traffic on the ring, so east bound needs to get off on the roundabout in the distance and come into this roundabout and continue straight, so it gets a fair amount of through traffic. This roundabout also links an important south west road on top of the very important south artery that warranted the construction of serious tunnels.
I live in Cluj-Napoca, the heart of Transylvania. My city is among the safest cities in Europe and it has a tolerant, charming and relaxed vibe. This is the reason why lots of people moved in in the last 20 to 30 years. Now that has brought lots of problems with pollution amd traffic congestion, since Cluj is a medieval city, all of the centre is narrow streets and the city is located in a narrow valley, all of the traffic has to pass through the centre, because we don't have a proper city belt. The current mayor and his team have great ideas learnt abroad (in places like Barcelona, Paris or The Netherlands) on how to make the city more people-oriented, and I explicitly heard him talk about strategies such as the 15-minute city. Some bike paths have been built and car lanes have been slowly reduced, but it's all going too slow and people are complaining heavily that the city is going to get even more congested. But the areas where for example the streets were given back to people and bikes now have a prosperous economic and social life. The biggest issue are the growing suburbs where people only want to sleep. They go in the city for working, socializing and other cultural and recreational activities, and they do so, of course, by car. Civic society, bike and natural environment activists have been screaming for bike lanes linking the sub-urbs with the centre and along the river, but since larger projects have to be managed by the central government, all of this was extremely slow and frustrating. Only now the city has eventually managed to start this larger reconversion projects, so we're still waiting for the 100% positive results.
Thank you very very much for sharing your experience, Andrei! We wish you and your community the best of luck facing the coming (and existing) challenges.
Underrated video! If you guys liked this video, y'all should check the youtube channels City Beautiful and Not Just Bikes. They also talk about urban planning and other related things
I miss biking. 50 years ago I biked everywhere. Now I don't dare. Public transportation is more limited too. I love these changes made in European cities. I hope we can start this trend in the US. Sick to death of big fast polluting vehicles, especially since I can ride and walk without them. By the way, we don't need ac in my house. Why? Because we kept our trees and shrubs. Helps in summer and winter. Nature takes care of us if we let it.
As a US citizen I believe our city planners have forgotten about our past. Our cities were like the European city before the 20s. I would like to see some of the ideas in the video tried here but it would be difficult.
Ah Cologne… we understand. Sorry for the late response, the film will be posted in German on Sunday 10th April at 1800 Germany time :-) ua-cam.com/users/dwdeutsch
People far east of Koln, living in the armpits of Europe, dream of having Germany's infrastructure. I invite you to come here to enjoy a life where the lack of infrastructure prevails, if that interests you, and see why infrastructure works everywhere, while Dutch-like stunts only work in a few carefully selected places that, admittedly, look good on TV.
amazing what cities are doing in Europe , it would be great with more bike assessable roads and tracks where i live in the uk ..and seeing people outside having fun , doing their own thing ..safely , but it takes time and i love your video's , i'd love to see more
With a growing population the car problem will only get worse, it’s time to reclaim our streets! Think of how much healthier we will all be too, walking and cycling everywhere. For places that cannot be walked or cycled, public transport is the way to go.
It's a few "little" problems on this way. I know what I talking about because I was born and grew in country where this principe been in practice - USSR. Very small amount of people had cars, mostly all used PT, cycling, walking. It works bad on practice. In general it works only for small towns or if you all of your life working on the plant in your neigbor. It not works for big cities and metropolices. (Only a few young and trained people are able to cycle or walk 40+ km per day, including storm weather, at -20C and half meter of snow, at +40C) It not works if you office is on the other side of the city. It not works with supermarket business concept. (You can't buy good for the next week because you simply not able to deliver it home) It not works with "unique stores" business concept. (people are ready to drive 20-30km to Apple store or some unique butique but not ready to walk to it or spend a 1.5 hours in PT) It not works in cold and hot climate. (you will need much more closes and anyway it drops your quality of living dramatically) It really very limiting mobility of the citizens and exact old people and people with disabilities. (or you need an incredible effective and expensive PT network so live in a very rich region).
Driving in a city is a tragedy of the commons. Any individual is better off if they can drive than if they can't. But one person driving makes everybody _else_ a tiny bit worse off. If everyone drives, the system is worse overall for everyone than if nobody drives.
Well i live in Groningen and have lived in Barcelona for 1 year. Trust me, Barcelona is not there yet. Big 8 lane streets slicing through the heart of the city where people drive 80-100 km/h. Ive been around Europe and in every major city i see a lot of potential but never real decisiveness.
It would be nice to see cars relegated to intercity travel, just like railways are Just put a ring road around every city, turn over every street exclusively to public transport and utility vehicles. If you can't get everywhere you need to go now electric bikes are popping up like mushrooms, then you're beyond saving
Electric bikes suck. They're more expensive than cars and inferior on any metric. They're even inferior to conventional bikes. At least in their current form, they're just an over hyped moped that people could use and a ton are actually using - hard to see from that high up in the glass tower. You know, those people holding up the economy why a bunch of yous think about how to f up the lives of everyone else.
You can watch this film in Spanish and German too! ¿Podemos reinventar nuestras ciudades para vivir mejor? | ua-cam.com/video/fgSw2gMrsFA/v-deo.html Ist es möglich, unsere Städte für ein besseres Leben neu zu gestalten? ua-cam.com/video/-OAatV4jNpY/v-deo.html There are so many ways to improve our cities! What's happening where you live?
In Bath, some things like pedestrian zones, but overall mostly it's just cars trying to be forced down narrow streets, I can't say we're making leaps and bounds, it's a lovely city wrecked by traffic and pollution
A shame you did not look at Copenhagen that again and again are in the lead. Best air quality and you can swim in the cities canals because they focused on bicycles and modern metros underground as well as pedestrian zones.
Since the past 9months my city has been Rotterdam, Netherlands, and I'm loving it here. Pedestrians and cyclists have the upper hand over cars. Love love love itt
@@Dark__Thoughts I think it's one of the best examples actually as the work is still in progress. It was one of the most car focused dutch cities but with projects like the redevelopment of the Coolsingel which cut down on car lanes to give pedestrians and cyclists more space and closing one of the lanes on the s100 inner city ring road it shows how progress isn't some exclusively dutch magic but hard work and perseverance.
Notice how the majority of the people against change, are old people who are rigid in their ways & don't consider PT or bikes as a mode of transportation or car dealership owners.. Gee I wonder why they would be against limiting cars
Talked with my soon 54yo mother about this, and she hates public transit because it's cramped, all kinds of "weird people" ride it, she likes the freedom her car gives her... then I made her notice I have traveled nearly the entirety of the country by public transit (and my country's public transit is notoriously BAD), often doing wild things like surprising a friend 800 km away for their birthday or meeting halfway with another friend living in another region to go to a giant amusement park, or /meeting my mom herself/ just two months ago when she came for some event (by private bus), all for a fraction of the cost she would have spent with a car AND not dealing with traffic. Of course, she was quiet and had no response.
In Poland we are coming to the point where more cities are strugling with those problems. Unfortunately politicians prefer to reap the benefits from 'pedestrians vs cars war' instead of scrupulous work for the best ways out of the problem. Shame on them. In my city president, which promised to reduce trafic in centre simultaneously changed one part of parking to pedestrian zone and other part for parking only for city hall employees - so for his own use.
Great topic. I can't wait for America (and specifically, where I live in Los Angeles) to become more people and environmentally friendly and more transit abundant. I've been without a car for a year and love it, even with the limited transit/pedestrian/bike infrastructure here (though it's growing).
