[sustran] fwd: Introduction to Ciudad Viva of Chile

SUSTRAN Resource Centre sustran at po.jaring.my
Wed Jun 9 10:25:09 JST 1999


An introduction to an active coalition in Santiago de Chile, resent to
sustran-discuss with the permission of the author.


Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 09:11:45 -0400
To: SUSTRAN Resource Centre <sustran at po.jaring.my>
From: Lake Sagaris <sagaris at lake.mic.cl>
Subject: Re: Ciudad Viva

Hi Rahman

Thanks so much for your message and the copies of Sustran, which have been
arriving over the past few days. We are very much a group of community
organizations, which has been forced to take on transport issues because of
the Public Works Ministry highway project. Fortunately, we've had the
support of some of Chile's best transport engineers and other experts and
have been able to do a really fine job educating ourselves and raising the
issues involved in highway vs other models for resolving city transport
problems. Here's some information on us, from our web page, which is in
Spanish, English (short version) and French (short version) at 
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1583/

Hope you're well. Lake



Why we reject the Costanera Norte

   
The Costanera Norte is a 33 kilometre long highway project that would
cut through the historical heart of Santiago, Chile, bringing destruction to
Pedro de Valdivia Norte, the San Cristóbal Hill and Park, Bellavista,
refuge for artists and writers, the textile sector of Patronato, the central
market and eateries around the Vega, the Vega Chica, the Tirso de
Molina fruit fair, and the poor but proud communities of Independencia,
many of which face expropriation - all to provide a highway for drivers
from wealthy Las Condes, Vitacura, and other neighbourhoods. 

For the people of Santiago, this highway represents a kind of car-oriented
city that has failed miserably elsewhere in the world. Our  authorities
have refused to admit that large highways always generate more
car-trips. Just as London's M25 was quickly saturated by traffic, so the
Costanera Norte will find itself overcrowded and dysfunctional. But by
then, Chileans will have spent US$380 million, including millions in
subsidies to private companies who are supposed to run the highway.
Ozone and other pollutants in Santiago's already toxic smog will have
increased, and the damage to living communities will be irreparable.

We citizens, organized in civil society, must choose whether our cities of
the future will be quiet places with plenty of parks and efficient, fair and
non-polluting transport systems, or whether they'll continue their current
decline into asphalt jungles, with unbreathable air, and a car-based
transportation system. 

Our "Coordinator No to the Costanera Norte", or Coalition for a Fair
Santiago, as we have chosen to call ourselves in English, is composed
of 25 permanent neighbourhood, street fair, storekeepers, restaurant
and other organisations representing 50,000 citizens in the
Providencia, Independencia and Recoleta jurisdictions of Santiago. We're
working hard to ensure that our corners of Santiago, Chile, continue to
welcome friends from around the world, who enjoy our streets and
galleries and bustling markets. 


We started this effort in December 1995 and in December 1998 helped
to ensure that no companies participated in the public tender for the
concession for this project. Nonetheless, in April 1999, the Frei
government once again ordered a new tender to be held. We are continuing to
oppose the highway and are optimistic that it will eventually be stopped
for good. In the meantime, we're forming a permanent, non-profit
organization called Ciudad Viva (Living City) to work on transport, urban
planning and renovation, environmental and other issues in our
centre-of-the-city context.

      Please write, call or visit us, at our Santiago address or at our
      website.

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1583/
ciudadviva at lake.mic.cl
Tel> 562 777 3331
Fax> 562 732 3079


At 01:49 PM 5/29/99 +0800, you wrote:
>Dear Lake
>
>Thank you very much for your email. I am thrilled to hear about your
>organisation. 
>
>I am taking the liberty of subscribing you to the sustran-discuss list,
>which is a discussion list on exactly this kind of issues.   The traffic on
>the list is still quite light so I don't think you will find it too
>overwhelming. Please feel free to contribute.  You will also receive our
>SUSTRAN News Flash service via the sustran-discuss list.  I will seperately
>send you one or two of the recent News Flashes, as they should contain
>useful information and contacts for you. 
>
>I would love to include a short profile of your organisation in our next
>News Flash, if you are willing? Could you send me a short email with about
>400 words on your organisation, including contact details. This may be
>useful to you as you might then be contacted by some other similar
>organisations who can offer help and support. 
>
>The SUSTRAN Resource Centre is a small organisation in Malaysia but we are
>a key focal point of the Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and
>the Pacific (SUSTRAN) which a loose network of organisations and
>individuals who are interested in promoting "people-centred and sustainable
>transport".  We have active contacts in many countries, primarily in Asia.  
>
>Very best wishes,
>A. Rahman Paul BARTER
>SUSTRAN Resource Centre
>P.O. Box 11501,  Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia.
>Tel/Fax: +60 3 2742590,  E-mail: sustran at po.jaring.my
>Web: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2853/

Ojo/Note: Cambio de Fax/Change of Fax number: 
Numero vigente es/New number is 732 3079.




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