April 23, 2021 - The pandemic is giving cities a rare chance to reinvent themselves. Cycling went mainstream virtually overnight, and cities such as Paris and Milan pushed the notion of “the 15-minute city,” where all of life’s necessities are within a 15-minute reach by foot or bike. The concept will trigger profound economic and social change if it catches on reports the Globe and Mail.
“Paris is a really important model for other cities,” says Brent Toderian, who was Vancouver’s chief planner from 2006 to 2012 and now runs an urban design consultancy called Toderian UrbanWorks. “Anne Hidalgo, the mayor, has entirely rethought vehicle use and movement.”
According to the report the Urban Institute think-tank in Washington says local and state governments in 1977 spent US$93-billion on highways and roads (in 2017 inflation-adjusted dollars). In 2017, the figure had almost doubled, to US$181-billion.
Prior to the pandemic cutting road and highway budgets was considered political suicide but Covid is creating new visions for cities around the world. In Paris, instead of going after cars and climate change, Hidalgo launched a war against air pollution, a quality-of-life issue that ensured broad buy-in. Who could be against breathable air?
Read Eric Reguly’s full article in the Globe and Mail here.
