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.

Friday, April 10, 2009

End of America's Love Affair with the "Exburbs"

Wow. Even Reuters is cottoning on - very thoughtful piece here on the massive change in American attitudes to suburbia. Watch this space. This really is a paradigm shift that has hit the tipping point.

Pity Japan's government is still flogging the dead horse of automobile-centric life. You'd think they would have cottoned on by now. The irony is that in such a small, old-world country with great public transport they have fantastic examples of how great it can be, yet still choose to build more freeways to nowhere despite an aging population.
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1 comment:

David said...

You might be interested in this opinion piece in The Age last week, urging Melburnians to have a rethink of the "Australian dream" - suggesting that the economic crisis and climate change are reasons why we should move towards higher density, less sprawling, less car focused cities.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-australian-dream-of-how-we-live-is-due-for-a-revamp-20090407-9zj2.html

Saturday, 11 April, 2009

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