"... and how Groningen was an example to them all. Anyway, tell us about your city" Me having lived in all the Dutch cities mentioned in this video: ..... I think the USA has the biggest hurdle. Not only are people even more convinced that part of the American Dream (tm) is that you only have freedom with a personal car, but nearly *everything* is wrong. Euclidean zoning, only single home houses or skyscraper apartments, minimum parking requirements, only 'dumb' traffic lights, traffic lights at every intersection, poor infrastructure in general, lack of cohesion between cities / throughout a county / state / the country, and more. Luckily, the Netherlands proves neither wind nor rain, Finland proves not snow, Switzerland proves not mountains, will stop people from cycling. So paint your bicycle gutters, build your bicycle lanes, and plan your modal filters and the bikes will come.
As someone who lives in Barcelona, I can tell you that all of this wonderful urban planning is actually becoming a nightmare for a lot of us. Due to the increase in living costs and the housing crisis that has struck most of the West, it is becoming completely unaffordable to live in Barcelona, and this has pushed a lot of us to the outskirts. Due to terrible public transit connections, a car is a necessity for a lot of us, and we're being punished for something we need. For instance, my commute to work by car is about 50 minutes each way which is a LOT of time, but if I want to get to my job by public transit, then it's two buses and two trains and some more walking for a grand total of 2hrs both ways. That's 4hrs a day. We're given little choice in the matter, and are punished for not being able to afford living in a city they made unlivable... Just to make it clear: I'm all for removing cars from the road, but if there isn't a clear investment in public transit and policy changes to ensure affordable housing, all these plans just make people poorer. Edit: clarification
@@madhavyu If everyone could do that, it wouldn't be a problem, don't you think? The solution is not for a few of yous to live closer to work and then fuck up the life of everyone else. 50 mins with how bad they fucked it up, so probably less before, where public transit takes 2 hours? Why would you invest in that, it's clear the car works, why nuke a perfectly viable system for the sake of a few people. As usual, making rich people even richer by jacking up prices and making it a hell to live. And creating tons of propaganda to support the agenda. Wow, how innovative.
@@madhavyu why would someone move away from he belong to be just around the corner from work . Work isn’t all in life !! Am sorry but not a promising way of thinking
@@naserdeen8210 Why would you waste so much precious time of your life just going from home to work? Live close to work and you can wake up 30 minutes before you start, and you can be home in 15 minutes when you're done working. I moved to Barcelona because I preferred that to having to drive 1hr or take the train. You should live where you work. Everyone driving so much every day just for work is unsustainable, not just in terms of pollution and accidents, but in the costs of driving itself!
@Nacho Pascual thanks, that's a very important point. There are sadly many examples where improving a district's livability leads to rent increases and "gentrification" that mean the original residents and "normal" earners are forced out.
If you have people bicycling or walking more of the time than you often see people that are in their 80s and are still bicycling like I did when I used to live in Germany in a walkable university town. It was quite common to see people in their 70s and 80s on bicycles or walking and a woman who was in the late 70s or early 80s wanted to walk with me and I thought she was going to walk be a short distance, but she probably walked at least 2 or 3 km easily
Great documentary! I loved the idea of visually communicating alternatives by digitally recreating actual city landscapes. This could be utilized by urban social movements to wake up fellow citizens to what are the possibilities, what we have now, and what we can have if we decide to plan better. Expanding collective imagination about different urban spaces is an important aspect for the fight for better cities.
Americans will say they lose their freedom if they don't have cars. But that is because every infrastructure is designed for cars, so if you don't have one you can't move around. there is no freedom of movement in the USA, only freedom of car transportation.
What stops you from walking if you so choose to? Or from biking, I don't get it. I've been a tourist there, cycled just fine, didn't need any bike lanes, passed a couple of cops, no one said anything, so it seemed I wasn't doing something illegal. As far as I can tell, waking or biking is not against the law in the US. On the other hand, what yous propose comes down to making it illegal to drive cars, basically. Why do you have to ban cars to start cycling, what stops you really? The ego? All of yous propose shifting from a system where everyone is afforded the choice of which transportation mode to use, to a system where the state/whoever imposes you how to live your life based on some questionable metrics and faked up "studies". And am I supposed to be okay with that? No thanks, I come from a country where this was plentifully experienced, it was called communism, not a success, I tell you.
I´m living in Taiwan, here the goverment is sadly thinking exactly in the opposide direction. "Why need pedestrian area? We can just use it as parking spaces", so they destroy greenery and exclusive areas for pedestrians and make it parking or roads...
Bicycles are a great local transportation option. Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles safely. Safe, protected bike lanes and trails are needed to encourage more older adults and children to ride bicycles or scooters. Ebikes are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Healthy exercise, fossil fuels free transportation and great for social distancing. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly.
Wow this is simply fantastic. Cities like Paris and Barcelona will become even better when all of this is done. I am hoping some of this can filter over to America.
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I ride bicycle in Paris and I love the new bike lanes ! But trust me, so many car drivers haaaaate the mayor for the fact that they have less space for them
This type of urban design could benefit big cities around the world but I don’t think so much for rural areas. Mostly because rural areas already have a lot of space. Idk that’s my thought, does anyone think otherwise?
tunnels would be a good addition. for historic city centers, it may be worth it to build a few highway tunnels that quickly speed under those areas to allow for less compromise.
Thanks for inspiring. Sadly we're behind the curve in Ireland. Planning laws, local politics, bias media and vested interests all ensuring the status quo. For those of us looking for more equitable, safer, healthy public realm, while factoring in economic viability - the forgotten voices of our young children & other vulnerable road users compel us to engage and give our spare time to improving quality of life & revitalising tired polluted cities & besieged country roads.
Those Children doing the Friday bike bus is affordable! That’s so lovely. I wish more Americans would travel to Europe so they could see what we are missing in our cities and communities.
Its safe to say that most of our cities and suburbs are depressing places that are ironically not inviting to humans...Its little wonder kids today don't want to go outside to play.
I love how they had to look so hard for critics of superillas that they had to go to luxury car retailers and geriatric travel agencies (tourists themselves love superillas btw)
"You are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic" is such a powerful message
I think the same goes for "the freedom to drive" and changing it to "the freedom to not have to drive"
@@erifetim One of many examples of how freedom and power interact, IMHO. Individual freedom can be collective slavery. Legal freedoms are irrelevant to those without the power to exercise them; they are only relevant to those with power (though that power may be individual or collective). Bicycle and walkable infrastructure would, in an ideal world, be won not by legal restrictions on the right of way of cars, but by walkers and cyclists exercising collective power through such tactics as critical mass rides. However, in most cities, cars have legal rights over cyclists and pedestrians, and so restricting drivers' legal freedom to drive where they please is a wholly acceptable and proportionate response to the excess of power that they have through their 1-ton metal boxes.
@@akashchoudhary8162 maybe there was a better way for those traveling to travel that didn't cause as much traffic, public transit like buses and trains as well as personal transit like bicycles or walking offer significantly better density than cars, even if the cars were full (when typically they have a single occupant)
What most of this is trying to do is not get everyone out of cars but try and make it so that not everyone is in cars.
@@erifetim we don't have that freedom here in america our suburbs aren't sustainable and are the only way for most americans
Can someone explain something people are ooohinng and aaahing over the netherland urban plannig but alot of their cities are bellow sea level because they destroy marshland swamps that are there for a reason in keeping eco systems substainble which long term could have all this places underwater very soon, so how is this urban planning so great...? Europe has no native old forest this is why there is very little wild life because you destroyed all your forest for logging for urban development for farming for industry again how is this a model follow no thanks I think we would look for something different something more green and substainable.... Amsterdam its a very cool place but I could not imagine my city or country being so popular and being completely innundated by tourist what a horrific night mare that would be no thanks... By the way how come all happiest places in the world are in rich white countries if they are so happy why do they need to travel every year warming the planet even faster.....
