Our cities are progressing away from automobile-centred transport systems and towards greener, more active modes of transportation such as walking and cycling. Coined “Active Mobility” by the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), this forms the special focus of this issue’s URBAN SOLUTIONS.
While the term is new, the vision is not. Many cities have started on this road towards active mobility. In Interview, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, and Janette Sadik-Khan, former Transportation Commissioner of New York City, reveal how cycling enhances liveability in large, developed cities. City Focus also highlights how Copenhagen, the european green Capital of 2014, uses cycling as a way to become carbon-neutral by 2025. elsewhere, Melbourne, Seoul and Taipei have redirected their policies to incorporate walking and cycling, which are shared in their respective Case Study articles.
We also introduce a new section – Young Leader – profiling prominent young leaders who shape the global urban agenda at the annual WORLD CITIES SUMMIT YOUNG LEADERS SYMPOSIUM. In our inaugural section, Ridwan Kamil and Stephen Yarwood represent the new generation of urban leaders who have identified active mobility as a strategy to target urban challenges.
Our photo essay Illustration demonstrates how Singapore is becoming more walkable, and the new roundtable format in our Opinion section gathers experts to discuss how the city-state could become the world’s first tropical cycling city. Our Singapore Case Study also showcases efforts to make our built environment accessible to all.
How exactly does active mobility contribute to better cities? Professor Jan Gehl, esteemed Danish architect and recent Visiting Fellow to the CLC, and Brigitte Svarre of Gehl Architects help to connect the dots in Essay. CLC researchers also fill in on the benefits and success factors in becoming an actively mobile city in two Illustration pieces, as well as show how urban design can encourage people to leave their cars at home in another Essay. These insights were a result of CLC’s joint study with the Urban Land Institute on “Creating Healthy Places through Active Mobility”.
This issue of URBAN SOLUTIONS is rich with experiences of cities which are embracing the move away from cars, and their stellar results. I hope reading this is as enlightening and inspiring as it was for us to put together.
Khoo Teng Chye
Executive Director
Centre for Liveable Cities