The pandemic offered a tantalizing look at city life with fewer cars in the picture. But with traffic rebounding, there’s limited time to lock in policies that make streets more people-friendly.
Cities around the world are reducing traffic speeds and improving access to local services and activities by public transport, cycling and walking. They are now reaping the many ‘slow city’ benefits.
Tennessee warblers (Leiothlypis peregrina) breed in northern Canada and spend winters in Central and South America.
Kyle Horton
Walking all parts of Melbourne before and after the pandemic hit was eye-opening. It brought home just how much change is possible if we wish for a better, more sustainable way of living.
Traffic flows past trees that have been felled to make way for a highway in Nairobi, Kenya on November 12, 2020.
Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images
Parts of Nairobi are already dealing with temperature increases and reduction in humidity. These conditions are associated with increases in mortality, especially in children and the elderly.
If more people work from home and shop online, many commercial buildings won’t be needed any longer. What will be needed is affordable housing, and these buildings can be converted to meet this need.
Investing more in cycling and walking would boost both physical and economic health, with a typical return of $5 for every $1 spent on cycling infrastructure.
City streets were built to accommodate cars, but the COVID-19 pandemic has scrambled our transport needs. Many cities are moving to make streets more people-friendly and less car-centric.
Compost awaiting distribution at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District’s Rancho Las Virgenes compost facility, Calabasas, Calif.
Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Turning food scraps and yard trimmings into compost improves soil, making it easier for people to grow their own food. City composting programs spread those benefits more widely.
Melbourne Sky Park, between the CBD grid and Docklands precinct.
Oculus, used with permission
The release of a roadmap for green roofs, walls and facades in Australia can help our cities catch up with the world leaders in urban greening.
Artist rendition of the National Western Center, a net-zero campus under construction in Denver to house multiple activities.
City and County of Denver | Mayor’s Office of the National Western Center
Net zero energy buildings produce at least as much energy as they use. Designing whole net zero campuses and communities takes the energy and climate benefits to a higher level.