You may not think of Bogotá as one of the world’s most progressive cites, but, in terms of urban planning, it’s miles ahead of most metro areas. In the mid-1990’s, reports Global Urban Development Magazine (UDM), “traffic congestion was considered the city’s worst problem,” even beyond Columbia’s political crises. Today, Bogota is a haven for pedestrian commuters, thanks to strong political support and laws that encourage biking, walking, and the protection of public space.
In 1994, the city’s former mayor, Antanas Mockus, started a commuter revolution. Mockus, who had no previous political experience, won the election on a so-called “No-P” campaign: no publicity, politics, party, or “plata” (money). According to UDM, his was the cheapest campaign in Columbian history, at a mere US $8,000.
Mockus instituted a development plan, dubbed “Formar Ciudad” (Educate the City), which emphasized, a “culture of citizenship, public space, environment, social progress, and urban productivity.” The initiative encouraged pedestrian traffic, and used unusual tactics to engage the public—which were far more effective than any corny public service announcement.
UDM reported on some of the Mayor’s unsusal tactics:
Mayor Mockus used educational group games as the main tool to establish a culture of “self-regulation,” consideration, and urban citizenship.
These included:
-Cards, red on one side and white on the other, distributed among citizens and used as in football (soccer) games to show approval or disapproval of actions — particularly of car drivers
-Mimes in the streets that taught automobile drivers to respect pedestrian crossings, to use seatbelts, and to minimize the honking of horns
-Actors dressed as monks encouraging people to reflect on noise pollution
Mockus’s strange ways were a hit among his people. The programs got high ratings from residents (7 out of 10 points), with 96% saying they should continue.
Mayor Mockus’s successor, Enrique Peñalosa, who served from 1997 to 2000, took the hint and persisted with Mockus’s pro-pedestrian legacy. His programs funded the maintenance and development of more public spaces, city parks, and a super-efficient mass transit system. Peñalosa was also responsible for the wildly succesful weekly car-free Ciclovía program, which we featured in a previous article.
One of Peñalosa’s greatest achievements was replacing the inefficient, independently operated bus system with a rapid public transit system, called the Transmilenio.
From UDM:
[The independent buses] are often operated by overworked drivers, inefficient due to disorganization, and emit excessive amounts of exhaust, polluting the air. The municipality created the company Transmilenio S.A. to plan, organize, and construct the transportation infrastructure, as well as to supervise the bus service. …With the new bus system, the municipality went from a passive position regarding public transport to a proactive one. The Transmilenio is widely regarded as an excellent bus system, providing well organized, fast, and comfortable service. In the Integrated System of Mass Transport, the Transmilenio covers the entire city, linking with subway and bicycle paths.
Peñalosa envisioned a pedestrian-friendly city and endeavored to make it reality. He spoke of “a city that today seems utopian, with trees, bicycles, beautiful sidewalks, full of parks, with clean rivers, lakes, libraries, clean, egalitarian…” Peñalosa improved and expanded mass transit, planted trees, improved pedestrian walkways, traffic signals, and lighting, restricted citizen’s use of cars, expanded bicycle paths, enhanced public space, and installed barriers to prevent cars from parking on sidewalks (which was common). Store owners were so enraged by this measure, which they thought would jeopardize customer parking—and, thus, their business, that Peñalosa was nearly impeached. Ultimately, however, Penalosa won the popularity contest, with over 40% of residents rating his performance in office as “excellent”
The proof of Peñalosa’s success is in the proverbial pudding.
Here are the numbers from UDM:
This included the recovery of 338,297 square meters, and the construction of 147,000 square meters, of space under bridges (these spaces previously had been badly planned and inhospitable) and 432,000 square meters of sidewalks — a total of approximately 917,000 square meters of public space. The Peñalosa administration restored, improved, and maintained 1,034 parks, or 54% of the green space in the city. For a cost of 212 billion pesos (about US $100 million) the city government planted almost 70,000 trees, installed 183,651 planters, and added greenery to 202 kilometers of roadsides and 280 hectares of parks.
Apart from massive public improvements, Peñalosa discouraged automobile use, calling cars “the worst threat to quality of life of this city.” Peñalosa made it his mission to convert car-addicted commuters to take mass transit. His “pico y placa” program reduced traffic congestion by 40%, said UDM. Peñalosa also took his plan one step further, prohibiting people from using their cars two days per week. He did so using a circulating system (i.e., if your license plate ended in 1, you could not use the car on Mondays and Tuesdays).
Peñalosa also hosted the world’s largest Car Free Day on February 29, 2000. The holiday was so popular with Bogotá citizens, they voted to celebrate Día Sin Carro (Car Free Day) annually.
"Enrique Peñalosa’s vision and determination to involve citizens illustrates how good urban planning is achieved," said Paul Farmer, FAICP, Executive Director of the American Planning Association in a press release. "The transformation in Bogotá is proof that good urban planning can improve quality of life."
If only other cites would wise up to smart, ped-friendly urban planning, more of us, like the people in Bogotá, might be livin’ la vida buena—and leave our cars behind.
Photo via flickr by Oneris_Rico & jwinfred.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Slight problem – in this case, it ought to be “It’s easy to HIT something you’re not looking out for”. If it was easy to miss us, we’d be safer!
Well, ChipSeal, first you miss something (inattention), THEN you hit it (unnecessary carnage). Oh yeah, THEN the cops, typically, ignore everything. Sweet, huh?