Let's use our imagination to change outdated ways of thinking
You may think it's normal to see cars on the road all the time. Subsequently, you may feel strange if there are no cars on the road. If we want to change "the normal way," we will need a lot of power and imagination. Here we discuss an example of how a city successfully changed what they thought was "normal." This story is about the people in Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, and how they changed their thinking about cars.
Aarhus is a port city with a population of about 400,000. Most people live within 10 kilometers of the city center. For a long time, people in Aarhus depended on automobiles as their main form of transport, and the city was developed to make it easy for drivers to get around the city. Automobiles had priority on the road, and pedestrians had to walk while trying to avoid cars, just like we do now in Japan.
But in 1993, all this changed. Aarhus mapped out an innovative plan that gave high priority to bicycles on the road. According to the plan, the city:
1) started keeping automobiles out of the city center and prohibited parking on roads in the city center;
2) allowed bicycles to travel on the car-free roads and provided parking lots for bicycles in many places around the city;
3) made lanes inside the cycling paths for pedestrians only; and
4) restored a canal for ferries to carry people.
Within three years of the new plan being realized, Aarhus had been reborn as a "Bicycle City."
Usually, when any big change is suggested, people tend to feel threatened by it and show a lot of objection. The people in Aarhus were no exception. For example, the shop owners in town were afraid that getting rid of cars would cause them to lose their shoppers and their businesses.
So to warm people up to the idea, the city planners in Aarhus published their detailed plans in local newspapers and delivered handouts. They also collected public opinions and comments about their plan, and reviewed them carefully. They revised their plans many times, according to the citizens' ideas. Thanks to these persistent efforts by the city planners to reach an agreement favored by all citizens, Aarhus City succeeded in making the planned changes.
The city also conducted a promotional campaign supporting bicycle riders, proclaiming that a bicycle is an environmentally friendly transport tool. Since then, the proportion of bicycle commuters rose from less than 10 to 60 percent. Also, surprisingly but happily, all the city's shops' sales increased more after the switch, as more customers visited the old shops in town. The revived town became lively again. And as hoped, the city is now free of air pollution caused by exhaust fumes and carbon dioxide, and there is no traffic noise!
A town is made for people by people. It is the people themselves who can change their own town into a people-friendly and eco-friendly wonderful place.
No comments:
Post a Comment