When we lived in America, we’d watch the cool things Europeans were doing but believed the narrative that those things work over there, but could never work here. It wasn’t until we started living in Germany and learning about urban planning that I learned most of Europe was starting to turn into totally car centric places through the 70’s. And they literally tore up asphalt and redesigned city roads to make them friendly for people. This can be done in America!! They can change zoning even out in the suburbs to make sure neighborhoods are close to essential services like a small grocery store.
When ever I discuss with americans about current issues in the US, and how it's solved in other countries. The the most repeated argument I hear is "Oh, that won't work here because the US is so big, or different, or whatever".
For a country that has been the forefront of so much innovation and bravery, I'm often saddened by how hard it is to convince americans that things can indeed be different and better if they would be willing to change things.
Actually the US used to have walkable cities with public transportation. They used to be designed like European cities, they weren't build ground-up for cars. They then tore it all up for the cars.
In which american country did you live in?
@@vdpachecogof The United States. You know, the country most often referred to when people say "America".
@@vdpachecogof Totally unnecessary and unproductive.
Fun fact : the Netherlands is also one of the best places to drive your car around.
Shows how reserving roads for cars and streets for people benefits everyone
This is only logical, since there's no other vehicle that uses up more road space than a car. The more people travel by bike, bus, tram or train, the more road space for the remaining car drivers.
The problem is the number of cyclists who don't respect either.
@@jamesbrice3267 You will see a lot less accidents in places like the Netherlands with lots of cyclists. There's safety in numbers. There's also mutual understanding and respect, since literally every car driver is also a cyclist.
@@markusstudeli2997 it's not about numbers but culture.
Sudden changes won't work in other parts of the world, rather small changes over time.
Japan is also a country with very very little cars and it's because they designed top notch public transport and they prioritize it everytime they expand the city.
@@rRekko This why I dislike the idea of urbanist that think Netherlands should be the benchmark for the world to follow. Every city/country have its own challenge. Netherlands is flat tiny country that its city bunch up together which make perfect for cycling , but once they encounter a little problem they cannot overcome it, like chronic housing and pathetic public transport . Everybody know excellent public transport is the answer, people from 70km away from workspace can still commute in reasonable time, try that on bike, and yes we have another solution that can solve this distance problem, which most European love it called motorcycle.
'Some people disagree'
*cuts to owner of a Porshe garage*
That was actually quite funny.
That’s the problem with the Green leftwing. They don’t give a crap if other people disagree with them and their stupid expensive climate rules. That a green lefty is anti cars and airplanes that doesn’t mean that i als have to think like that. I love cars i will keep driving them. And i will always take the airplane to my vacation adress
Porsche
*
Yes, the joy at the upset elitist, this must be the left wing equivalent to the feeling that right wingers have most of the time constantly screwing us over.
@@eldromedario3315 Portia
@@eldromedario3315 Les clefs de ma Porsche sont tombé de ma poche près d'un porche.
For anyone interested in urban mobility I recommend the channel Not Just Bikes. The creator is Canadian living in Amsterdam, and is very knowledgeable.
B-but-but! Muh stroad!
Witness the health of the American people who spend most of their time applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, at home or in the car. Not only physical non-health but emotional, mental, spiritual. Entitlement.
i love that channel however one thing i despise is how the creator makes amsterdam sound like the best place ever and how the west sucks
@@oojrnl yea that’s a big problem he’s a euro simp. But I agree with his overall message of walk ability
@@randommonkey4900 yup! his overall message is great but the delivery.. might need some more work 😅
The 'Open Streets' that were developed during the pandemic here in NYC have been incredible, and people are fighting to keep most of them.
Were they developed unofficially or officially? Would be good to know more if you have a link to further info :)
Have just done some digging and found plenty info about them myself :)
why there are still individual cars in city like New York?
I’m in love with car free streets in Lower East Side, and I’m a visitor of NY a few times a year.
@@pozeram Because people want to drive?
Strange to hear someone from Tourism Association to talk about the economic impact of reducing car dependency and increasing public spaces.
When I visited Barcelona, I ignored the parks and pedestrian zones and rather went to walk along the highways to inhale some particulate matter and other car emissions. No, wait, it was the other way around! But still, it could be just me. It could be that tourists want the noise and smell of multi-lane highways instead of nice quite cafes and calm parks...
Also, I, of course, completely understand that car enthusiasts would miss the possibility to have a blast across the city. But, you know, he/she who generates the money decides how they will be spent. And a few rich people in Porsches are not going to pay for building and maintaining of all the roads. So, yeah, they have to yield to bikes, pedestrians and the public transport. That's just how things work in a fair society.
I understand that people are anxious about all changes. I also like(d) to sit around in a climate controlled privacy box that gets me to places without much (physical) effort. Unfortunately, we, as a society, discovered that if everyone wants to do it like that, it just does not work (whether it is climate, economics or space limitations). It is also not good for us individually. We are just designed to be getting some base level of physical activity every day and if we don't, we will, sooner or later, suffer the consequences.
And, as was proven by many other cities, these changes won't make us die in an agonizing death but quite the opposite.
So, be happy, don't worry and embrace and support these changes (and if you are a city planner, also think about them extensively, so they don't end up as a horrid mess of "patchy" so-so solutions).
I will have you know that much as I enjoy spirited driving, 99.9% of my driving time is spent stuck in traffic or driving carefully, with a particular fear of splatting a motorcyclist (no offence, motorcyclists), with only 0.1% spent opening the taps, kissing apex and having fun. Even then, not being in a performance car, the enjoyment is limited.
Now on a bicycle, even a cheap one, you CAN have fun, open the taps and push the limits safely much more often in the absence of cars. In fact it helps you stay fit and slows the ageing process.
What’s that?
Buying a local manufacturer’s bicycle keeps money in your country by not sending it to a factory abroad and then not paying for fuel from abroad?
Oh yeah, that too.
I have lived in the UK, Greece and Russia btw.
You can have parks AND highways, it isn't an either or proposition.
@@johnathin0061892 In a city? Yes, because there is only so much space that it is highway or park.
The superblock project is THE reason Barcelona is now on my bucket list...
As a smaller example, I know a lot more people who enjoy visiting small towns to walk around there and enjoy the shops and parks than I know people who visit interstate highways in order to get a good wiff of diesel fumes.
We are living a fast mutation of our urbanism in Paris, it doesn't please everyone yet, but it's a pleasure to enjoy these new living spaces!
Thanks for sharing, it was a pleasure to be part of this documentary.
Even if it doesn't please everyone, it is in the end good for everyone..
And the naysayers will experience true urban environments meant for pedestrians and bikes and how they will adjust their behavior in the end..
@@Zoza15 it’s not the true> paris is dirty and dangerous, full of traffick ja
@@Zoza15 it's not good for people who have to go to the hospital and are not allowed to use their car, nor for those who have elderly parents and find it difficult to get around without a car. Paris becomes a dead city, it is no longer the Paris of the 20th century, the city of light!
Salut Altis,
A Paris, c’est sur la bonne voie mais il y’a encore tellement à faire pour que les cycles soient considérés comme un réel moyen de transport et pas juste un passe-temps ou un substitut opportuniste.
Et là, je parle des automobilistes mais aussi et surtout des responsables des aménagements.
Il y a un énorme manque de cohérence au niveau des infrastructures vélo.
Pour la voiture, tout est normalisé (taille des panneaux, des voies, marquages etc.) Pour le vélo c’est encore vachement expérimental.
En France, on a relevé pas mal de défis liés a l’aménagement du territoire. Le réseau de trains (tgv et régionaux) ne fait pas honte par exemple.
Je suis sûr que nous y arriverons et que notre capitale sera un petit paradis.
En tout cas bravo pour ton travail. Je te suis depuis quelques temps sur ta chaîne et j’adore le changement de ton et d’attitude dans tes dernières vidéos.
Oui il y’a des incivilités à Paris mais c’est bien la qualité d’un aménagement urbain qui fait monter ou descendre là conflictuatilité entre les usagers. Et ça tu l’as bien compris. Et tes analyses sont super.
Hâte de te croiser sur la route. (J’habite avenue de Flandres et circule beaucoup à Paris )
Tes trajets me sont très très familiers.
For the Francophones, I suggest the INA-provided documentary 1975, le vieux Paris disparaît. It has this one segment where this elderly lady reflects on the fact that going to work by foot from Montmartre to the Opera was an absolute delight, and then cars took on more and more space... really interesting to see how it was really just ... a blip, in our history, barely long enough that most people grew up in car-centric cities
15:51
'You are only a true citizen when you can exercise all your rights, not only that of transportation.'
Well said!
@@hydrolifetech7911 it's not the government's job to give everyone everything they might want.
"You are only a true citizen when you can exercise all your rights, not only that of transportation"
Very powerful quote from which america can learn a lot
In the US, the government does what the MAJORITY wants, not what everyone wants. It's not the government's job to provide everything everyone wants.
There is already several studies that have proved that commercial activity increases when the area is pedestrian prioritized and traffic restricted. Somebody has to show this to that person from the Tourism Association. There are several commercial streets throughout the world that restricts or outright ban motor vehicles, including Tourists spots. An example from my country is Rock Beach in Pondicherry, India which is flanked by a thriving commercial street.
Tourists wants to walk and explore either by foot or rented bicycles, not just get dropped off in locations just to click a picture. Only the insanely rich plans their vacation solely based on individual vehicles; most travel on budget and would prefer public transport.
Walkable neighborhoods definitely are more small business friendly. No one will check out a small, family owned shop in the middle of a strip mall hidden under the shadow of a big box store. However if you happen to be walking by one, you will notice the shop and have a greater chance of taking a peek through the windows.
Indeed, the most flourishing commerce is usually in pedestrian areas of a city. The most expensive street for shops to rent in Switzerland is Bahnhofstrasse Zürich, a car free street.
I hope India all the cities in India would do the same like Rock Beach in Pondicherry. Unfortunately not. Mumbai was the worst city for me when I visited Asia. So polluted with cars and noise. Unbearable
One thing I wish these videos would discuss is the financial productivity that occurs when building spaces like this. The capital to build roads and maintain them for cars is insanely expensive. Pedestrian infrastructure is much cheaper, and allows for denser development, leading to higher property taxes per government infrastructure spending.
In Houston, for example, they are beginning demolition of a big apartment complex next week so that they can expand I-45 through a developing part of the city. This is occurring in the middle of a housing crisis.
When I watch these things, it makes me wonder when America will start changing its government structures that are designed around cars. Our federal, state, and local governments are all designed around car dependency, and it will take a long time to restructure them. Our Department of Transportation was designed to be a highway building machine that destroyed our cities, and they continue to do so today.
It drives me crazy to watch how housing and walk/bikability is so neglected in my area. Places that could be great neighborhoods get turned into storage buildings and we have deteriorating side walks and almost no bike infrastructure. Meanwhile, housing in the area is so scarce that rents and homes are unaffordable to the average worker.
America is turning into a Third World country... with cities that are congested & miserable. How sad! 😪😪
Has Houston not learned from the embarrassment that is the Katy freeway?
The point about more tax income per infrastructure spending is often overlooked - there is actually an epidemic of municipality bankruptcies in the US that is directly caused by suburban sprawl. The initial investment to build infrastructure for such sprawl often receives federal money, so lots of infrastructure gets built to support a fairly small population. Years later, when the infrastructure starts deteriorating and needing maintenance, the municipalities are suddenly faced with a huge problem: They're trying to maintain city-level infrastructure on a rural-level tax income because everything is so damn spread out.
Exactly we don't need this stupid expensive infrastructure waste money etc
The bit at the end about green washing our cities was wonderful. You could've had an animation where all the green cars were electric, yet honking and getting into mass traffic jams.
That is a bogus view. Private car ownership will be far less and APP based car-share far more.
@@honesty_-no9he far more what?
@@Rodegon___ I think he means common.
Cars will become driving autonomously. This (getting the human driver out) will make a huge difference in the number of traffic jams and the honking.
@@jaaput Indeed, but there's still a lot more effective means to transport people than in single boxes. If people can hop on a streetcar or a trains to get to their work place or back home, this eliminates a huge quantity of vehicles on the roads. For the odd journey that is not connected with urban transit, rental or sharing schemes for cars, electric bikes or even scooters can fill in the gaps or the last mile.
18:01, I hate how she compared how fast it is to get one place to another via driving.
By removing cars off the streets, transit and biking is faster instead. Rather than saying "driving used to take 35 minutes, and now takes 1:45:00" she should say "It used to take 35 minutes by driving to get there, now it takes X minutes to get there via transit or biking." Its a disingenuous comment because it fails to acknowledge all other mode of transportation that gets improved with less traffic on the streets.
yeah at first it may seen as a negative but hidden away there are loads of befits! Even for the drivers as more people take alternatives meaning less cars on the road possibly making a better driving experience for drivers
So what do you do if you don't want to be near other people? Can you reserve the public transit for yourself? Public transit also has additional rules imposed on you - there are items you are forbidden from carrying on a bus or a tram. What do you do if the public transit employees go on strike?
@@yaksvk they are valid points, i would like to add that public transport does have some benefits as well unlike driving.
1. it is much safer taking public transport than to drive
2. you can do other stuff such as read a book or something productive during that time.
each mode of transport has its pros and cons so i guess it can be objective but if one doesn't mind it , take public transport.
My reaction to her "objection" was actually YAY because my first thought was that that means now people will walk or bike instead.
@@yaksvk If you don't want to be near other people then why are you in a city in the first place? You can opt to live on the countryside, have a car parked on your driveway and drive everywhere you like all the while seeing very few people.
I lived in Dutch cities for about half my life. Public transit never felt like a limitation. It was rather liberating really not having to use a car for most trips. It was a lot cheaper too. Cars are expensive to buy, use and maintain. I think people who are against cycling and public transit are 100% car dependent and basically trained to think a car means freedom while it really doesn't.
"If your barista cannot afford to live within 15-minutes of the coffee shop, then it's not really a city, it's an amusement park." kinda sums it up for me. I'm all for liveable-walkable car-free cities, sooner the better for everyone.
The United States adds roughly 8 parking spots for every car... The amount of waste and inefficiency that goes into driving is truly insane.
Abolish minimum parking requirements, along with exclusive single family zoning.
Too bad. The majority want cars. Thus the laws. Democracy
@@michah321 with how many places are rightfully abolishing parking minimums, times and attitudes are changing, especially with a new generation that does not drive being voting age now. Don't plan on having huge big box store parking lots and stupid 8-car lane wide roads everywhere forever.
