[sustran] Two more good ones Re: Urban Forum

[Todd Edelman]

Hi again, like the previous posts these are about style (how the Urban
Forum did or didnt go about things the right way) AND content... which is
they are going to all three of these lists... I dont think I will make any
more postings on this...

- T

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Viewpoints: The urban world in 2050

Intro: The world is fast approaching the point where the majority of the
human population will be found in urban areas.

The projection is that in 50 years' time, two-thirds of humanity will live
in cities. Six experts outline their vision of the urban world in 2050.

Excerpt:
"The more we rely on advanced technologies, the more cities seem to grow" -
Stephen Graham, human geographer and author of The Cybercities Reader

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5094602.stm

***

Ideas struggle amid urban chatter

Intro: During the closing speeches at the third World Urban Forum in
Vancouver, one leading UN figure noted that critics would leave and
announce that "nothing will be achieved" as a result of the forum.

"They are wrong," he added with defiance.

Excerpts:

...And, even better, they were ideas that really could make a difference.

For example, there was the Swedish town that virtually powers itself,
including its cars, on the biogas waste from the local slaughterhouse.

AND...

... Meanwhile, from a completely different part of the world, the mayor of
the Colombian capital, Bogota, told of just exactly what could be done
with the real will to meet some of challenges of making cities
sustainable.

Faced with calls to upgrade and expand the city's road network, he argued
such a move was unwarranted, as car usage is relatively low - only around
12% of the capital's people regularly drive.

Instead, funds were put into a "car free city" and as a result, Bogota now
has more cycle paths - 300km of them - than almost any other city in the
world.

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5112210.stm

------------------------------------------------------

Todd Edelman
Director
Green Idea Factory

++420 605 915 970

edelman at greenidea.info
http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain

Green Idea Factory,
a member of World "Car free" Network