Nine enviable urban initiatives
What does the city of Dreams look like? His appearance does not spoil the waist advertising, the sidewalks are free from cars, and roads from traffic jams, citizens ride free bikes and do not pay for public transport, women can safely move around the city, children – it is interesting to spend time on the street. Unrealistic? In fact, in some cities such programs are already working. "My Planet" gathered top enviable city initiatives.
City without advertising
In 2006, the mayor of the Brazilian city of São Paulo signed the Law "On Pure City", prohibiting any outdoor advertising. 15 000 shields were removed, all advertising signs on buses and shops, street stretch marks and screens with video. Eight years later, the largest megalopolis in the southern hemisphere of the Earth is still free from visual garbage, which spoils the appearance of most cities in the world.
Free bikes
In the Danish city of Aarhus in the east of the Peninsula of Jutland from April to October, free hire of urban bikes is included: you can take a bike on one of 56 parking, throwing 20 kroons into the automatic machine, and ride in your pleasure until you get bored. Money is returned when you put a parking bike. This city know-how was introduced in order to improve the ecology and control of traffic jams.
Smart Parkovka
Usually, to part in the metropolis, drivers have to cut circles – it takes time and creates traffic jams on the roads. In San Francisco since 2008, there is an advanced SFPARK parking system that shows the drivers free space online. Each parking space is equipped with special sensors transmitting the "free" or "busy" signal. The driver sees information in a mobile application or on the site, the price is also reflected there: the farther from the center, the cheaper is the parking lot (the price is from $ 1 to $ 7 per hour). With such a pricing policy in the center there are always free space.
Free transport
In Tallinn, in 2012, an amazing question was submitted to a referendum: Would you like public transport to become free? 75% of the voters answered in the affirmative, and now for the second year the Tallins drive around the city for free, without fear of controllers. The authorities of the city spent € 12 million on the project, hoping to transplant the inhabitants of the city from personal cars for buses, thereby improving the situation on the roads and ecology of the city. Unfortunately, the tourists did not touch this law: they will have to pay for travel.
City without traffic
Copenhagen is the most pedestrian capital of the world. The city authorities managed to change the psychology of citizens and save them from the problems of megacities: there are almost no traffic jams and there are always free parking. 4/5 citizens do not use cars, preferring bicycles, public transport and hiking. The whole range of measures that began to be applied back in the 60s of the 20th century, made the use of cars unprofitable. The duty for car registration is three times more expensive than the car itself, add to this expensive gasoline, expensive parking, high fines for simple (all machines are equipped with a dial on the windshield) and other disorders – and it will become clear why people walk so much on foot. 18 squares of the city are completely free from cars.
Parking for women
In 2007, in Seoul, on the initiative of the then mayor of CE, Huna launched a city program Women Friendly Seoul, which was supposed to make a city convenient for women. It included 90 different projects affecting different areas of life: work, childcare, security, convenience of urban infrastructure. One of the innovations were women’s parking lots marked with a pink icon, which draw on toilets: a female figure in a miniskirt. Places for women’s parking are not wider male, they are simply located closer to the outputs, it is better lit and viewed with video surveillance cameras. The feature of the project is that the residents of Seoul themselves actively participated in the city’s change: initiative groups were created, speaking with proposals and wishes. Seoul authorities believe that women’s happiness is a collective happiness barometer in the city.
Track for phone zombies
This summer, an innovative track was tested in Washington for the owners of smartphones. On one of the busy pedestrian streets, a markup appeared, which divided the sidewalk into two parts: signs showed that one side is intended for people without phones, and the other – for those who are used to using a gadget on the way, and you can walk on it at your own fear and risk, since the owners of smartphones do not always follow the road. The National Geographic Canal Washington Experiment was a temporary action, but served as an inspiration for the city units of the Chinese city Chunzhotn: in September, telephone addicts received the world’s first permanent track for smartphone owners.
City for children
Swedish city Malmo is the winner of the European Prize City for Children in the nomination "Design of open spaces and gaming zones". Main landmark – 20 thematic sites: "Pochye", "Jungle", "African", "Maritime", "Musical", "Farm", "Environmental", "fabulous" and other. For them, parents come to the city with children from other cities in Sweden and even from other countries. In Malmo, do not meet two identical sites nearby – the authorities believe that one thoughtful unique platform to the area is better than several point dotty-typical. Lazallers and swings organically fit into the landscape so that the children surrounded not only iron, but also flowers, alive hedges, fruit trees and could be brought to play with natural materials. For adolescents built a huge skate park of StapelbäddSparken with an area of 3000 m 2, in which you can use the extreme sports for free.
Help in the metro
The Moscow metro has a passenger mobility center for almost a year. Specially trained to help people navigate and move around in the subway people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and women with young children. Inspectors helpers in yellow vests on duty at some stations themselves offer assistance for passengers with limited mobility: from consulting to maintenance. If you need assistance for maintenance, please call 8 (495) 622-73-41 and make an appointment with a staff member.