@@thatoneotherotherguyThey're afraid to drive.
@@billbillerton6122 Nope, they're just realizing they don't care to fork over the money it takes to purchase the burden of a car, unless it's absolutely unavoidable. The smartest thing GenZ ever did was snub car ownership. It financially cripples many, many households.
It will be a hard work, but it is totally necessary to get cities back to people, just for our health and world ‘s health!! Great video!!!
Indeed, it's a choice between being lazy and just doing what's easy or doing what is right
a large city must live and its inhabitants must be able to move about freely! By preventing people from living, by restricting their freedom of movement (except for the richest), Paris loses 10,000 inhabitants every year!
@@ascl3133 Paris is currently growing at 0.54% per year. People who aren't able to move around because they A) can't drive, B) can't walk because they'll be killed by a car C) do drive, but are stuck in perpetual traffic like in the US don't have freedom of movement. Able-bodied people who can afford access to cars are the only ones allowed to move. Everyone else gets fucked.
Some of the most beautiful streets I have seen are in Japan. Lots of smaller side streets there don't have many traffic lights, like the intersections in Amsterdam, and no side walks either. So cars have to share the same space with pedestrians and cyclists. And those streets are quite narrow as well, which forces car drivers to reduce speed and pay attention to others around them. Naturally, traffic in those streets is very low, even though you actually do see a car in front of almost every house.
The other thing are lots of plants growing somewhere every few meters, not even arranged by people, but just growing there naturally, which gives you a very cosy and peaceful feeling, even though you're in the middle of a city.
Exactly, I was thinking of Tokyo the whole time. People praise Amsterdam all the time but I think Tokyo had already achieved all of what this documentary is discussing. It literally is a 15-minutes city, with streets full of life full of greenery and services and cars and bikes and kids and elderly. To me, Tokyo's city design is the best. The thing is, it's not only in Tokyo but even going to a small village in the middle of nowhere in Japan you'll still see elements of very good urban design.
@@yuzan3607 true. No wonder why a show like "Hajimete no Otsukai" (My First Errand) has been airing since 1991 and has recently become popular abroad as well. It's because the streets are safe enough for children to go anywhere.
@@ianhomerpura8937 Yea, I think also because the streets are so lively, crime is very rare. I'm a female who grew up in a country where it's considered dangerous to walk at night alone, but in Tokyo I could go to the convenient store if I felt like it at 3 am and not think twice about it. That's why parents never worry about their kids, it's almost like living in a village where everyone sees everyone. Which is an enigma since Tokyo is the biggest city in the world that feels like village.
On a plane stop over I went to the old town of Narita and discovered similar streets to what you describe for Tokyo. I found Narita indeed very walkable and charming! Glad to hear this is the case all over Japan.
@@yuzan3607 So, why is Tokyo number 24 on the list of the most bike-friendly cities and Utrecht number 1 (and Amsterdam number 5)?
from week to week i want to move to the netherlands more and more. love how the country looks and how people have taste...
For me it's the complete opposite. Not to mention I can barely avoid the constant propaganda.
@@vali20vali20vali20 if you have lived in shitty country you won’t be saying that. I noticed many of you born in good countries don’t feel satisfied and stay ungrateful because you didn’t live the struggle when you feel not a human and get paid minimum wage. Don’t move to asia, some countries try to focused on technology but many aspects are so backward and people who only follow rules without helping you turn a whole place without any human side.
@@vali20vali20vali20 Pffff, thank you! We don't want any more people coming to the Netherlands. Please spread the word!
@@desertmoonlee6631 And what does asia have to do with his opinion?
Many thanks to Miguel Angel Cano Santizo and Michael Trobridge for this very worthwhile documentary! May it reach a lot of people.
I am very pleased to have been able to contribute to it. So many inspiring voices!
und auch danke dir !
I've been living in Groningen for the past 4 years and it is amazing how well everything is designed here. The bicycle paths are insanely well designed, not only in the very efficient routes that they take but also in the sheer number of them.
As an example, I live on the outskirts of the city and I can get to the center by bicycle in HALF the time it takes a car.
The most shocking part is that she pronounced “Groningen” correctly haha
Ah yes, one of the happiest places in the world.
absolutely butchered the Dutch guy's name though
I live in San Francisco so I’m lucky in many ways to be able to walk and use public transit. There is a major program under way to make sidewalks safer. Traffic lights allow pedestrians a head start and there are more bike lanes and streets closing to traffic. I love that Market Street is now easier to cross. We have a long way to go! This podcast was very interesting to me. Thank you!
What a wonderful video. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and hope that towns and cities in the UK will start taking on board a lot of these excellent concepts.
Nah, the UK has this thing called 'anything originally from Europe is bad'. So, no, do not call anyone from Europe to clean up your mess.
@@Paul_C That’s an oddly hostile comment, and uncalled for.
I think many cities in the UK are, the ones I know are Sheffield and Oxford but lots of other areas are incorporating these ideas. Although there's a growing movement against this by some many selfish people.
@@josephdimambro-densonsheffield? Are you joking? Sheffield is probably the worst mid size city in UK to cycle
I think we can incorporate many European designs, like woonerfs, superblocks, and the fifteen minute city, in the states.
"What street do you want?"
simple yet effective messaging - I only fear Americans will still say they want cars right in front of their homes and businesses
What the States likely needs are better zoning regulations to able to reach everything on foot in a short distance, like groceries, shopping, entertainment centers. schools, churches and local services..
@@Zoza15 that's a definitely indispensable first step but won't be enough
In my American town/city of ~100,000 people, there is actually quite a bit of push for having more options to get around. It may not be as strong as in Europe, but the momentum will only grow as more and more changes continue to be made
You need to incorporate one single idea from the rest of the world: allowing small shops in residential areas. That's it.
@@KyrieFortune mixed use is the most important concept to incorporate, but it’s also extremely hard to make it walkable without also having higher densities than single family homes.
This was fantastic to watch. I hope more cities can start thinking ahead.
I live in the city of Groningen, the city mentioned in the video. And yes, although still not perfect, it has a lot of great ideas for any city. You can watch these from your own house using google maps. Or of course take a visit and see for yourself. I think I have been on every street within the "gemeente" (municipality) Groningen or the city and its surrounding villages. And most of it is safe yes. I walk and bike way way more then I use my car. Using my own city as the standard, I notice a lot of cities are just wrong, in my opinion. But for a long time I didn't know why. And then I started to watch "not just bikes" and then I understood
If anyone wants to keep watching I can recommend the channel "not just bikes".
“Ask what type of street you want? Instead of where you like to park your car and the discussion changes” great lesson
I'm from India where it's known for heat and pollution, and of course the obvious traffic. The usage of cars has increased over the last 3 decades, and even while employment is being hard and cost of living is rising, most of us still prefer having cars because of various reasons like need of AC due to extreme heat all year, especially in summer, and also lack of proper public transportation and the last foolish reason is to show off the wealth. And only recently since the past 5 years people has started following traffic rules as they started facing fines if they disobey vehicle traffic rules especially when crossing.
We can see the problems of climate change for the past decade as long as I remember, yet no action being taken by the government which is a shameful thing. I would die happy if it changes for better in my life time. I know it's quite an impossible task in the country I live in.
very true.No matter whom we elect either BJP,Congress or Left.No parties gives a damn about public spaces,pollution,carbon footprint and so on.And if someone tries to do something new,there are political conflicts for eg Kejriwal introduced odd and even concept in Delhi which were opposed and criticized by many BJP ministers by breaking the odd even laws .
Great video - i’m an Australian urban planner living and working in Tokyo, I found this very very interesting. Thank you!
