Public Spaces in Bogotá

Via One Good Move:

So I'm considering a trip to Bogotá. If you'd like to know why, read on. Even better, if you'd like to come with me, let me know.

I'm a regular reader of One Good Move, a mostly America-centric left-leaning political blog that collects video clips from mainstream and independent sources. Think of it as a Metafilter for the American left with a penchant for video.

Anyway, during my daily gleaning, I came across this post on current developments in Bogotá, Columbia including a massive amount of urban redesign with a focus on people as opposed to cars.

In a space of 3years, the Mayor killed a $5billion highway project and at a fraction of the cost, constructed an amazing network of transit buses and cycling infrastructure. The results were astounding. Through the efforts of succeeding mayors with similar ideals, the murder rate in a city known for violence and poverty has dropped 70% in 12 years. A major contributing factor to this dramatic shift was the redevelopment of a city with the residents in mind.

Today, Bogotá sports a series of arterial rapid bus systems, interconnected with 16km of a cycling freeway. Every Sunday, the city shuts down dozens of highway lanes and roads to accommodate Ciclovía, a car-free day of sorts that sees hordes of people of all ages and colours taking dance classes in the streets, riding bikes up expressways and in short, living in their city as opposed to their livingrooms.

There's more detail in the 3 videos below, and I encourage you to watch them, especially if you're interested in public space activism.

• Ciclovía on Youtube
• A civil engineering-centred documentary covering the progress made in Bogotá
• A short interview with the CEO of TransMilenio, the revolutionary transit system in Bogotá

"If a fish needs to swim, a man needs to walk."
  - Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia