[sustran] Re: Successful campaigns againts roads - info request

[Zainab Wahidin]

Dear Craig,

I am very interested in the documentation of the efforts in Chinatown,
Vancouver as well as Bangkok against building expressways. If the article
are to be sent by surfce mail please address it to:

Zainab Wahidin
School of Social Sciences
Universti Sains MAlaysia
Glugor
11800 P. Pinang.

With the best regrds!
----- Original Message -----
From: Craig Townsend <townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au>
To: <sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2001 10:56 AM
Subject: [sustran] Re: Successful campaigns againts roads - info request


> Roland
>
> Two more cases:
>
> In Vancouver, Canada, a freeway passing through an inner city community
> (Chinatown) was defeated in the late 1960s/early 1970s and since that time
> no freeway has been built through the urban core (City of Vancouver).
While
> the battle involved one community (predominantly ethnic minority) they
were
> able to mobilize wider support against freeway-building and this was
> translated into regional planning that emphasized public transport and
> compact communities (the "Liveable Region Plan"). A young lawyer (Michael
> Harcourt) who represented the community against the city went on to become
> the mayor of the City of Vancouver and then the Premier of the Province of
> British Columbia. He is now at the Sustainable Development Research
> Institute at the University of British Columbia. Also at the time of the
> freeway battle a reformist city council was elected, and it included
> transport planner Setty Pendakur. I can't provide you with any references
> at this time but this story is quite well documented.
>
> Another case of an inner-city ethnic-minority community fighting freeway
> building is the case of Baan Krua in Bangkok. Recently, a 2.5 km elevated
> expressway linking to the larger network has been indefinitely postponed
> after a 13 year battle. While this has been a success for the Muslim
> community, it probably won't change the expressway-building transport
> development trajectory in Bangkok. However, indirectly it may contribute
> toward less road building because the private company holding the
> concession for the project is now suing the already severely-indebted
> Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority (which has only ever built
> expressways!). If you are interested in more information on this case,
> please contact me directly.
>
> In both cases community solidarity was a key to the successful defeat of
> freeway-building. In Vancouver there were wider political implications
> which have shaped transport planning and infrastructure development for
> more than a quarter of a century since. In Bangkok there are no wider
> implications of the case, although a greater emphasis on community
> participation and moves toward more democratization could in theory
prevent
> these kind of mega-projects in the future.
>
> ________________________________________________
> Craig Townsend
> Institute for Sustainability & Technology Policy
> Murdoch University
> South Street, Murdoch
> Perth, Western Australia 6150
>
> tel: (61 8) 9360 6293
> fax: (61 8) 9360 6421
> email: townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au
>