The belt line in Atlanta and Austin was the first and second times I was able to go to work/yoga/out to eat/Events without using a car. We NEED TO BUILD purposefully with city planners who make things green and with a major walking and cycle path.
Great documentary. I live in Oruro, Bolivia a horrible, chaotic, NOISY, inhuman city. Just as example. There are, every day of every week for over maybe more than 30 years, abandoned dogs, eating, living, defecating on streets, informal vendors all on streets and sidewalks, ruined sewer system, garbage everywhere, incredible quantity of plastics, and thousands of illegal motorcycles and cars (last ten years)
It is incredible how kids are growing in this city. For them is normal, natural. There are plenty of laws but are unfulfilled daily.
COVID 19 pandemic made the conditions of the city worse. hundreds of new NOISY motorcycles to deliver since goods to illegal drugs. no licencse plates, no traffic lights, no speed limits.
Watching this video is a 100 years utopic future for us. the recent environmental traggic is the noise pollution. Business speakes positioned on sidewalks, bullhorn on "mobile vendors", unsanctioned use of fireworks, motorcycles and cars without soundkiller.... a nefast situation
I'm sure you are not the only one who hates those conditions in your city. Maybe you can organize online somehow (e.g. in a Facebook group) and get in touch with the authorities. If nothing helps a strike could be the last resort. As they said in the video: Even in the Netherlands they had to go to the street to fight for their right of a livable environment.
@@rene78 Thanks. I got in touch with authoritties. since 2019. I am in a frustating process for over two years at the city council. It is hard to explain how difficult to change things in my countries are. There are strikes every week in mi city and in general in my country. Just check bolivian news. We are so used to protests, violence, corruption that only ten Thousands people could actually do something and sometimes not even that. Urban mobility or environmet is at the bottom of priorities for Bolivian State, despite its deceptive propoganda.
And yet again, the Netherland's city design is the gold standard +)
You have never been to Copenhagen I presume...
Great video! Waiting for this content available in DW Indonesia, Because Indonesian need to see this...
People are still in car-oriented mindset even though traffic jam is worse..
Make safe bike lanes and people will ride their bikes.
I wish there were cities toatally free from private cars. Several in every contry so it was actually an possible for anyone who wanted to find one and live in them.
I love this video, and Malaysia where currently I am living now have a lot of learn. Till today many people here still supporting infrastructure for cars. In fact the entire country is designed for cars in mind only, building more and more highways and sadly now we are seeing ourselves stuck in the traffic like European cities 10-20 years ago.
You know its ok if your city have bikes and car..the only problem today is 90 percent of the street are form car 10percent for bike or walking..but if the develper change it to 50/50 ..so people can choose bike or car.its nice.the problem if only bike is option.you cant go far away..
Malaysian here and I gotta agree with you. People always come up with excuse like we are in a tropical environment, it's hot and plenty of rainfall so we can only use cars. Dude, that's why we need to figure out a way and SOLUTION not just bypassing all the options. I'm from Sarawak and I think it's not late for Sarawak to have a good people focused urban planning because we are still underdevelop. But the narrative right now is very car centric and I'm afraid we might be a KL duplicate in the future.
It's interesting, because from what I saw your neighbour (Singapore) is rather pedestrian and bike-friendly. Granted, it's easier to do when the country is just one city. But still, it shows it's possible.
Keep Asia great, don't destroy it like Europe. Trust me, when living in the real world, lacking infrastructure sucks. They "think about the future" with highways and trains that back their economy and give them the funds to waste on stunts like these. Europe is at a test where they show how much they value freedom compared to the will of a tiny elite. So much for the claimed values, it seems.
@@vali20vali20vali20 There are problems in Europe (mainly the rise of criminality, more or less related to mass immigration), but the infrastructures are rather good, depending on the country. Not as good as in Japan, but better than in USA.
Europe has good infrastructures.
This gives me hope. I live in Berlin where there are piecemeal efforts to make a few districts better, yet an overall concept is missing. Today I battled through rush hour traffic by bicycle. I drove along a road that connects two districts, Treptow and Neukölln, which are divided by a canal and a highway. There are only a few bridges that cross the canal and highway from east to west. The bicycle infrastructure on these roads is atrocious. One road has a a bicycle gutter (a line to remind cars that they share the road with bicycles), the other has nothing, not even a sidewalk for pedestrians. I am risking my life every time I bike there. What's needed is a citywide concept, that makes biking a safe alternative where ever you want to go.
I don’t see this happening in the US unfortunately. There is so many people with a closed mindset, and the massive suburban sprawl has taken root that it will take 50+ years to change the way it used to been. Also, politicians have made people so addicted to oil, if we suggested other ways of transportation people will riot as if there is no alternative. Call me a pessimist, but I do not see a bright future for the US in how they way things are developed.
It would take many many years of reforming our entire political and social climates. Change won’t happen without absolutely astronomical amounts of eye-opening control. The American people are slaves to “The American Dream” of millionaires to make more millions. I agree.
Yup, at least not outside of big cities, And those already have better public transport. I don’t think the public wants it because they find it dangerous for their kids to play outside.
It took 50+ years for the Netherlands to change, too. They were horribly car-centric in the late 70's might as well have been as bad as here. But they fought for change, and now, decades later, their cities have improved tremendously, and are still improving the car-centrism that remains. Sure, it'll take a long time, but so what? We just give up? This is a terrible attitude to have.
I’m tempted to start attending locals city councils just to see how they’d react to the idea
Becuase car free green city is for libtards, poor people and leftis - some alt right
I like this video presentation. Very provoking concept of modern days urban planning. I agree that the public and the community deserves more open and green space than car owners for more roads.
These videos make me love my country even more. We do try. I travel a lot and ofcourse i know that our country has a lot of benefits. But i never saw the urban city plans as a benefit. But it really is! I took it for granted i guess. And it even is going to be more because we think we need our cities to be greener.
Didn't expect to see my hometown of Groningen mentioned on this channel
It was the first city in the world that banned cars.
13:00 living in Brussels, this intersection already sits on top of a traffic bypass tunnel that links to the inner ring road in the distance straight ahead. However I think the southbound tunnel is only tunnel linked with west-ward traffic on the ring, so east bound needs to get off on the roundabout in the distance and come into this roundabout and continue straight, so it gets a fair amount of through traffic. This roundabout also links an important south west road on top of the very important south artery that warranted the construction of serious tunnels.
Point being, good luck taking the road away from a main in and outwards artery for the city
I live in Cluj-Napoca, the heart of Transylvania.
My city is among the safest cities in Europe and it has a tolerant, charming and relaxed vibe. This is the reason why lots of people moved in in the last 20 to 30 years.
Now that has brought lots of problems with pollution amd traffic congestion, since Cluj is a medieval city, all of the centre is narrow streets and the city is located in a narrow valley, all of the traffic has to pass through the centre, because we don't have a proper city belt.
The current mayor and his team have great ideas learnt abroad (in places like Barcelona, Paris or The Netherlands) on how to make the city more people-oriented, and I explicitly heard him talk about strategies such as the 15-minute city.
Some bike paths have been built and car lanes have been slowly reduced, but it's all going too slow and people are complaining heavily that the city is going to get even more congested. But the areas where for example the streets were given back to people and bikes now have a prosperous economic and social life.
The biggest issue are the growing suburbs where people only want to sleep. They go in the city for working, socializing and other cultural and recreational activities, and they do so, of course, by car.
Civic society, bike and natural environment activists have been screaming for bike lanes linking the sub-urbs with the centre and along the river, but since larger projects have to be managed by the central government, all of this was extremely slow and frustrating.
