4 ms·

There's little resistance now, but how much was there 40 years ago when these changes were just beginning? I'd love to know how Dutch urban planners overcame t

There's little resistance now, but how much was there 40 years ago when these changes were just beginning? I'd love to know how Dutch urban planners overcame the automotive mindset after WWII. Resistance to the status-quo is fierce in the U.S. The former mayor of my city (which is considered very progressive) rails against even minor concessions to improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure. At our planning meetings, he counters any mention of the Netherlands with a loud "our city isn't Amsterdam!" and people go wild with applause. The pro-auto train of thought ends exactly there. It's as willfully ignorant as it is soul crushing.

the-dude 5y ago
I am describing the sentiment at-the-time. Of course, some people were complaining can't get anywhere in the City anymore after a first redesign to a one way street model. But change is always criticized and the criticism soon died out. Sometimes it is the exact same people who now applaud such changes. Maybe our multi party political system ( also in play at municipal level ) helps too.
schrijver 5y ago
That’s a great question. From what this article describes, the movement to reclaim space for pedestrians and cyclists started within civil society, not with city planners. Of course at the time there were still people hesitant about these changes, but there was a momentum. > In the 1960s, Dutch cities were increasingly in thrall to motorists, with the car seen as the transport of the future. It took the intolerable toll of child traffic deaths – and fierce activism – to turn Amsterdam into the cycling nirvana of today https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bic...

4 ms·

There's little resistance now, but how much was there 40 years ago when these changes were just beginning? I'd love to know how Dutch urban planners overcame t

by alamortsubite 5y ago

the-dude 5y ago
I am describing the sentiment at-the-time. Of course, some people were complaining can't get anywhere in the City anymore after a first redesign to a one way street model. But change is always criticized and the criticism soon died out. Sometimes it is the exact same people who now applaud such changes. Maybe our multi party political system ( also in play at municipal level ) helps too.
schrijver 5y ago
That’s a great question. From what this article describes, the movement to reclaim space for pedestrians and cyclists started within civil society, not with city planners. Of course at the time there were still people hesitant about these changes, but there was a momentum. > In the 1960s, Dutch cities were increasingly in thrall to motorists, with the car seen as the transport of the future. It took the intolerable toll of child traffic deaths – and fierce activism – to turn Amsterdam into the cycling nirvana of today https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bic...