21 July 2006 Dear Eric, I'm sure the response will vary according to where one's coming from and also according to one's make up. I've always felt that we are far too defensive when called "extremists". The way cities in the third world are being taken over by "car culture" I feel it is necessary to stand up and say "Hey is this what we want?" This invariably prompts those who follow the conventional path to say - environmentalists are "anti progress" or "anti-development". Instead of trying to skirt the issue by saying "we are not anti development" and trying to explain how a healthy environment is the foundation for sustainable development, it is sometimes better to go on the offensive and  give examples of  destructive development which is at the root of environmental disasters like the Tsunami, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gasses, depleting forest cover for the earth, pollution and its impact on human health and long term economic growth, are all examples which prove that environmental sustainability is not an abstract term but something real that can be controlled and changed by a shift in our behaviour. But this shift cannot come about by paying lip service to good practices. So in this case I see nothing wrong in saying clearly and firmly that we have been going along a path that has no future and there is urgent need to recognize this before we can take corrective action. It's time to ask if the automobile and auto oriented development can sustain itself in tomorrows world of depleting resources, increasing pollution, increasing inequity and social strife and if options exist to make a sensible choice in favour of a more sensible alternative. If that means proposing "Carfree Cities" as one of the options to consider, one shouldn't shy away from saying it. Of course this is not the same as saying "Ban the Car" but one can and should invite people to consider the option, to ask if tomorrows cities can make space for "life without a car" possible. I could go on but I think I've said enough for a start. -- Sujit Parisar/PTTF Pune India <div>On 7/21/06, Eric Britton < <a href="mailto:eric.britton@ecoplan.org">eric.britton@ecoplan.org</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div> <div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"> <div> Dear Friends,   Even great ideas need to be rethought and renewed from time to time.   Since 1994, this program has been called World Car Free Days and has sat here at <a href="http://worldcarfreeday.com" title="http://worldcarfreeday.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://worldcarfreeday.com</a> seating away and trying to do its part in getting its message across. And what is that message? Well not so much Car Free Days per se, but rather, as we put it in the opening lines of this fine café: "Not quite zero cars (in most places) but, let us say, a lot less cars, a more tranquil environment, and a lot more safe and happy people."   So here is my question to you and I would very much like to have your counsel.   Is it now time to change our name to: "The Less Cars in Cities Open Collaborative"?  Or something along those lines?   Now this is not by any means to suggest that I am running away from the idea of organizing your own Car Free Day. Heaven forbid! as my dear grandmother would have put it.  A Car Free Day got right can be a wonderful instrument for mobilizing opinion, building local consistencies for change, for fewer cars and for better and softer (and more efficient) cities. But it is only one of the instruments that we need to be considering.   I probably should add by way of further background in the case you are not aware of it, we also have a collaborative program, the New Mobility Agenda (at <a href="http://www.newmobility.org/" title="http://www.newmobility.org/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.newmobility.org</a>), but the focus of the agenda is much wider than 'less cars' strategies and events. Still, you can see how they relate.  But that said, I also think that there is a place here for a more focused (and maybe at times a bit wilder) program.   Thanks for letting me know what you think we should if anything do with this.  In the meantime, what about checking into the   Eric Britton   PS. By the way and for the record and just to be sure, this is not (exactly) an anti-car forum. There are plenty of them around – check <a href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enFR177&q=anti-car" title="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enFR177&q=anti-car" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enFR177&q=anti-car</a> for a list of more than 300,000. What you have here a 'lots less cars in cities' forum which is, as you will see, a very different animal indeed.     </div> </div> </div> ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus is on urban transport policy in Asia. </blockquote></div> -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan <a href="mailto:sujit@vsnl.com">sujit@vsnl.com</a> <a href="mailto:sujitjp@gmail.com"> sujitjp@gmail.com</a> "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar <a href="http://www.parisar.org"> www.parisar.org</a> ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) <a href="http://www.pttf.net">www.pttf.net</a> ------------------------------------------------------