Only now the city has eventually managed to start this larger reconversion projects, so we're still waiting for the 100% positive results.
Thank you very very much for sharing your experience, Andrei! We wish you and your community the best of luck facing the coming (and existing) challenges.
Think of it like this:
What do you want to have right in front of your home - a highway, or a people-only walkable street?
Underrated video! If you guys liked this video, y'all should check the youtube channels City Beautiful and Not Just Bikes. They also talk about urban planning and other related things
Hell yes, great channels
I miss biking. 50 years ago I biked everywhere. Now I don't dare. Public transportation is more limited too. I love these changes made in European cities. I hope we can start this trend in the US. Sick to death of big fast polluting vehicles, especially since I can ride and walk without them. By the way, we don't need ac in my house. Why? Because we kept our trees and shrubs. Helps in summer and winter. Nature takes care of us if we let it.
What an amazing video. I'm designing a course on modern urban planning for teenagers and this is a great starting point. Thanks!!!
One of the best videos I've seen on this topic! Would love to see more of Moreno.
As a US citizen I believe our city planners have forgotten about our past. Our cities were like the European city before the 20s. I would like to see some of the ideas in the video tried here but it would be difficult.
Cycling in a ruralscape or hardly in a suburban-scape is common, but that same in the urbanscape is a dream in India!!
The number of comments actually supporting this brings hope.
Very good video! Is it available in German somewhere, to share with my parents?
And greetings from the car-centric hell hole that is Cologne.
Ah Cologne… we understand.
Sorry for the late response, the film will be posted in German on Sunday 10th April at 1800 Germany time :-)
ua-cam.com/users/dwdeutsch
Hier ist der Film auf Deutsch! ua-cam.com/video/-OAatV4jNpY/v-deo.html
@@DWREV Super, vielen Dank!
People far east of Koln, living in the armpits of Europe, dream of having Germany's infrastructure. I invite you to come here to enjoy a life where the lack of infrastructure prevails, if that interests you, and see why infrastructure works everywhere, while Dutch-like stunts only work in a few carefully selected places that, admittedly, look good on TV.
amazing what cities are doing in Europe , it would be great with more bike assessable roads and tracks where i live in the uk ..and seeing people outside having fun , doing their own thing ..safely , but it takes time and i love your video's , i'd love to see more
With a growing population the car problem will only get worse, it’s time to reclaim our streets! Think of how much healthier we will all be too, walking and cycling everywhere. For places that cannot be walked or cycled, public transport is the way to go.
It's a few "little" problems on this way. I know what I talking about because I was born and grew in country where this principe been in practice - USSR. Very small amount of people had cars, mostly all used PT, cycling, walking.
It works bad on practice. In general it works only for small towns or if you all of your life working on the plant in your neigbor.
It not works for big cities and metropolices. (Only a few young and trained people are able to cycle or walk 40+ km per day, including storm weather, at -20C and half meter of snow, at +40C)
It not works if you office is on the other side of the city.
It not works with supermarket business concept. (You can't buy good for the next week because you simply not able to deliver it home)
It not works with "unique stores" business concept. (people are ready to drive 20-30km to Apple store or some unique butique but not ready to walk to it or spend a 1.5 hours in PT)
It not works in cold and hot climate. (you will need much more closes and anyway it drops your quality of living dramatically)
It really very limiting mobility of the citizens and exact old people and people with disabilities. (or you need an incredible effective and expensive PT network so live in a very rich region).
Fantastic video! Love the way you featured Utrecht. PS: that footage is two years old, right now it looks stunningly beautiful - green with flowers.
Shocker! The only “people” complaining are the automobile industry 😒🙄
for me it is not about climate change it is about financial freedom of not owning a car
Real
''the best time to reclaim our streets was yesterday, but I think the second best time is today''
what an amazing video!! thanks
Thank you! Beautiful video!
Thank you for watching! Something you’d like to see In your city?
Great content. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching Charlotte, make sure to subscribe for more.
Driving in a city is a tragedy of the commons. Any individual is better off if they can drive than if they can't. But one person driving makes everybody _else_ a tiny bit worse off. If everyone drives, the system is worse overall for everyone than if nobody drives.
Well i live in Groningen and have lived in Barcelona for 1 year. Trust me, Barcelona is not there yet. Big 8 lane streets slicing through the heart of the city where people drive 80-100 km/h.
Ive been around Europe and in every major city i see a lot of potential but never real decisiveness.
It would be nice to see cars relegated to intercity travel, just like railways are
Just put a ring road around every city, turn over every street exclusively to public transport and utility vehicles.
If you can't get everywhere you need to go now electric bikes are popping up like mushrooms, then you're beyond saving
Electric bikes suck. They're more expensive than cars and inferior on any metric. They're even inferior to conventional bikes. At least in their current form, they're just an over hyped moped that people could use and a ton are actually using - hard to see from that high up in the glass tower. You know, those people holding up the economy why a bunch of yous think about how to f up the lives of everyone else.
You can watch this film in Spanish and German too!
¿Podemos reinventar nuestras ciudades para vivir mejor? | ua-cam.com/video/fgSw2gMrsFA/v-deo.html
Ist es möglich, unsere Städte für ein besseres Leben neu zu gestalten? ua-cam.com/video/-OAatV4jNpY/v-deo.html
There are so many ways to improve our cities! What's happening where you live?
nothing. more streets. more concrete. more industrial zones.
Please take a look at Lahore city in Pakistan.
In Bath, some things like pedestrian zones, but overall mostly it's just cars trying to be forced down narrow streets, I can't say we're making leaps and bounds, it's a lovely city wrecked by traffic and pollution
A shame you did not look at Copenhagen that again and again are in the lead. Best air quality and you can swim in the cities canals because they focused on bicycles and modern metros underground as well as pedestrian zones.
Since the past 9months my city has been Rotterdam, Netherlands, and I'm loving it here. Pedestrians and cyclists have the upper hand over cars. Love love love itt
Rotterdam is pretty much the worst example of Dutch cities.
@@Dark__Thoughts still way better than the other cities I ever lived in. Can't really complain
you're both absolutely right
@@Dark__Thoughts I think it's one of the best examples actually as the work is still in progress. It was one of the most car focused dutch cities but with projects like the redevelopment of the Coolsingel which cut down on car lanes to give pedestrians and cyclists more space and closing one of the lanes on the s100 inner city ring road it shows how progress isn't some exclusively dutch magic but hard work and perseverance.
Please talk about Ecosia they are a search engine that plants trees
Notice how the majority of the people against change, are old people who are rigid in their ways & don't consider PT or bikes as a mode of transportation or car dealership owners.. Gee I wonder why they would be against limiting cars
Talked with my soon 54yo mother about this, and she hates public transit because it's cramped, all kinds of "weird people" ride it, she likes the freedom her car gives her... then I made her notice I have traveled nearly the entirety of the country by public transit (and my country's public transit is notoriously BAD), often doing wild things like surprising a friend 800 km away for their birthday or meeting halfway with another friend living in another region to go to a giant amusement park, or /meeting my mom herself/ just two months ago when she came for some event (by private bus), all for a fraction of the cost she would have spent with a car AND not dealing with traffic. Of course, she was quiet and had no response.
In Poland we are coming to the point where more cities are strugling with those problems. Unfortunately politicians prefer to reap the benefits from 'pedestrians vs cars war' instead of scrupulous work for the best ways out of the problem. Shame on them. In my city president, which promised to reduce trafic in centre simultaneously changed one part of parking to pedestrian zone and other part for parking only for city hall employees - so for his own use.
