Friday Fun: Two cities’ bold plans to make cars obsolete
Helsinki’s “mobility on demand” system will integrate a variety of transport options and could make car ownership obsolete. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
Helsinki, Finland and Hamburg, Germany are both striving to vastly improve urban transport in less than a generation. The Helsinki Times boldly states that “the future resident of Helsinki will not own a car.” Hamburg, meanwhile, has announced a plan ...
Bridging the divide between vendors and local governments for more inclusive cities
Governments must create inclusive spaces for dialogue with street vendors and craft policy to support their livelihoods and economic mobility. Photo by Carlos Penalba/Flickr.
As previously discussed on TheCityFix, many cities worldwide are facing a series of challenges around informal economic activity. As they begin to modernize and transform public spaces, street vendors are often left behind or swept away. Yet, these efforts at ...
People-oriented Cities: Mixed-use development creates social and economic benefits
Mixed-use development combined with pedestrianization on Mexico City's Calle Madero promotes sustainable, prosperous communities. Photo by Julius Reque/Flickr.
The “People-oriented Cities” series – exclusive to TheCityFix and Insights – is an exploration of how cities can grow to become more sustainable and livable through transit-oriented development (TOD). The nine-part series will address different urban design techniques and trends ...
Customers protest new women-only cars on São Paulo metro system
To help increase safety for women on mass transport, cities in Latin America are requiring women-only passenger cars on metro systems. Photo by Gustavo Gomes/Flickr
Cities around the world face the challenge of creating safe public spaces for women. In Brazil, sexual assault is a prevalent problem. Alarmingly, a survey by the Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada, a major Brazilian research institute, found that 26% of ...
Congestion pricing can make Beijing a more equitable city
Congestion pricing has the potential to pave the way for more equitable mobility in China's cities. Photo by GuoZhongHua/Shutterstock.
China’s capital city of Beijing is already home to 5.4 million cars, the most of any Chinese city. The country’s rising wealth means that this is a trend unlikely to stop. This rapid motorization has led to many city government ...
Friday Fun: Cinema shows the power of sustainable transport
Cinema has the power to influence our perceptions on sustainable transport, and confront us with tough questions about the future of urban transport. Photo by Tama Leaver/Flickr.
Movies have the power to shape our perceptions of love, of adventure, and of growing up. More subtly, movies also have the ability to shape our perceptions of small things, like how we interpret different cities, clothing brands, and even transport ...
What does a sociological approach to safe cities reveal?: Findings from a national workshop in India
In order to make cities safer and public spaces more inviting for all, EMBARQ India studied how women perceive – and how they are perceived in – India's urban public spaces. Photo by EMBARQ.
While concerns of violence against women are not new, women’s safety in public spaces has received significant attention in India in the past two years. Cities are seeing increased demands around making public spaces safer for women, ranging from better ...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: New mapping algorithm poses problems and promise for cities
Technology is allowing city residents to interact with their surroundings in new ways, which can have both the benefit of advancing sustainable development and the drawback of reinforcing social divisions. Photo by Daniel Chavez/Flickr.
Yahoo Labs has recently created a mapping algorithm that helps pedestrians find not the shortest route to their destination, but the most attractive one. This is great for visitors who want to spend every second of their time sightseeing in ...
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasize sustainable cities in latest draft
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) define important priorities for international development over the next 15 years, including the need for safe, sustainable, and inclusive cities. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
At the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, the United Nations member states began the ambitious process of defining the social and economic priorities for humanity over the next fifteen years. The open and participatory process and the initial negotiations amongst the world’s ...
New BRT data shows cities’ increased commitment to sustainable transport
Bus rapid transit (BRT) is expanding worldwide, particularly in Asia and Latin America. Watch it grow on BRTdata.org. Photo by EMBARQ Brasil.
The BRTData.org global database of bus rapid transit (BRT) data has recently been updated, and the increased number of BRT lines, as well as the length of those lines, reflects the commitment of cities around the world to provide high-capacity ...