How bikes can build a better a city

By John Calimente
Cycling photo by Su-Lin, Gil Peñalosa photo by jmv

When was the last time an overflow crowd turned out to hear the ideas of a former Parks Commissioner? It was probably whenever Guillermo ‘Gil’ Peñalosa last paid Vancouver a visit. Currently the Executive Director of the Mississauga-based non-profit Walk & Bike for Life, Peñalosa is a passionate advocate on the benefits of walking, cycling, parks, and trails.

Peñalosa came to SFU Harbour Centre on Wednesday to speak on the subject Walking, bicycling, and public spaces: Lessons from Bogotá and beyond. He was introduced by Andrew Pask of the Vancouver Public Space Network as “A man who likes to talk about action.” Peñalosa began by noting how his interest in city issues had originally been sparked by his first visit to Vancouver in 1976 for the UN Habitat Conference. He made the trip with his father, Enrique Peñalosa Carmago, who was the Undersecretary General for the conference. Peñalosa is a man impatient for change. He brought up the point frequently in his talk that change can come quickly if the will is there. He believes that the time has come to go beyond baby steps in creating better cities; it’s time for major leaps in action.

Peñalosa first gained widespread attention as the Commissioner of Parks, Sport, and Recreation for the city of Bogotá, Colombia from 1995 to 1997. He was appointed by the mayor, his brother Enrique Peñalosa Londoño. During his tenure, Gil Peñalosa oversaw the construction of 200 parks in the city and expanded the Ciclovia program of car-free city roads on Sundays and holidays from 8 km to 91 km. The number of participants increased from an average of 100,000 to 1.5 million people. Bike share increased from 0.4% to 5% and the Transmilenio Bus Rapid Transit system was also created at this time. By increasing public space and public transit for all citizens to enjoy, the atmosphere in the city has become much more relaxed. Peñalosa quoted Charles Montgomery from EnRoute magazine: “The more we meet outside of cars, the kinder and gentler we’re likely to become”. This seems to have been borne out in Bogotá, where the murder rate dropped 71% between the mid-1990s and 2005.

The best cities in the world are the most bikeable and walkable, according to Peñalosa. Providing examples from New York, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, Peñalosa refuted the constant refrain: “Cycling will never be popular in our city because of _____ (climate, culture, high incomes etc)”. With a climate similar to Vancouver’s, Copenhagen has successfully become a cycling-friendly city over the last 40 years, even with a per capita income higher than the United States. A video showed both the very young and very old cycling around the city, in both rain and snow. Copenhagen’s goal is to become the ‘best bicycle city in the world’, aiming to increase the percentage of cyclists biking to work to 50%, and for 80% to feel safe while cycling by 2015. Peñalosa has his own acid test for a bicycle-friendly city: Would you send either an 8-year-old or an 80-year-old to bike around your city?

New York City was given as an example of a North American city that is fast becoming a model for cycling. He noted that the recently created 9th Avenue bikeway in New York City was created in only 30 days with a budget of under $1 million dollars. As well, the Summer Streets program, which closed down 11 km of Manhattan streets on three consecutive Saturdays, has been garnering rave reviews. Peñalosa noted that a prominent New York City official had come up to him at the event and said it was “the most fun activity to take place in New York in 40 years”. At this point Peñalosa gave a mock-incredulous reaction and pondered this: “So it’s the Department of Transportation that is responsible for creating the most fun activity to take place in New York City in 40 years? What’s going on here?”

Canada’s population is forecast to increase by 6.5 million in the next 25 years. Greater Vancouver will increase by 41% and BC by 39%. Peñalosa sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity. In the 19th century, the most important factor in economic competitiveness was land. In the 20th century, it was capital, and in the 21st century, people. Peñalosa believes that the greatest challenge of this century is to attract and retain highly creative and educated people.

The key question we as Canadians need to ask ourselves is: What kind of cities are we going to build? Peñalosa feels that a city is only a means to a way of life. He argues that “When you define your cities around cars, you get more cars. When you define your city around people, you get more people”, with a healthier population and a better quality of life for all. He made the excellent point that “What makes a city memorable and gives it character are its walking and cycling places” and joked that one doesn’t “go to Paris and say ‘wow, what great highways they had’”.

Peñalosa ended his talk by confronting the issue of how to move from talking to doing. He believes that vision is important, but that vision without work is “simply daydreaming”. His five elements for success are:

1. Leadership that will nurture the changes

2. Political will, or ‘guts’

3. Doers in the public sector who will craft solutions to the problems at hand

4. Community engagement; and

5. Sense of urgency, or action

The prolonged applause at the end confirmed that most in the audience already shared in Peñalosa’s belief in taking major leaps in order to achieve change. Canada needs more leaders who have a strong vision of a better future for our cities and are not worried about opinion polls. With a civic election coming up soon, perhaps Gil Peñalosa would consider running for mayor of Vancouver?

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John Calimente is enrolled in the Master of Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University.