Dear Friends,

 

1: First feedback (work in progress)

 

Here is the first group of suggestions we have received from the group on
this thus far: 

 

·         Arnhem NL

·         Concepción  Chile

·         Davis CA USA

·         Florianópolis  Brazil

·         La Rochelle FR

·         Louvain BE

·         Oxford UK

·         Rosario  Argentina

·         Sbadel ES

·         Schopfheim DE

 

Hmm. Nothing in Scandinavia? I can’t believe it. Canada? Japan? Eastern
Europe?  What about the rest of Asia/Pacific? There have to be some
remarkable templates there. I have to bet there are at least one hundred
worthy small city candidates so we are just starting to scratch the surface.

 

2:  Why small cities:

 

Certainly one thing I know for sure is that we have here today is a
whirlwind of sustainable development in the transportation arrangements of
quite a few smaller cities around the world, which in many ways are the real
laboratories of sustainable transportation implementation today. 

 

A big city – Paris, New York, Delhi, Bogota, Nairobi, Cairo, what have you –
is really, when you look closely, nothing but a collection of neighborhoods
(i.e., smaller cities). Now these places already have higher density going
for them, which is already a terrific  first step toward sustainability.
And then if policies can be enacted which increase diversity and activity
choices (work, shopping, leisure) within the smaller units (each of them is
almost a city in itself), then we are really on the road to sustainable
development and social justice.

 

Now what is interesting in this respect is that when a city is more or less
free standing, and smaller, their autonomy for individual action and
adaptation goes up. So it just might be that these smaller cities, some of
them at least, are hotbeds of innovation.  Moreover, if we can find a way to
honor and make well known these alternative approaches, we will have made a
significant contribution  to the major paradigm change which is needed to
get all our cities on track for sustainability.

 

What about making 2009  – “The year of the small sustainable city”.  

 

3: What we are looking for:

 

By way of brief reminder, what we would like to find some way to honor are
two things: first, one or better still a program/basket of linked new
mobility initiatives that are already making a difference in the city in
terms of traffic, emissions, congestion and the other effects of
non-functional transportation systems; while improving the local economy,
real estate values, amenity and levels of service for the least favored
members of the community.

 

The second, is resilience, or as one of our number, Sujit Patwardhan from
Pune put it some years back: “the long slog”. The goal of a sustainable
transportation policy is not to give the thrill of a single project, ribbon
cutting, or disconnected one shot effort, but the consistent, dogged,
effective  long term push, that is the only thing that can make the real
difference our cities need, large and small.

 

To conclude, I do not think we are giving enough attention to the smaller
cities and their progress and ideas, so if you have any further ideas for us
on this they would be more than welcome. Of course we are going to need a
short summary of the reasons for each of these if this list of names is to
be turned into an effective argument for recognition, and I hope that we can
count on you to help us on this City by city in the areas in which you have
the requisite knowledge and materials at hand. Team work, if you will.

 

Eric Britton

 

PS. Let me invite you to distribute  this call to other appropriate lists
and to colleagues who share our interests and concerns.