PODCAST: Transportation Is the Heart of Cities
PODCAST: Transportation Is the Heart of Cities
When you think about how to build more resilient cities, does transportation come to mind? Whether we realize it or not, mobility – the choices we make to get where we need to go – is top of mind every ...
5 Things We Learned About Urban Transformation
5 Things We Learned About Urban Transformation
Positive change happens in cities, but it’s often lost in a sea of bad news about air pollution, rising costs of living, traffic jams and inequality. When we launched the WRI Ross Prize for Cities in February 2018, we aimed ...
Photo Essay: Porto Alegre Uses Tactical Urbanism to Transform João Alfredo Street
Photo Essay: Porto Alegre Uses Tactical Urbanism to Transform João Alfredo Street
Porto Alegre’s João Alfredo Street runs through the heart of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood and is known for its active nightlife, full of bar hoppers and club goers every evening. But during the day João Alfredo is almost empty, avoided ...
Q&A: How Bogotá is Harnessing Leadership to Redefine Road Safety and Save Lives
Q&A: How Bogotá is Harnessing Leadership to Redefine Road Safety and Save Lives
This week, the United Nations celebrates the fifth iteration of its Global Road Safety Week with the theme of leadership. The topic highlights the role that elected leaders have in enforcing and implementing road safety goals at the national and ...
To Solve China’s Bike-Sharing Woes, Hangzhou and Shanghai Turn to Bluetooth and Geofencing
To Solve China’s Bike-Sharing Woes, Hangzhou and Shanghai Turn to Bluetooth and Geofencing
Shared bikes are now common on city streets, sidewalks and public spaces around the world. As of May 2018, there were more than 1,600 bike-sharing programs in more than 1,200 cities, amounting to more than 18 million shared bicycles. The ...
Is Your City Serious About Road Safety? Look for These 3 Things
Is Your City Serious About Road Safety? Look for These 3 Things
Thirty-six people died in traffic crashes in Washington, D.C., last year, a 20% increase from 2017. Eight people, six of whom were walking or biking, have already been killed this year, prompting a major public rally just two weeks ago. ...
Scooters Are Skyrocketing in Cities, But Are They Safe? A Look at the Evidence
Scooters Are Skyrocketing in Cities, But Are They Safe? A Look at the Evidence
Electric scooters are the latest “new mobility” tech to disrupt the transportation sector. Chances are you’ve seen someone passing by on one these small but nimble two-wheelers in a city near you. Following the explosive growth of bike-sharing and ride-hailing, ...
Climate Action Now: 3 US States, 3 Cities and Puerto Rico Lead the Way
Climate Action Now: 3 US States, 3 Cities and Puerto Rico Lead the Way
The emergence of the Green New Deal has inspired unprecedented activism and lively debate about the future of climate action in Congress and the relationship between climate policy and a broader economic and social equity agenda. So far, it’s only been talk, since ...
Reclaiming the Streets: Addis Ababa, Other African Cities Launch Car-Free Days
Reclaiming the Streets: Addis Ababa, Other African Cities Launch Car-Free Days
African cities have an imbalance. Around half of the population walks, bicycles or takes public transport to get around, usually under unsafe and difficult conditions. But despite this unusually high level of non-motorized mobility, street space is disproportionately allocated to ...
Useful Knowledge and Building Blocks of Change: An Outside Perspective on the WRI Ross Prize
Useful Knowledge and Building Blocks of Change: An Outside Perspective on the WRI Ross Prize
Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in a day-long roundtable discussion with the five finalists for the WRI Ross Prize Cities, organized by WRI at the Ford Foundation in New York City. The roundtable followed the first-ever award ...