World Carfree News #94 - April 2012 - English Version
"If you're young and don't
really need to buy, just look at what kind of nice new
highrise apartment building with all the exciting things
built in you might get in the city"
-Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University,
on the changing landscape and new attitudes towards (sub)urban
growth. Eric Miller discusses this and the pros of living in
the city in "Suburbs
are so last century".
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Thanks to all who sent in news. Gavin Phill of Bellingham,
WA, USA provided the image above, while Rian Aya of Indonesia
shot the middle picture in Vauban (Freiburg), Germany, and
Andy Singer is to thank for his dependable comic wit.
We are still in need of new translators for the Italian and
Portoguese versions. Meanwhile...
POLISH LANGUAGE EDITION SIGNUP OPEN!
The Polish version of the World Carfree Monthly News can now
be subscribed to. Sign up by sending an email to
world-carfree-news_pol-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.
We will soon also feature a Polish language sign-up page on
the website. If you are interested in popularizing the Polish
language web service, please write to
bulletin@worldcarfree.net
ECOTOPIA BIKETOUR THIS
SUMMER
This summer Ecotopia Biketour will be cycling through southern Europe, starting on a journey “towards degrowth” - challenging the damaging growth mentality of capitalism which overlooks real social and environmental values. It's an eco-mobile do-it-yourself activist community going strong for more than 20 years.
Starting point: Barcelona in early July
Goal: Venice, in time for Conference
on
Degrowth, late September
In between: visiting bike workshops, ecological agriculture
projects, action camps, intentional communities and
ecovillages
www.ecotopiabiketour.net
CIVITAS MIMOSA SEARCH ENGINE
The CIVITAS MIMOSA Search Engine has just been released. This
is a database of information on policy research, documents,
videos and more, related to urban mobility. Users will soon be
invited to upload information to this free resource.
Read more
CARFREE WALKS WEBSITE GETS
AWARD
The Carfree Walks website has won the Responsible Travel
Award in the People and Environment Awards 2012. The website
is aimed at UK based residents who love walking and want to
reduce their impact on the environment. Guides and reviews are
available.
www.carfreewalks.org
SUSTAINABLE CITY NEWS
This issue of World Carfree Monthly News connects you to a
few articles from Sustainable City News. Two of them are found
in the News section and a third snuck into the quote
attribution. Please take a look also at the other featured
pieces in this excellent news blog!
Read more
The famed Wenceslas square in
downtown Prague has closed off access to cars as of April 1.
This was a continuation of a longer process to revitalize this
historic area.
Read
more
A congestion charge came into
place in Milan, Italy in January. There have been legal
attempts to suspend the scheme, but the court ruled in favor
of keeping it in place. The measured levels of black carbon in
Milan have sunk appreciably.
Read
more
Thanks to the Ciclovia style
Carfree Sundays that have been taking place in Los Angeles of
late, just recently one part of a street in the Silver Lake
district has been permanently closed to cars - in the land of
the highways!
Read
more
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, where
pedestrians and rickshaws have frequently been relegated to
the backstreets, the former often banned (in once instance
triggering a World Carfree Network mobility justice campaign),
the courts have just come out to defend pedestrian rights.
This is a large step forward for Dhaka.
Read
more
KHIMKI FOREST ACTIONS FEATURES
PRIZE WINNER
Ms.
Evgenija Chirikova, of the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest,
was nominated as the recipient this year of the Goldman
Environmental Prize for Europe. Chirikova and her colleagues
convinced major European banks such as EBRD and EIB to drop
funding for the planned highway through the forest. The
struggle continues as encouraging signs, as listed here,
bring energy to the movement.
Read more
CYCLE ROUTE DOLDRUMS
Scotland's most important tourist cycle
route, from the capital, Edinburgh, to the Forth Bridge, the
start of the route to the Scottish Highlands, has been
called a "disgrace" in a debate in the Scottish Parliament.
If you have been unhappy with this route when visiting
Scotland by bike, please complain to the First Minister at
alex.salmond.msp@scottish.parliament.uk and copy your email
to spokes@spokes.org.uk.
Read
more
COSTS OF "KILLER COMMUTE"
In "Breaking down the costs of a "killer commute" many of the
aspects of commuting are covered, including the psychological
effects of long commutes and the cause and effects of habitual
driving. Complete with attractive graphics and convincing
arguments, this analysis makes a good "forward" to those
friends who just need the final push.
Read
more
BUS DRIVER TO THE AID OF DOWNED CYCLIST
In this case of a hit and
run in Pennsylvania, USA, a bus driver cuts off the escape
route of the juvenile offender in car. Lucky for the
cyclist, he didn't get hurt badly, and that very day a new
protective law came into force for the benefit of cyclists.
Watch
more
HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO WALK
Do you prefer your streets
with cars or without? Joel Crawford juxtaposes images of two
kinds of streets and invites you to delve deeper with his
"Carfree Design Manual"
Watch more
World Carfree News is published once a month
by World Carfree Network.
Bulletin #94 by Justin Hyatt
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