Great topic. I can't wait for America (and specifically, where I live in Los Angeles) to become more people and environmentally friendly and more transit abundant. I've been without a car for a year and love it, even with the limited transit/pedestrian/bike infrastructure here (though it's growing).
Wow! We'd love to hear more about your experiences going car-free. Feel free to write to us on rev.community@dw.com.
"... and how Groningen was an example to them all. Anyway, tell us about your city"
Me having lived in all the Dutch cities mentioned in this video: .....
I think the USA has the biggest hurdle. Not only are people even more convinced that part of the American Dream (tm) is that you only have freedom with a personal car, but nearly *everything* is wrong.
Euclidean zoning, only single home houses or skyscraper apartments, minimum parking requirements, only 'dumb' traffic lights, traffic lights at every intersection, poor infrastructure in general, lack of cohesion between cities / throughout a county / state / the country, and more.
Luckily, the Netherlands proves neither wind nor rain, Finland proves not snow, Switzerland proves not mountains, will stop people from cycling. So paint your bicycle gutters, build your bicycle lanes, and plan your modal filters and the bikes will come.
As someone who lives in Barcelona, I can tell you that all of this wonderful urban planning is actually becoming a nightmare for a lot of us. Due to the increase in living costs and the housing crisis that has struck most of the West, it is becoming completely unaffordable to live in Barcelona, and this has pushed a lot of us to the outskirts. Due to terrible public transit connections, a car is a necessity for a lot of us, and we're being punished for something we need. For instance, my commute to work by car is about 50 minutes each way which is a LOT of time, but if I want to get to my job by public transit, then it's two buses and two trains and some more walking for a grand total of 2hrs both ways. That's 4hrs a day. We're given little choice in the matter, and are punished for not being able to afford living in a city they made unlivable...
Just to make it clear: I'm all for removing cars from the road, but if there isn't a clear investment in public transit and policy changes to ensure affordable housing, all these plans just make people poorer.
Edit: clarification
Live closer to work. I am in Valencia and I can walk to work in 12 minutes (I didn´t even bother to buy a car).
@@madhavyu If everyone could do that, it wouldn't be a problem, don't you think? The solution is not for a few of yous to live closer to work and then fuck up the life of everyone else. 50 mins with how bad they fucked it up, so probably less before, where public transit takes 2 hours? Why would you invest in that, it's clear the car works, why nuke a perfectly viable system for the sake of a few people. As usual, making rich people even richer by jacking up prices and making it a hell to live. And creating tons of propaganda to support the agenda. Wow, how innovative.
@@madhavyu why would someone move away from he belong to be just around the corner from work . Work isn’t all in life !! Am sorry but not a promising way of thinking
@@naserdeen8210 Why would you waste so much precious time of your life just going from home to work? Live close to work and you can wake up 30 minutes before you start, and you can be home in 15 minutes when you're done working. I moved to Barcelona because I preferred that to having to drive 1hr or take the train. You should live where you work. Everyone driving so much every day just for work is unsustainable, not just in terms of pollution and accidents, but in the costs of driving itself!
@Nacho Pascual thanks, that's a very important point. There are sadly many examples where improving a district's livability leads to rent increases and "gentrification" that mean the original residents and "normal" earners are forced out.
I've seen many videos about Netherlands from yt channel not just bikes and i fell in love with the Amsterdam city
Did not expect to see Altis here. He is a brilliant urban and cycling french UA-camr!
If you have people bicycling or walking more of the time than you often see people that are in their 80s and are still bicycling like I did when I used to live in Germany in a walkable university town.
It was quite common to see people in their 70s and 80s on bicycles or walking and a woman who was in the late 70s or early 80s wanted to walk with me and I thought she was going to walk be a short distance, but she probably walked at least 2 or 3 km easily
Great documentary! I loved the idea of visually communicating alternatives by digitally recreating actual city landscapes. This could be utilized by urban social movements to wake up fellow citizens to what are the possibilities, what we have now, and what we can have if we decide to plan better. Expanding collective imagination about different urban spaces is an important aspect for the fight for better cities.
Americans will say they lose their freedom if they don't have cars. But that is because every infrastructure is designed for cars, so if you don't have one you can't move around.
there is no freedom of movement in the USA, only freedom of car transportation.
What stops you from walking if you so choose to? Or from biking, I don't get it. I've been a tourist there, cycled just fine, didn't need any bike lanes, passed a couple of cops, no one said anything, so it seemed I wasn't doing something illegal. As far as I can tell, waking or biking is not against the law in the US. On the other hand, what yous propose comes down to making it illegal to drive cars, basically. Why do you have to ban cars to start cycling, what stops you really? The ego? All of yous propose shifting from a system where everyone is afforded the choice of which transportation mode to use, to a system where the state/whoever imposes you how to live your life based on some questionable metrics and faked up "studies". And am I supposed to be okay with that? No thanks, I come from a country where this was plentifully experienced, it was called communism, not a success, I tell you.
America is always late , when it comes to inspiration and innovation 💡.
I´m living in Taiwan, here the goverment is sadly thinking exactly in the opposide direction. "Why need pedestrian area? We can just use it as parking spaces", so they destroy greenery and exclusive areas for pedestrians and make it parking or roads...
Paris has advantage that suburbs doesn’t vote. In Paris there is only 2mln from 10min in Metropolitan area. This huge difference
Every Malaysian should open their eyes and watch videos related to sustainable and effective urban planning.
Bicycles are a great local transportation option. Cities need to do more to encourage people to ride bicycles safely. Safe, protected bike lanes and trails are needed to encourage more older adults and children to ride bicycles or scooters. Ebikes are bringing many older adults back to cycling. Healthy exercise, fossil fuels free transportation and great for social distancing. Every adult and child should own a bicycle and ride it regularly.
Wow this is simply fantastic. Cities like Paris and Barcelona will become even better when all of this is done. I am hoping some of this can filter over to America.
I ride bicycle in Paris and I love the new bike lanes ! But trust me, so many car drivers haaaaate the mayor for the fact that they have less space for them
This type of urban design could benefit big cities around the world but I don’t think so much for rural areas. Mostly because rural areas already have a lot of space. Idk that’s my thought, does anyone think otherwise?
tunnels would be a good addition. for historic city centers, it may be worth it to build a few highway tunnels that quickly speed under those areas to allow for less compromise.
manila is also became greener these days and i love it😊
Plant the trees make green world🌳🌳🌳from India❤❤
Thanks for inspiring. Sadly we're behind the curve in Ireland. Planning laws, local politics, bias media and vested interests all ensuring the status quo. For those of us looking for more equitable, safer, healthy public realm, while factoring in economic viability - the forgotten voices of our young children & other vulnerable road users compel us to engage and give our spare time to improving quality of life & revitalising tired polluted cities & besieged country roads.
This video makes me want to study in Groningen.
Those Children doing the Friday bike bus is affordable! That’s so lovely. I wish more Americans would travel to Europe so they could see what we are missing in our cities and communities.
Its safe to say that most of our cities and suburbs are depressing places that are ironically not inviting to humans...Its little wonder kids today don't want to go outside to play.
I love how they had to look so hard for critics of superillas that they had to go to luxury car retailers and geriatric travel agencies (tourists themselves love superillas btw)
DW is the worlds best channel
great documentary! The world is finally... biking in the right direction
Nice content!!
More of this!! Very inspirational !
"There must be axes where cars are not protagonists."
I'm going to steal this line.
Thank you for source of inspiration! Good job!