On our feet: Putting walking at the heart of a vision for a more liveable London
1. On our feet
Putting walking at the heart of a vision for a more liveable London
Ideas for London
14th June 2014
Bruce McVean, Founder, Movement for Liveable London
@LiveableLondon
@BruceMcvean
2. From good to great - London needs to pick up the pace
How do we remake our transport system to help ensure London
survives current social, environmental and economic challenges, is
resilient to future shocks and flourishes as a more liveable city?
There are some positive trends and good foundations to build on,
but London needs an urgent transition to a post-car and post-oil
transport system.
Changing a city takes time – but we can’t afford delays.
3. “Walking is the beginning, the starting point … the prerequisite
for city life is good walking opportunities.”
Jan Gehl, Cities for People
4. Everybody walks … but nobody cares
“No powerful lobby upholds the general interest in being able to
walk without constraint or danger. There's no money in it and
everyone expects someone else to put in the hard work.”
Nick Cohen, Why is Britain such a dangerous place for walkers? The Observer
13. From good to great - London needs to pick up the pace
“No goal, then no direction: no underlying plan, no consensus,
then no effective practical action. If society is paralysed today,
it is not for lack of means but for lack of purpose.”
Lewis Mumford, The Culture of Cities
Traffic and road danger reduction has to be at the heart of any future vision – congestion charging mentioned once in the Mayor’s Cycling Vision – in Leon Daniels foreword as an example of previous innovation by TfL
A lot of the streets that currently have traffic volumes and speeds that would require segregated tracks hopefully won’t need them in the future