CARFREE TOKYO

- a collection of notes and reflections on urban living from the perspective of a family of five in Tokyo. My epiphany was many years ago, but being hit by a motorbike and seeing my life flash before my eyes caused a sudden change that slowly made me reflect on whether American style auto-centric urban transportation of the Roosevelt era really is a capital G "Good Idea" for civilized modern cities in the 21st Century. This blog explores the good and the bad in urban planning and design, here and elsewhere. The goal is simple - not "death to all cars," just more walkable communities, quiet tree-lined streets, good public transport, traffic calming, Velib style bicycle sharing and a bit of common sense. The bolg is mostly theraputic, so I don't go wanting to throttle every dangerous driver I come across, but partly also out of a real desire to see positive change. This blog explores how it can be done, the people who do it, and how, in many small ways, this very old idea may at last have found its zeitgeist. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Let's bring the international Towards Carfree Cities IX conference to Asia

This out from the Carfree Network:

CALL TO HOST CONFERENCE IN 2009

If you are interested in hosting Towards Carfree Cities IX, the
procedure for applying to host the conference is simple. We are
requesting that a 2-4 page hosting proposal be sent to the
carfree_network discussion list by December 31, 2007, containing:
a. who you are; what organisation(s) are you with
b. what resources, skills and time are being offered (fundraising,
programme work, outreach, office space, etc.)
c. what groups would be partners; what other useful contacts you have
d. why the conference should be held in your city
e. what you would like to occur at the conference (overall concept and
any programme details)

Before applying, please consult our Conference Organising Manual
( www.worldcarfree.net/members/manual.php), and contact Randall Ghent,
World Carfree Network's conference coordinator, at rghent - at -
worldcarfree.net.


To all those with good connections in govt and academic circles - let's see if we can't host this conference here in Japan.

1 comment:

Slow Factory said...

Unfortunately, the deadline has passed. Check www.worldcarfree.net for updates later in the year.